Dale Nets 18, Women’s Basketball Falls at Columbia, 74-60

Saturday, February 1

New York, N.Y.

5:00 PM

Brown University

6-11,0-4Ivy League

Columbia

11-6,2-2Ivy League

Brown

Columbia

Dale Nets 18, Women’s Basketball Falls at Columbia, 74-60

2/1/2020 7:50:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Junior guard McKenna Dale scored 18 points, and senior guard Justine Gaziano and sophomore guard Maddie Mullin netted 17 and 15 points respectively, but Brown University women's basketball fell at Columbia University, 74-60, on Saturday night at Levien Gymnasium.

Closing their first back-to-back Ivy League weekend of the year, the Bears (6-11, 0-4 Ivy) cut a nine-point halftime deficit to 34-31 at the 6:52 mark of the third quarter and trimmed a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit to 64-57 with 2:34 to play before the host Lions (11-6, 2-2 Ivy) held on for the win and improved to 8-2 at home on the year.

"We played hard again tonight," Brown head coach Sarah Behn said. "Even though we came up short in both games this weekend, I'm proud of our effort level. Columbia is a good, well-coached team, and we battled them for the full 40 minutes."

Dale (Storrs, Conn.) netted her 18 points on 5-of-10 field goals, 4-of-8 3-pointers, and 4-of-6 free throws, while totaling four rebounds, three assists, two steals, and two blocks. She scored in double figures for the seventh time in the last eight games and nine times overall on the year. For the weekend, Dale averaged 16.5 points per game and hit 6-of-12 3-pointers.

Gaziano (Natick, Mass.) added three rebounds, two assists, and two steals to her 17 points. She now has 1,650 career points – tied for 21^st in Ivy history – and 586 career field goals – tied for fifth in team history. She averaged 16.0 points per game on the weekend and has now scored in double figures 13 times on the year and 81 times in her career.

Mullin (Wellesley, Mass.) connected on 5-of-10 field goals and 4-of-9 3-pointers as part of her 15-point effort, while chipping in two rebounds and two assists. She averaged 14.0 points per game on the weekend and hit 8-of-16 treys between the two games. She has scored in double figures six times on the year.

Freshman guard Lexi Love (Oakland, Calif.) totaled four points, three assists, and three steals, and sophomore forward Ashley Ducharme (Milton, Mass.) tacked on four points and four rebounds.

For Columbia, Sienna Durr posted 17 points, 12 rebounds, and five assists, Abbey Hsu tallied 16 points and six boards, and Kaitlyn Davis added 10 points.

For the game, Columbia held a slight 56-55 lead in points from the floor but gained a larger 18-5 margin in points from the free throw line. The Lions claimed a 50-26 rebounding advantage and 17-5 edge in offensive boards.

Gaziano scored the Bears' first nine points of the game behind three layups and a 3-pointer from the top of the key as Brown trailed 15-9 at the 3:03 mark of the first quarter. A trey from Mullin and layups from freshman forward Fiona Finn (West Roxbury, Mass.) and Gaziano helped Brown pull within 19-16 at the end of one.

Early in the second quarter, a 3-pointer from Dale and layup from Gaziano kept Brown within 24-21 with 6:12 left in the half. A jumper from Dale and second-chance basket from Ducharme allowed Brown to stay within 34-25 at halftime.

In the first half, the Bears held a 4-2 edge in second-chance points despite trailing in offensive rebounds (13-2) and overall rebounds (32-10).

The Bears opened the second half with six straight points behind two layups from Love and a lay-in from Gaziano, cutting the margin to 34-31. Columbia countered with a 9-0 run, pulling ahead 43-31 with 3:30 to go in the third quarter. A layup from Ducharme and a 3-pointer from Mullin kept Brown within 48-38 heading to the fourth frame.

The Bears hit 5-of-10 3-pointers in the fourth quarter as they attempted a comeback with Dale hitting 3-of-4 shots from distance and Mullin connecting on 2-of-3 shots from behind the arc.

Dale and Mullin both hit 3-pointers to keep the score at 54-44 with 7:18 remaining before the Lions pulled ahead 61-46 – their biggest lead – with 4:48 to play. Brown responded with an 11-3 run behind three more treys – two from Dale and one from Mullin – and two Dale free throws to pull within 64-57 with 2:34 left. The Lions countered with eight consecutive points to gain separation.

Next, Brown concludes a four-game road swing at Dartmouth on Friday, February 7 at 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+) and at Harvard on Saturday, February 8 at 4:00 p.m. (ESPN+).

Video of all Brown women's basketball home contests and all Ivy League games, home and away, will be broadcast live on ESPN+.

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.