Women's Basketball Downed By Columbia, 83-74

Friday, February 20

New York, N.Y.

7 pm

Brown University

9-14, 3-6Ivy

Columbia

8-15, 2-7Ivy

Brown

Columbia

Women's Basketball Downed By Columbia, 83-74

2/20/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

NEW YORK – Devon Roeper's 27 points paced the Columbia Lions to a 83-74 win over the Brown women's basketball team on Friday night at Levien Gym.

Brown and Columbia split the season series as the Bears drop to 9-14 (3-6 Ivy), while the Lions improve to 8-15 (2-7 Ivy).

Jordin Alexander (Fishers, Ind.) once again led the Bears with 22 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the field, including a perfect 8-of-8 from the charity stripe. Sophie Bikofsky (Newton, Mass.) chipped in with 18 points and Rebecca Musgrove (Plainview, N.Y.) added 15 points as Brown recorded three players in double figures. Bikofsky now sits just 24 points shy of 1,000 for her career with five games remaining.

Each squad shot over 45-percent from the field, but the Bears struggled to get key stops down the stretch as the Lions pulled away in the final moments. After forcing 28 turnovers in their first meeting, the Bears were only able to muster 12 takeaways on Friday.

Roeper and Tori Oliver gave the Brown defense fits in the first half, as the Columbia offense was clicking on all cylinders in the opening 20 minutes, shooting 51.5-percent from the field. Oliver finished the night with 17 points and teammate Camille Zimmerman added 18 points and three assists for the Lions.

Trailing 20-12, treys from Natalie Ball and Bikofsky fueled an 8-0 run that drew the Bears even at 20. Posting a career high 31 points against Penn last Saturday, Alexander continued her hot shooting with 14 first half points on strong drives to the basket.

The Lions grabbed their largest lead of the half at 12 on the strength of treys from Alexa Giuliano and Ara Talkov that capped an 11-2 run. Alexander's jumper in the lane at the buzzer brought Brown back within nine at 44-35.

Facing a 16-point deficit early in the second half, a 12-2 run thanks to a smothering press defense got Brown back within one possession at 57-54. Kennedy Martin scored all of her six points in the second half after giving the Bears a strong presence in the paint.

The Lions held the Bears at bay, going up 68-60 with just over three minutes to play, before back-to-back treys from Bikofsky brought Brown back within four with 2:28 to play. Brown couldn't drew any closer as the Lions made the most of their free throw attempts down the stretch to seal victory.

Freshman Janie White (Clarksville, Tenn.) recorded four points and two blocks in her first action since Feb. 6.

Up next, the Bears travel to Cornell to battle the Big Red on Saturday beginning at 6 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.