Dale, Gaziano Eclipse 20 Points, Women’s Basketball Falls at Penn, 74-60

Saturday, February 29

Philadelphia, Pa.

6:00 PM

Brown University

8-17,2-10Ivy League

Penn

18-7,8-4Ivy League

Brown

Penn

Dale, Gaziano Eclipse 20 Points, Women’s Basketball Falls at Penn, 74-60

2/29/2020 8:45:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – Junior guard McKenna Dale scored a career-high 27 points, and Justine Gaziano netted 21 points – moving into second place in program history in career scoring – but Brown University women's basketball fell at the University of Pennsylvania, 74-60, on Saturday night at The Palestra.

Playing their final road game of the year, the Bears (8-17, 2-10 Ivy) tied the game at 43-43 with 3:17 to go in the third quarter and remained within two possessions at 54-49 with 8:34 to play before the host Quakers (18-7, 8-4 Ivy) – winners of eight of their last 10 games – used an 8-0 run to move ahead 62-49 with 6:49 left and maintained at least a nine-point edge the rest of the way.

"We really competed hard tonight against a very good Penn team," Brown head coach Sarah Behn said. "We stayed within striking distance in the fourth quarter, but give credit to Penn for closing it out."

Gaziano (Natick, Mass.) netted her 21 points on 8-of-13 field goals and 5-of-8 3-pointers, while grabbing six rebounds. She now has 1,787 career points, vaulting into second place in Brown history and 11^th place in Ivy League history, passing Donna Yaffe '85 (1,779 points) and Shayna Mehta '19 (1,785 points).

With her five 3-pointers, she now has 204 career treys, becoming the fourth student-athlete in program history with 200 triples and moving into third place in team history – eclipsing Lauren Clarke '14 (203 3-pointers). Making her 100^th career start, Gaziano scored in double figures for the 87^th time in her career and dropped 20 or more points for the 38^th time.

Dale (Storrs, Conn.) netted her career-high 27 points on 10-of-22 field goals and 5-of-13 3-pointers, while tallying three rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Her five 3-pointers marked a career best. Dale scored in double figures for the 16^th time this year and topped the 20-point mark for the fourth time.

The duo of Gaziano and Dale combined for 48 points on 18-of-35 field goals and 10-of-21 3-pointers.

Junior guard Dominique Leonidas (Stone Mountain, Ga.) notched four points, four assists, and three steals. Sophomore guard Maddie Mullin (Wellesley, Mass.), senior center Haley Green (Salem, Va.), and sophomore forward Ashley Ducharme (Milton, Mass.) corralled, six, five, and four rebounds respectively.

For Penn, Eleah Parker totaled a double-double on 24 points, 14 rebounds, and four blocks, while making 11-of-15 field goals. Phoebe Sterba netted 15 points on five 3-pointers to go with six assists, and Kayla Padilla contributed 18 points.

Each team made double-digit 3-pointers with the Bears hitting 11-of-29 treys (37.9 percent) and the Quakers making 10-of-28 triples (35.7 percent). Penn held edges in points off turnovers (25-10) and points in the paint (30-20).

The Bears opened the game with an 8-3 lead behind baskets from Dale, Ducharme, Gaziano, and Leonidas. The Quakers then used an 11-2 run to pull ahead 14-10. A jumper from Dale and an old-fashioned 3-point play from freshman forward Fiona Finn (West Roxbury, Mass.) kept the Bears within 19-15 at the end of one.

After Penn went ahead 25-15 early in the second quarter, the Bears rattled off 11 consecutive points to pull ahead 26-25 with 5:56 left in the half. Brown hit three straight treys to begin the streak – two from Gaziano, including her 200^th career, and one from Mullin – before a fast break layup from Gaziano capped the stretch. Dale hit a pair of 3-pointers inside of the final 1:13 of the first half as Brown trailed 37-32 at the intermission.

The Bears shot 44.8 percent from the field (13-of-29) and 33.3 percent from 3-point distance (5-of-15) in the first half, including hitting 5-of-10 treys in the second quarter.

After the Quakers pulled ahead 43-35 early in the third quarter, Gaziano scored eight unanswered points, including two 3-pointers, to tie the score at 43-43 with 3:17 left in the frame. A jumper from Leonidas kept the Bears within 50-45 heading to the fourth quarter.

Four points from Dale allowed Brown to stay within 54-49 with 8:34 to play before Penn used an 8-0 spurt to move ahead 62-49 with 6:49 remaining. Dale scored eight points in the final 6:21 and Gaziano hit a 3-pointer, but the hosts held off the comeback attempt.

Next, Brown hosts its final two games of the season against Harvard on Friday, Mar. 6 at 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+) and Dartmouth on Saturday, Mar. 7 at 5:00 p.m. (ESPN+) at the Pizzitola Sports Center.

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.