Providence, R.I. - Lauren Clarke led four players in double figures, finishing with 17 points as Brown defeated UAlbany, 65-53, in non-conference women's basketball action on Saturday evening at the Pizzitola Sports Center. The Bears claimed their first win of the season with the victory, while UAlbany dropped to 2-2 with its second straight loss.

            Brown led from the start as Sheila Dixon recorded a steal and Aileen Daniels finished off with a layup to give the Bears a 2-0 lead just 20 seconds into play. Brown continued to build on its lead as a layup by Dixon, who finished with 14 points in the game, added two on a layup at 13:46 to give the Bears a 10-5 advantage. Brown then scored the next seven points of the game before UAlbany ended the run on a jumper by Cassandra Callaway to pull UAlbany within nine, 16-7, with just under eight minutes left to play in the first half.

Brown continued to build its lead after the halftime break, getting ahead by 20 on two free throws by Passafuime, who scored 12 points in the game. However, UAlbany started to rally on a layup by Keyana Williams, and cut the lead back to 13, at 36-21 on a basket by Ebone Henry. Sarah Royals nailed a 3-pointer to get the Great Danes back to within 10 at 12:02, and UAlbany scored 13 of the next 17 points, to pull within 44-41 with 7:30 left to play. Henry sunk three straight 3-pointers in the rally before Passafuime went 2-for-2 from the free throw line to end the stretch. Another of Henry's five treys in the game closed the gap to 46-45, before Royals converted a layup to give UAlbany its first lead of the game.

The Bears would not fade away, however, as a pair of shots from the charity stripe from Passafuime and a 3-pointer by Clarke put Brown back on top by five with just under four minutes to go. The Bears, who shot 21-of-30 from the free throw line in the game, used strong shooting from the line down the stretch, building up another 10-point advantage on two shots by Danield with under a minute to go. Callaway nailed a jumper to pull UAlbany back within single digits with 26 seconds to play but Clarke went 4-for-4 in the final seconds to seal up the Brown victory.

Henry scored a game-high 20 points, including a career-high five 3-pointers, while Forster finished with a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds. Tabitha Makopondo chipped in with eight points, including a 4-for-6 performance from the free throw line, and five boards in the contest. Nickel chipped in with 14 points for Brown (1-2), while Clarke finished with nine rebounds, two assists and one steal.

UAlbany (2-2) will return to action on Tuesday, visiting Toledo at 7 p.m. in non-conference play.

 Brown 65, UAlbany 53 (11/19/11 at Pizzitola Sports Center)