Browne and Frazier Help Lions on D

Although it has only occurred three times, Barnard Night has become a proud tradition for the Columbia women’s basketball team. Out of the fourteen players on the squad, four are Barnard student-athletes. Of those four, three are currently eligible to play, and two of those three—sophomores Danielle Browne and Chelsea Frazier—log significant playing time. However, while they had strong defensive performances in Friday night’s matchup against Dartmouth, Browne and Frazier did little offensively on the night dedicated to their college.

Browne, who entered the weekend averaging 10.7 points per game, is known for driving to the basket. If she doesn’t make a lay-up on a play, she usually draws a foul and goes to the line to shoot two free throws. However, as one of Columbia’s two scoring leaders—she was tied with senior Michele Gage in points per contest—Dartmouth knew it had to limit her opportunities to slash to the hoop. Browne only scored four points on two of five field goal attempts, but the Lions clawed their way out of an 11-point hole and beat the Big Green in dramatic fashion, 58-55.

“I realized early on that the type of defense they were playing was going to limit my shot selection,” Browne said, “but it really didn’t stop me from doing other things.”

To prove this point, one need only look at the box score. Browne dished out five assists—up from her average of 4.4 per game entering Friday’s matchup—and pulled down four defensive rebounds in the win.

Frazier returned to Columbia’s lineup on Friday after missing three games due to a dislocated shoulder. She immediately made her presence known on the boards—after being on the court for less than 20 seconds, she pulled down her first offensive rebound of the night. Just one minute later, she grabbed one of her four defensive boards. Because Frazier was limited in practice during the week due to her injury and only played 17 minutes against Dartmouth, it is impressive that she came close to the rebounding average with which she entered the game (6.9 rebounds per game).

“I thought that she gave us what we needed in terms of her defensive presence and her rebounding,” head coach Paul Nixon said. “The problem with her injury is that it’s not like a banged-up ankle or something where she can still work on her shooting and doing some other things. I mean, basically she’s been on a bike for two weeks.”

As evidence of this, Frazier only scored four points. In addition, she fouled out of the game with 4:27 left to play.

Despite providing little offense, Browne and Frazier made some important contributions to the team. The Lions, who are undefeated on Barnard Night, picked up a win that has kept them in the race for the Ivy League championship.

“Barnard Night is becoming a very, very strong tradition for our women’s basketball team,” Nixon said.

Columbia could not maintain its strength on Saturday night and lost to Harvard, but the Light Blue is 5-3 in the Ancient Eight and is tied with Dartmouth for third place in the conference standings.