Women's Basketball Outlasted By New Hampshire, 60-57

Saturday, November 22

Hanover, N.H.

7 pm

Brown University

1-2, 0-0Ivy

New Hampshire

3-0, 0-0AE

Brown

New Hampshire

Women's Basketball Outlasted By New Hampshire, 60-57

11/22/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

DURHAM, N.H. – A 13-5 run in the final minutes for the Brown women's basketball team proved to fall just short as the New Hampshire Wildcats held on for a 60-57 win at Lundholm Gymnasium on Saturday night.

The Bears drop to 1-2 overall while the Wildcats extend their winning streak to three to open the season.

Rebecca Musgrove (Plainview, N.Y.) and Ellise Sharpe (Tipp City, Ohio) keyed the Bears' run in the final moments. The sophomore point guard, Musgrove, led Brown and matched a career high with 12 points, all the in second half, while the tenacious Sharpe posted eight points and four steals.

Freshman Janie White (Clarksville, Tenn.) nearly cashed in with her first career double-double, but fell just short with 10 points and nine rebounds.

After a 1-for-8 start for the field, leading scorer Jordin Alexander (Fishers, Ind.) finished with nine points with seven of those coming in the second half as the Bears nearly mounted the comeback.

After Natalie Ball (Orlando, Fla.) and Sophie Bikofsky (Newton, Mass.) staked the Bears to an early 5-0 lead, the Wildcats powered back with a 9-0 run of their own to grab a four-point cushion on the strength of Kaylee Kilpatrick's five points during that stretch.

Despite shooting only 7-of-32 from the field in the first half (21.9%), the Bears regained the lead with free throws from Ellise Sharpe and freshman Savannah Johnson (Fort Washington, Md.), who tallied her first collegiate points in the process.

The Wildcats grabbed their largest lead of the half on Elizabeth Belanger's jumper with 26 seconds to play before Alexander responded to get on the board with five seconds left, bringing the Bears within three going into the locker room.

Musgrove started off the second half with five quick points for the Bears, but the Wildcats seemed to find an answer all night, extending their lead each time Brown drew close.

Normally a strong part of the offense, the Bears struggled from long distance on Saturday, connecting on just 4-of-26 attempts from behind the arc. Despite that, the Bears rallied after facing its largest deficit of the night at 55-44 with just under five minutes to play.

A press defense forced the Wildcats into turnovers down the stretch as the Bears made it a one-possession game on Sharpe's layup with 32 seconds to play. After Belanger made both attempts from the charity stripe to increase the Wildcats' lead to three, the Bears had two attempts to tie but couldn't connect as New Hampshire held on for the win.

Brown returns to action on Tuesday night, hosting Ocean State rival Bryant in the Bears' home-opener in the Pizzitola Sports Center. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.