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Brown University
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Sacred Heart
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Gaziano's 22 Points Pace Women's Basketball Past Sacred Heart, 80-66
11/14/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Freshman guard Justine Gaziano scored a game-high 22 points, sophomore guard Taylor Will netted 14 points, and Brown University women's basketball topped Sacred Heart University, 80-66, on Monday night at the William H. Pitt Center.
In their first road game of the year, the Bears (2-0) built a lead as large as 28 points in the first half, pulled ahead 75-56 with 3:54 to go in the fourth quarter, and held off a late charge from the host Pioneers (1-1).
"To get this road win against a team that won their league last year, went to the NIT, and has a lot of seniors, I could not be more proud," Brown head coach Sarah Behn said. "We have a lot of things to work on, but this is a really good sign of what we can do as a group."
Gaziano (Natick, Mass.) posted her first career game with 20 or more points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field, 3-of-5 shooting from behind the arc, and 3-of-3 free throws. She tallied 17 points in the second half, hitting 7-of-8 field goals and 3-of-3 triples. She has averaged 19.5 points per game over her first two collegiate contests.
Will (Arlington Heights, Ill.) scored her 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting while sophomore forward Erika Steeves (Montreal, Quebec) narrowly missed a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds.
Sophomore forward Mary Butler (Bangor, Maine) corralled a career-high 11 boards with seven points and four assists. Sophomore guard Shayna Mehta (San Francisco, Calif.) netted 10 points, freshman guard Abby O'Keefe (St. Louis, Mo.) compiled seven points and a game-high five assists, and freshman forward Kathleen Ryan (Clarence Center, N.Y.) had six points on a pair of 3-pointers.
After SHU scored the opening basket of the game, Brown outscored the Pioneers 25-4 over the remainder of the first quarter. A layup from Butler off a pass inside from O'Keefe started a 15-0 run for Brown over the frame's final 2:46. During the streak, Gaziano converted an old-fashioned 3-point play, Ryan hit a wing 3-pointer, and Mehta knocked down a triple at the buzzer.
The Bears held the hosts to 3-of-19 shooting (15.8 percent) in the opening stanza.
O'Keefe netted the first five points of the second quarter with a 3-pointer and a runner in the lane to extend Brown's edge to 30-6 at the 8:49 mark, capping a 20-0 run. The Bears took their largest lead of the half at 40-12 with 4:55 to go until the break after junior Megan Reilly (Norwood, N.J.) knocked down a 3-pointer from the wing. SHU closed the half on a 10-0 run to pull within 40-22 at the intermission.
The teams largely traded baskets in the third quarter with both clubs scoring 20 points in the stanza. Gaziano netted eight points in the quarter, hitting a wing 3-pointer to make it 48-26 and a top of the key trey to make it 60-37 with 3:15 left in the frame. A conventional 3-point play from Steeves and a floater in the lane from Will helped Brown keep the lead over 20 points midway through the period.
Gaziano accounted for five straight points on a corner trey and a fast break layup to stem an 8-0 SHU run and give Brown a 65-45 lead with 7:38 remaining. With SHU still within 68-56, the Bears scored seven straight points on a Gaziano layup, Steees jumper, and Will 3-point play to pull back ahead 75-56 with 4:12 left.
For Sacred Heart, Hannah Kimmel notched a double-double on 13 points and 10 boards, and Adaysha Williams finished with 12 points.
Brown improved to 5-3 in the all-time series with Sacred Heart, eclipsing the 80-point plateau for the second times in as many games to begin the year after scoring 83 points in the opener against Howard.
Next, Brown plays at Bryant on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. prior to hosting Colgate at the Pizzitola Sports Center on Sunday at noon.
Video of all Brown women's basketball home contests and all Ivy League games, home and away, will be broadcast live on ILDN.TV/BROWN.
Tickets for all Brown women's basketball games can be purchased online, by calling the Brown Athletics Ticket Office at (401) 863-2773, or by walking up to the box office located in the Pizzitola Sports Center, open Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
