SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — Ivy League Brown University's women's basketball team will play its first-ever game against Dominican University of California in the Conlan Center on Thursday night, December 29, in the “Holiday Ivy Classic.”

The non-league game matches up-and-coming women's basketball programs from private institutions of higher education that stress the academics-athletics balance. Both universities are currently led by female presidents – Dominican President Mary B. Marcy and Brown President Ruth J. Simmons.

Brown's NCAA Division I student-athletes are listed among the Top 20 of the College Sports Honor Roll, according to U.S. News and World Report, while Dominican's student-athletes are two-time defending winners of the NCAA Division II's Pacific West Conference's Academic Achievement Award.

“We are excited and delighted to have such a reputable Ivy League school and an NCAA Division I program coming to our gymnasium,” said Dominican Director of Athletics Terry Tumey. “These are the type of opportunities that come with Dominican being NCAA Division II.”

The Bears (6-4) have not played since a 61-57 win over Vermont on Dec. 7. They are coached by Jan Marie Burr, who is in her 24th season at the helm of the Brown's women's basketball program. She is a national lecturer who recently was inducted into the University of New Hampshire Athletic Hall of Honor as well as the New England Basketball Hall of Fame.

Brown's leading scorer and rebounder this season is junior guard Sheila Dixon, a Political Science major. Two other key players for the Bears are senior Hannah Passafuime out of Soquel High School near Santa Cruz whose concentration is in Education and Public Policy and junior Lindsay Nickel from Pinewood High School in Los Altos. Her concentration is Community Health.

Among notable Brown University alumni are John D. Rockefeller Jr., John F. Kennedy Jr., CNN founder and media mogul Ted Turner and ESPN anchor Chris Berman.

Dr. Bernard von Bothmer, a history instructor at Dominican, is a Brown alumnus. He is author of Framing The Sixties: The Use and Abuse of a Decade from Ronald Reagan to George W. Bush.

Dominican's women's basketball team, coached by Brianna Chambers, is led by senior Te Manu Whakataki "Taki" Te Koi, a Biological Sciences major from New Zealand, sophomore Psychology major Kayla Valentine who leads the team in scoring,  6-foot-4 freshman Nursing major Sarah Nelson and Arts History major Melissa Wise, a junior from Novato and Marin Catholic High School.

All Brown and Dominican alumni will be admitted to the game at half price. Game time is 7:00 p.m.