The Brown women’s basketball team (5-6) defeated the Bryant Bulldogs (7-3) 53-50, in a tight matchup at the Pizzitola Sports Center on Tuesday evening. First-year guard Gia Powell continues to break her own career-highs, posting 21 points against Bryant. She previously posted a career-high 20 points against Providence on Dec. 7. Junior guard Grace Arnolie posted double figures for her fourth game in a row with 18 points against the Bulldogs. “I think that Bryant had really strong interior play, really strong post play, and they were making it tough for us to get downhill, and for our guards to get to the rim like they typically like to do. Elizabeth F. Turner ’98 Coaching Chair for Women’s Basketball Monique LeBlanc said. “We were trying to encourage our guards to be confident and stay aggressive with the options that are open. Gia is a really good scorer, and so is Grace, so we try to keep it simple: take what is there, take what they are giving you. Some of our other players Alyssa Moreland, and Beth Nelson did a nice job trying to set a screen ahead of those actions to help loosen up the defense and get them a little bit of a head start.” The Bears rounded out the first ten minutes with a five point lead over the Bulldogs. Grace Arnolie got the Brown on the board right off the tip, with a driving layup. Scoring bounced between the Bears and Bulldogs for the majority of the quarter. Gia Powell hit a clutch three-pointer to help push Brown’s lead to 17-11. Powell capped off the quarter with a driving layup to set the Bears at 19 points. Bryant hit a free throw with 30 seconds remaining, but trailed the Bears by five. Brown continued to up their lead in the second quarter, posting 12 points to Bryant’s eight. Halfway through the quarter, Grace Arnolie stole the ball off of Bryant’s Mimi Rubino. Arnolie took the ball down to the court, and fed the ball to Isabella Mauricio to grab the pair of points. Gianna Aiello hit a layup to finish out the quarter 31-22 with an 11 point edge over Bryant. Halfway through the third quarter, Bryant’s Silvia Gonzalez hit a three to tie things up 33-33. The Bulldogs’ Ali Brigham hit a layup to give Bryant a two point advantage. Grace Arnolie hit a jumper, erasing the Bulldogs’ edge. The score was knotted at 35 at the close of the third quarter. The contest would come down to the final 10 minutes of regulation. Bryant went on a six point run around the halfway mark of the quarter. Gia Powell put an end to it with two pull-ups. A couple of free throw points from Beth Nelson would even the playing field once again. Grace Arnolie went on to hit two triples to give the Bears a three point edge, which would go on to win them the game, 53-50. UP NEXT The Brown women’s basketball team will return to action on Dec. 21 when they host the University of New Hampshire Wildcats at the Pizzitola Sports Center. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. Categories: Sports