The women’s basketball team will be looking for revenge Saturday when the squad faces Brown in Providence, R.I., at 2 p.m.

Yale (5-11, 0-3 Ivy) fell to the Bears (8-8, 3-0) last Friday night at the John J. Lee Amphitheater by a score of 67-55. But the Brown loss was closer than the final score implied. The Bulldogs, who have not played since that loss, trailed by two points at halftime and only six points with three minutes remaining in the game before Brown pulled away.

“We need to maintain our intensity for a full 40 minutes,” senior center Lily Glick said. “We basically let our guard down in the second half.”

Perhaps the most encouraging sign from the game was Yale’s play in the first half. The Bulldogs raced out to a 12-2 lead five minutes into the game and shot 46 percent from the floor in the opening half.

And, as they prepare for tomorrow’s contest, the Elis know exactly what they must change from the team’s first meeting. The last game began to fall apart for the Bulldogs in the second half because of sloppy ball handling and Brown’s consistent offense. And Yale has been focused on correcting those two issues this week in practice.

“We need to pay attention to detail in executing our offense,” head coach Amy Backus said.

Yale also needs to be more focused on the defensive end of the court.

“We have to be better at defending Brown’s middle penetration,” Backus said. “Brown does a great job of cutting to the basket.”

Scoring easy transition baskets, the Bears shot an impressive 46 percent from the floor as they pulled away from Yale in the second half of Friday’s contest.

“Brown was shooting so many lay-ups because of our turnovers,” Backus said. “Without those lay-ups, the shooting percentage is in a more normal range.”

For the third game in a row, Brown will miss its leading scorer Barbara Maloni, who is still sidelined by a foot injury. The Bulldogs hope to capitalize on her absence more than they did a week ago.

The Bulldogs will also look to the improved play of point guard Brynn Gingras ’04. Gingras returned from illness last Friday against Brown to lead all scorers with 17 points.

While Yale has had the week off, Brown fell to Stony Brook Wednesday night in a sloppy 60-57 loss. The Bears committed 32 turnovers and 21 fouls as they had their three-game winning streak snapped.

Without an opponent this week, Yale has focused on the Brown game since Saturday.

“In this week, we’ve had the opportunity to work on improving our game,” Glick said. “Rather than having to prepare for two opponents, we’ve been concentrating on this game.”

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