PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The Wheaton College (Mass.) women's basketball team was defeated by host Brown University, 76-24, this afternoon at Pizzitola Sports Center in Providence, R.I.
The Lyons slip to 3-7 on the season, while the Bears have won three of their last four and improve to 8-4. The meeting was the first between the schools and marked the first time ever that Wheaton has played a Division I school since the lines of Division became more defined following the first-ever Division III Championship game played in 1982.
Neither team shot well from long range with Brown holding the Lyons to just 8.8% (3-34) from beyond the three-point arc, but only managed to shoot 17.9% (5-28) itself. Wheaton shot 17.5% (10-57) overall and the Bears took advantage with a 69-30 rebounding advantage, including 27 offensive caroms that translated to 33 second chance points. Brown's defense held the Lyons to just three points in both the second and fourth quarters.
Senior forward Regan Keyter (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) netted six points to go with three rebounds, an assist, a steal and a blocked shot for Wheaton, while sophomore guard Daniella MacDonald (Newtown, Pa.) scored six points and grabbed three boards in 16 minutes off the bench.
Senior guard Grace Arnolie (Vienna, Va.) led Brown with 13 points on 6-8 shooting and added two rebounds, three assists and four steals in 13 minutes of action. She was one of 10 players to score for the Bears. Senior forward Alyssa Moreland (Beverly, Mass.) was a perfect 5-5 from the floor to score 10 points and finished one rebound shy of a double-double with nine in addition to handing out a pair of assists, picking up a steal and blocking a shot in 11 minutes of action. Sophomore guard Monét Witherspoon (Saint Louis, Mo.) contributed with 10 points and seven rebounds in 20 minutes off the bench and sophomore guard Sela Klein (Wilmette, Ill.) dropped in 11 points, pulled down four boards and dished for four assists.
Grace and Keyter traded baskets within the first minute of play to see the teams tied at 2-2 with 9:07 to go in the opening quarter. It was as close as the Lyons would get for the rest of the afternoon.
MacDonald drained a three-pointer with 5:48 to play in the quarter to cut the deficit to 8-5 for Wheaton, but Brown closed out the period with a 13-3 run, led by four points from Moreland to cap the quarter and give the home team a 21-8 advantage.
The Bears scored the first 16 points to open the second quarter, fueled by seven points from Anolie, to give Brown a commanding 37-8 cushion with 2:44 to play in the quarter. Junior forward Cheyenne Colbert (Brookline, N.H.) buried a three-pointer to stop the run and make it 37-11 for the Lyons. The Bears scored the final four points of the half, including a layup from Witherspoon to give them a 41-11 halftime lead.
Wheaton scored four of the first six points on layups from Colbert and first year guard Sydney MacCalla (Middletown, N.Y.) to pull the Lyons within 43-15 with 8:55 showing on the third quarter clock. Brown finished the quarter by outscoring its guests, 22-6, behind five points from Klein, to take a 65-21 advantage after three quarters of action.
Witherspoon made a layup for the first points of the fourth quarter, before Keyter countered with a layup for Wheaton to make it 67-23 at the 6:33 mark of the period. MacDonald later made one of two free throws for the Lyons to cut the difference to 72-24, before senior forward Ada Anamekwe (Dallas, Texas) scored consecutive layups to set the final for the Bears.
Wheaton returns to action on Friday, January 2 when it travels to Brunswick, Maine to take on Bowdoin College at 5:30 p.m., while Brown heads to New Haven, Conn. to play Yale University in the Ivy League opener on January 5 at 5:00 p.m.
