Brown University
4-3
Rhode Island
4-4
Steeves, Mehta Pace Women's Hoops Past URI in Ocean State Tip-Off, 76-65
12/3/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Sophomores Erika Steeves and Shayna Mehta both posted double-doubles to lead Brown University women's basketball to a 76-65 win over the University of Rhode Island in the semifinals of the inaugural Ocean State Tip-Off Tournament at the Pizzitola Sports Center on Saturday afternoon.
The Bears (4-3) advance to face Providence College (7-0) in the title game of the tournament tomorrow, Sunday, Dec. 4, at 3:00 p.m. while the Rams (4-4) will meet Bryant University (3-3) in the consolation game on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. PC beat Bryant 62-51 in the first semifinal.
"The first half was great, and it put us in a position that if we could maintain it, we could win which is what we did," Brown head coach Sarah Behn said. "I'm happy with the progress that we're making. We rebounded a lot better than we normally do against a big team."
Steeves (Montreal, Quebec) scored a career-high 22 points to go with 10 rebounds for her second double-double in as many games, third of the season, and sixth of her career. She made a career-best 10 field goals on 18 attempts.
Mehta (San Francisco, Calif.) tallied her second career double-double and first of the season on 15 points and a career-high 11 boards along with four assists. She has scored in double figures in all seven of Brown's games this season.
Sophomore guard Taylor Will (Arlington Heights, Ill.) totaled 15 points, five rebounds, and four assists while classmate Mary Butler (Bangor, Maine) tallied six points on 3-of-4 shooting and six rebounds.
Junior guard Megan Reilly (Norwood, N.J.) grabbed a career-high eight rebounds and tacked on a game-best five assists and five points.
Brown never trailed and led for all but 69 seconds in the contest. The hosts took a lead as large as 22 points late in the third quarter and fended off a rally from the visiting Rams who pulled within seven points late in the fourth frame.
Steeves powered the Bears in the first quarter, scoring 11 points. She netted six points in the opening 2:47 to give Brown a 9-2 lead. A corner 3-pointer from freshman Kathleen Ryan (Clarence Center, N.Y.) pushed the Bears ahead 19-8 with 3:25 left in the quarter, and baskets from Steeves and Will kept the hosts up 23-14 after one.
After URI pulled within 23-17, Brown responded behind a 12-4 run with Mehta capping the streak with six straight points to give the Bears a 35-21 lead with 5:30 to play until halftime. A Will bucket on the inside off a Steeves pass made it 44-27 at the 2:22 mark, two free throws from freshman Lames ElGammal (Baldwin, N.Y.) gave Brown its largest lead of the half at 48-30, and the Bears took a 48-33 lead into the break.
Midway through the third quarter, a driving layup from Will extended Brown's lead to 20 points for the first time at 59-39. A basket on the inside from Ryan gave the Bears their largest lead at 61-39 with 3:18 to play in the third stanza. The Rams closed the period on a 10-1 stretch to cut their deficit to 62-49 heading to the fourth quarter.
With Brown still leading 70-53 with 7:35 remaining, URI scored 10 straight points to pull within 70-63 with 3:10 to play. Baskets from Butler, Mehta, and Steeves helped stem the run and give the Bears back a double-digit lead.
For Rhode Island, Charise Wilson scored 27 points – the highest point total on the first day of the tournament – alongside eight rebounds. Dominique Ward added 11 points and nine boards.
After the completion of the Ocean State Tip-Off Tournament on Sunday, Brown plays at Vermont on Thursday, Dec. 8 at 11:30 a.m. prior to breaking for finals.
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.
