Three Bears Post Career Highs As Women's Basketball Topples Columbia, 85-76

Saturday, January 31

Providence, R.I.

6 pm

Brown University

7-11, 1-3Ivy

Columbia

6-12, 0-4Ivy

Columbia

Brown

Three Bears Post Career Highs As Women's Basketball Topples Columbia, 85-76

1/31/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Ellise Sharpe, Kennedy Martin, and Megan Reilly all recorded career highs in points and Sophie Bikofsky netted 23 points as the Brown women's basketball team scored its first Ivy win the season, 85-76, over Columbia on Saturday at the Pizzitola Sports Center.

The Bears improve to 7-11 (1-3 Ivy), while Columbia drops to 6-12 (0-4 Ivy) in the loss.

Sharpe (Tipp City, Ohio) cashed in with 19 points and four steals, including a perfect 7-of-7 from the charity stripe, while freshman Kennedy Martin (Los Angeles, Calif.) deposited 17 points and nine rebounds in her first start of the season.

Megan Reilly (Norwood, N.J.) added 13 points and six assists, both career highs to help engineer the Brown offense's high scoring output of the season.

The Bears rebounded from Friday night's struggle from the field, connecting at a 44.4-percent clip from the field on Saturday.

An early 12-2 burst by the visiting Lions put the Bears in a hole, but hot shooting and a strong inside presence from Martin turned the tide and eventually the Bears drew even on Sharpe's layup with 8:17 to play. The junior paced the Bears in the first half with 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting and three steals.

Brown's tenacious defense in the first half sparked 17 Columbia turnovers and equalized the visitor's .548 shooting percentage in the opening half.

Bikofsky's (Newton, Mass.) free throws gave Brown its largest lead of the half at 11 with a minute to play before Columbia responded to draw within six in the final minute.

In a game marred by 53 combined fouls, the Bears made their free throws count on Saturday, converting on 28-of-37 attempts (.757).

Martin continued her career game as she opened the second half with two consecutive buckets to give Brown a 10-point cushion once again. Bikofsky continued her torrid shooting in the second half with crucial treys, including a long-distance strike with eight minutes left to give the Bears a 13-point edge.

Brown wouldn't let the Lions draw closer than eight points in the final 15 minutes of play, culminating on Reilly's free throw to give the Bears their largest lead of the night at 73-59 with 6:30 to play.

With six treys on Saturday, Bikofsky now sits four three-point field goals away from breaking the program record of 203 career treys, set last season by Lauren Clarke '14.

Camille Zimmerman and Alexa Giuliano each netted 19, while Tori Oliver chipped in 18 points for the visiting Lions.

Brown returns to action next Friday night to battle Harvard at Lavietes Pavilion beginning at 7 p.m.

Tickets for all Brown women's basketball games can be purchased online, calling the Brown Athletics Ticket Office at (401) 863-2773, or walking up to the Box Office located in the Pizzitola Sports Center, open Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.