Women's Basketball Downed By UC-Riverside, 79-65

Monday, December 29

Ames, Iowa

3 pm

Brown University

3-8, 0-0Ivy

UC Riverside

8-4, 0-0BigWest

Team	1	2	F
UC Riverside	49	30	79
Brown	33	32	65

Women's Basketball Downed By UC-Riverside, 79-65

12/29/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

AMES, Iowa – Sophie Bikofsky's 23 points and a spirited second half comeback were not enough as the Brown women's basketball team dropped a 79-65 decision to UC-Riverside on Monday in day one action of the Cyclone Challenge. The Bears will face either Howard or Iowa State in the consolation contest at 6 p.m. EST on Tuesday night.

The Bears drop to 3-8 overall while the Highlanders improve to 8-4 with the win.

Bikofsky (Newton, Mass.) netted a game-high 23 points and also matched Brown's single game record with seven three-point field goals made, the third time the senior has accomplished the feat in her career.

Jordin Alexander (Fishers, Ind.) chipped in with 16 points, while Rebecca Musgrove (Plainview, N.Y.) added 11 second half points as the Bears mounted a serious charge in the second stanza. Freshman Janie White (Clarksville, Tenn.) hauled in a team-high eight rebounds, while Iowa native KJ Veldman (Spirit Lake) connected on her first field goal of the season with three seconds to play.

Annilise Ito, Simone Decoud, Brittany Crain, and Michelle Curry all scored in double figures for the Highlanders.

Bikofsky came out firing for the Bears as she posted 15 of the team's first 17 points on five treys in the opening minutes. The Bears struggled to contain the nation's seventh leading scorer, Brittany Crain, as the junior guard cashed in on her first three attempts from long range.

A 14-3 run from the Highlanders staked them to a 23-11 lead before the Bears responded with a burst of their own to draw back within seven points with under eight minutes to play in the half.

Despite shooting 52-percent in the first half, the Bears were plagued by 12 turnovers as the Highlanders converted those takeaways into 16 points. Bikofsky's trey with 2:27 brought the Bears back within seven before UCR responded with a 9-0 run to close out the half.

Trailing by as many as 20 points, the Bears mounted an 18-5 charge over a 10-minute span on the strength of Ellise Sharpe's tenacious defense that stifled the Highlanders' attack.

With the score locked at 63-57, the Bears had multiple tries to cut the game to one possession but couldn't get their shots to fall as UCR responded to regain a double-digit lead with 3:25 to play. The Highlanders would stave off any thoughts of a Brown comeback down the stretch to salt away the 79-65 triumph.