Women cruise past Brown to open Ivy weekend

There is much to be said about opening up strong and controlling the pace of a game.

So when Brown went on an 11-0 run against the women’s basketball team midway through the first half Friday at the Palestra, the Quakers had an early lead to cushion the blow.

Despite the setback, the Red and Blue cruised to a 55-43 victory.

Following two double-digit victories, Penn (10-12, 4-4 Ivy) jumped out of the gate early, making seven of its first 10 shots from the field.

“Coming into a game, we want to be the ones to set the tone,” said captain Caroline Nicholson, who finished with a career-high 12 points.

Halfway into the first frame, it looked as if the Quakers would easily do away with a Brown (7-16, 3-6) team they had trounced earlier in year, as they built a 21-13 lead.

But a typically stellar Penn defense exposed its weakness and the Bears took advantage. Brown crawled its way back into the game, as it went on that 11-0 run to take a 24-21 lead right before the half.

“We re-energized at halftime,” coach Mike McLaughlin said. “Their will to win is very strong, and that had a lot to do with it.”

The defense returned to form in the second half, though, as it stopped giving the Bears easy access to the basket and forced them to shoot from beyond the arc, where they were a measly 2-for-17 on the game.

With a renewed defensive effort, the Red and Blue pulled ahead to a comfortable margin.

After nailing a three-pointer with 12:12 remainin — which gave the Quakers their first double-digit lead of the game — an excited Alyssa Baron pumped her fist in celebration as Brown called a desperate timeout. After that, the Bears couldn’t cut their deficit to less than 12 points.

The freshman phenom scored a game-high 24 points, and added six rebounds and five assists.

McLaughlin was not surprised by Baron’s performance, despite last weekend’s struggles when she was held to eight and 10 points against Columbia and Harvard, respectively.

“I knew she’d have a big game tonight,” he said. “She’s a competitor.”

Playing away from home “takes a toll on the body,” Baron said. “We want to take advantage of the home court, and we definitely are so far.”

“People should be scared to come in here and play us,” Nicholson added.

Despite making history, the Quakers are not yet content. McLaughlin was hesitant to speak of his team’s historic accomplishments.

“They still have a lot more they want to achieve,” he said.

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