Women's basketball falls just short in season opener against Fairfield

Monday, November 7

Providence, R.I.

7:00 p.m.

Brown University

0-1,0-0Ivy Leag

Fairfield

1-0,0-0MAAC

Fairfield

Brown

Photo by: Chip DeLorenzo

Women's basketball falls just short in season opener against Fairfield

11/7/2022 9:41:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Brown women's basketball fell just short of an opening night win, falling to Fairfield, 62-52 on Monday night.

Brown (0-1) was led by Kyla Jones with 21 points and freshman Grace Arnolie had 11. Gianna Aiello led Brown on the boards with nine rebounds and Mya Murray had seven rebounds and four blocks.

"Kyla [Jones] is such a dynamic player and we count on her being aggressive," said Monique LeBlanc, Elizabeth F. Turner '98 Coaching Chair for Women's Basketball. "We want her to keep being aggressive and she is coming off a great year being the go-to kid. She is so even keel she can handle the ups and downs of games and stay aggressive."

The Bears fell behind early to Fairfield (1-0), trailing 19-7 after one quarter but Brown cut the lead to six at 27-21 going into halftime.

Things turned for Brown in the third quarter as the Bears hit 47 percent of their shots and held Fairfield to just 27 percent. Jones led the charge for the Bears with 11 points in the third quarter and Brown used a 16-1 run, including 12-straight to take the lead.

Down 12, Page Greenburg started the run with a jumper, followed by a three-point play by Jones off a steal to cut the lead to seven. Jones scored the next four points to make it a three-point game and Arnolie went 1-for-2 from the free throw line to inch Brown closer. After a block by Murray, Jones raced the other way for a layup to tie the game.

A free throw put Fairfield back up one but Arnolie had back-to-back buckets and Murray had another block to give Brown with 41-38 lead to end the third quarter.

"I though the group that was in during the third quarter did a great job compounding stop after stop and staying aggressive," said LeBlanc. "Some of the newcomers brought that defensive energy and made some exciting plays."

Jones hit another layup to push the lead to five but Fairfield closed the gap and took a one-point lead on a bucked from Callie Cavanaugh to jump back ahead. Two free throws from Cavanaugh, who led all scorers with 36 points, put Fairfield up three at 52-49 but Brown answered right back with a three from Mackenzie Leahy to tie the game.

The bucket by Leahy would be the last points Brown would score as Fairfield closed out the game on a 10-0 run for the final margin.

UP NEXT
Brown will hit the road for two games as the Bears will travel to Duquesne on Friday (Nov. 11) and Wagner on Sunday (Nov. 13).

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