Women's basketball drops tough contest at Harvard, 77-73

Friday, February 4

Cambridge, Mass.

6:00 p.m.

Brown University

5-14, 0-7Ivy

Harvard

11-9, 5-3Ivy

Brown

Harvard

Photo by: David Silverman Photography

Women's basketball drops tough contest at Harvard, 77-73

2/4/2022 9:23:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Brown women's basketball came up just shy of a big win at Harvard on Friday (Feb. 4) in a 73-77 defeat. The Bears finished with four players in double-figures.

Brown (5-14, 0-7 Ivy) scored its third-most points of the season and the most in Ivy League play this year. Kyla Jones led the Bears with 18 points, going 6-for-8 from the free throw line. Mya Murray posted her first-career double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, shooting 7-for-12 from the field. Charlotte Jewell added 12 points and eight rebounds and Isabella Mauricio finished with 10 points.

Harvard (11-9, 5-3 Ivy) jumped out to a 21-9 lead halfway through the first quarter, harkening back to the first meeting between the two teams but Brown did not let the game slip away early. Down ten, Brown got a free throw from Grace Kirk, two from Amanda Latkany and a basket from Jones to beat the buzzer to trail by just five after one quarter.

"I love to see the resiliency from the team. We emphasize growth mindset in the program and we just want to take every game as an opportunity to get better," said Monique LeBlanc, Elizabeth F. Turner '98 Coaching Chair for Women's Basketball. "Credit to our team for overcoming a really hot start by Harvard. Harvard is a really good first quarter team and I am proud of our team for coming back after that."

Brown trailed by eight with just over six minutes left in the second quarter when the Bears started a run. Latkany hit a jumper and Murray picked up two layups after passes by Mauricio to cut Harvard's lead to two. Brown pulled within one twice during the rest of the quarter after a three by Kirk and a layup by Mauricio but Harvard had a response every time and took a five-point advantage in to the second half.

The Bears brought strong energy out of the locker room with a three-point play by Murray and a three by Mauricio to cut Harvard's lead to one but the Crimson would push the lead to 12 with a 13-2 run over the next four minutes. The game remained deadlocked for the rest of the quarter as Harvard led by 10 with ten minutes to play.

Harvard took a 13-point lead after a McKenzie Forbes three. Forbes led Harvard with 19 points, scoring all of her points in the second half. With their backs against the wall, the Bears held Harvard scoreless over the next three minutes as Brown climbed back in the game. Jewell, Murray, Jones and Latkany all scored during a 9-0 run pulled Brown within four before Harvard got a three.

Jones went 1-for-2 from the free throw line with just over two minutes left to cut the lead to two and hit another free throw after Harvard split a pair, making the game 75-73 with just over a minute left.

Brown committed two turnovers over the next two minutes and were never able to get a shot off with a chance to tie as Harvard closed out the game from the free throw line.

"To win one of these close games, we definitely need to execute and take care of the basketball better," said LeBlanc. "When we do that and come out on the other end it is going to give us that extra confidence."

UP NEXT
Brown will travel up to Hanover, N.H. for a meeting with Dartmouth on Saturday (Feb. 5). The game against the Big Green will tip off at 4 p.m. on ESPN+.