Brown Can’t Hold On To Second Half Lead Against #25 Princeton

The Brown women’s basketball team hung tough against No. 25 Princeton before the Tigers used a series of runs in the fourth quarter to take control and hold off Brown by a score of 74-62 on Friday night at the Pizzitola Sports Center. The game was presented by Fab Living Realty.

Brown outscored the Tigers 44-35 over the second and third quarters and held the lead for a good portion of the third quarter before Princeton clamped down over the final 10 minutes. Sophomore Grace Arnolie had a game-high 18 points to go with five assists, freshman Olivia Young added 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting with seven rebounds, and junior Isabella Mauricio set a new career-high with six rebounds. Senior Kyla Jones finished with 15 points, eight rebounds and two assists, leaving her with 999 points for her career.

After an Ada Anamekwe layup to start the game, Princeton took a 9-2 lead on three straight threes forcing a Brown timeout at 6:38. Mauricio broke a 16-2 Tigers run with a three of her own to make it 16-7.

Trailing 20-10 after one, Brown ripped off seven straight points to force a timeout following a three from Young and consecutive layups by Jones to make it 24-17 at 5:59.

Trailing 27-17, Brown used a 12-5 run to close the half to make it a three-point game headed to the locker room. Arnolie used a hoop and a foul to pull Brown within three in the final minute and Mya Murray came away with a huge block at the rim as time expired to keep it 32-29 at the break.

Brown took its first lead right out of the gate by scoring the first five points in the third on a Jones triple and layup from Young to extend their run to 11-2. Brown retook the lead with an 8-0 run to go up 44-38 following three-pointers from Young and Arnolie, and a steal and breakaway layup from Jones with just over five minutes remaining.

An 11-2 Tigers run gave them a 51-49 lead, but Arnolie tied it up with two free throws with just over a minute left in the third quarter. Princeton pulled away with a 10-1 run midway through the fourth quarter and scored nine of the game’s final 11 points to hold off the Bears.

Brown will return to action on Saturday afternoon with a 5 p.m. tip against Penn, with both teams entering the matchup tied for the fourth and final spot to qualify for the upcoming Ivy Madness Tournament.