The women’s basketball team (11-14, 4-9 Ivy League) lost 83-55 in their final home game this weekend against the top-ranked Columbia (22-4, 11-2). The game was senior night for the Bears, where the team honored players Lexi Love ’23, Myla Cox ’23, Maddie Mullin ’23 and team managers Jeffrey So ’23 and Adiza Alasa ’23.
“This season was my favorite. I love my teammates. We had a lot of freshmen come in, but I really grew to like them a lot. It's fun to play with players that have fun,” Love told The Herald after the game.
Brown’s performance was led by Kyla Jones ’24, who scored 27 points and had four steals in the 83-55 loss to the Lions.
“I just say to myself, I know I'm good at getting to the rim and I just have to keep the mindset that people can't guard me,” Jones said.
The game started with seniors Love, Mullin and Cox in the starting lineup, who delivered Brown an early lead of 9-2.
“I thought (the seniors) played really, really hard today and … they've been great teammates and they were ready for this moment,” said Head Coach Monique LeBlanc. “They got us off to a great start … I was excited for them to be able to compete in front of all their family and friends.”
The Bears struggled in the first quarter, allowing a 20-0 scoring run for the Lions, giving them a 22-9 lead. Brown also allowed Columbia long possessions with multiple offensive rebounds. Columbia continued to remain ahead and finished the quarter up 24-14.
The Bears were unable to catch up to the Lions in the second quarter, conceding eight points on fast breaks. The Bears also dropped in shooting percentage, shooting at 42.86% — down from 50% in the first — and 33.33% from behind the arc, down from 50% in the first. Brown was outscored in the second quarter 22-14, putting them down 46-28 going into half-time.
The Bears came out stronger defensively in the third quarter, but they struggled with rebounds. Bruno allowed for 10 second-chance points, which accounted for over half of the Lions’ 19 points in the third quarter.
“We held them to 37% of the field, 25% from three, but they turned 25 whole boards into 26 free throws,” LeBlanc explained. Columbia is “a really great team and the more chances they got led to us fouling ultimately,” she added.
The Bears’ offense remained stagnant as well, shooting only 1-9 from behind the arc, and making only six of their 16 shots in the third quarter.
Entering the fourth quarter the Bears trailed 65-42. Despite holding the Lions to 31.58% shooting during the final quarter, the Bears’ offense was unable to make up ground, and the game ended 83-55 for Columbia.
This game was the last at the Pizzitola Sports Center for graduating seniors, who will play their final game of the season next weekend at Yale.
“We have a lot of fun memories with them,” Jones said. “We couldn't get enough of them, but I know they're gonna do great things later on in life.”
Next week’s game against Yale will be streamed live on ESPN+.
Dennis Carey is a Sports editor who enjoys playing volleyball, listening to and collecting vinyl records and poorly playing the guitar in his spare time.
