The Bears lost both their games in the Pizzitola Center this weekend by wide margins, 81-55 to Columbia on Friday and 65-41 to Cornell on Saturday. Their opponents had reason to celebrate because these outcomes allowed them to break some important records.
After beating Brown at home and improving its record to 9-14 overall, 6-3 in the Ivy League, Columbia collected its first season sweep of the Bears since the 2001-02 season. Additionally, the 26-point margin of victory was the Lions largest advantage since their 82-55 win against Dartmouth in 1991.
Cornell was equally impressive. After beating the Bears, the No. 1 team among the Ivies improved its record to 16-6 overall, 9-1 in the Ivy League, setting a school record for conference wins in a season. With an extended winning streak of eight, the Big Red also broke a record for consecutive games won that stood for 33 years.
Despite an early Brown turnover just 20 seconds into the game that led to a three-pointer by Columbia's Brittney Carfora, Brown matched up well against the Lions in the beginning of the first half. After a layup by Sadiea Williams '11 at the 15:29 mark, the Bears were within one point, 10-9.
But Columbia seemed to have just been warming up. The Bears gave up six turnovers after their close encounter with the Lions and, despite a combined ten points from Shae Fitzpatrick '10 and Christina Johnson '10, Brown was unable to bring down their deficit.
For the remainder of the half the Lions went on a 28-11 run, putting the team ahead 40-24 at the half.
Columbia shot 46 percent from the field at the half, while Brown came in with only 22 percent, scoring just five shots of its attempted 23. What kept the Bears in the game at this point was their free throw shooting. They shot 70 percent, beating the Lion's 63 percent at the half.
The second half started out with a layup by Courtney Lee '10. Despite improving their shooting percentage to 48 percent, the Bears were struggling with rebounds, which greatly hindered them throughout the game.
"I think what wasn't working was the fact that we were letting Columbia get tons of second chances. They were out-rebounding us," said captain Annesley O'Neal '08. "What we need to do is focus on getting defensive boards; instead, we're giving teams second and third chances, and that hurt us."
Bruno's turnover rate also stalled any chance at coming back. Columbia scored 30 points off of 26 Brown turnovers and recorded 14 steals .
"We needed to take care of the ball; we started out with multiple turnovers," O'Neal said. "That's kind of the issue."
By the end of the game, all 13 Columbia players got at least three minutes of playing time and four players recorded in double digits for scoring. Brown's bench players also saw some time and O'Neal contributed a lot of the Bear's successes to that spark from off the bench.
After their loss early in the weekend, the Bears jump-started their game against Cornell on Saturday. A lay-up by Ashley Alexander '10 set the tone for the beginning of the first half. Bruno played head to head with the top Ivy League contender, tying twice but remaining in the lead until the 14:32 minute mark when a layup from Moina Snyder put the Big Red ahead by one.
"We know that we can beat anyone, especially in the Ivy League," O'Neal said. "It just felt good to show that we were hanging in with the other team."
Cornell remained in the lead until O'Neal finally scored the equalizer off a jumper, bringing the score to 14-14 with 9:28 left in the half.
But the next six minutes determined the game's conclusion. Cornell went on a 15-2 shooting spree and secured their lead into the second half.
"We actually played with them pretty even in the first half," O'Neal said. "It was that five minute stretch that really killed us."
Williams echoed her teammate's sentiments. "That five minute spurt was what gave them that 12 (points) lead at half time," she said. "That five minute spurt, that dead period absolutely killed us."
The Big Read finished the half ahead, 33-21.
Going into the second half, Cornell played off their first half run. Though neither team scored until a good two minutes into the game when a free throw by Gretchen Gregg ended the scoring drought, Brown didn't get on the boards until the 17:30 mark.
A 10-0 run by the Big Red sealed the deal for good at 59-34 with 5:41 remaining.
Despite outscoring the Big Red in the last 4:28 of the game, Cornell still came out ahead, 65-41.
Brown heads to Princeton and Penn next weekend for their last road trip of the season. "For the most part, this could be a new beginning for the team next year." O'Neal said. "So I think we're just looking to improve and work on our weakness."
