The women’s basketball team (8-10, 1-5 Ivy League) lost to New York’s Columbia (16-3, 5-1) by a final score of 94-74 on Saturday afternoon. The Bears are on a three-game losing streak after earning their first win against Dartmouth earlier this month against Ivy.
The Bears surrendered against the conference-leading Lions, scoring more points than they did earlier this year against Ivy. Bruno’s offense is led by guard Kyla Jones ’24, who is the team’s top scorer and currently ranks third in the conference in points per game. Jones rounded out the stats with 22 points, 5 assists and 7 rebounds.
“Getting to the rim has worked for me all season and it worked for me Saturday night,” Jones wrote in an email to the Herald via Brown Athletics. , the defense collapsed, making it easier for teammates to kick out or throw a pass.”
Monique LeBlanc, head coach of the women’s basketball team, emailed The Herald through Brown Athletics, saying, “Kyra has been excellent all season. She’s a great finisher and has an offensive mindset.” It really helps set the tone for our team.”
Jones is one of the few major Bears starters to miss time in the team’s current losing streak. She was absent against Yale on January 16 and she was absent against Princeton on January 14. Leahy ’26 for two games in a row on Saturday.
“With some rotation players injured, there was an opportunity for others to step in and play more time,” LeBlanc wrote. “They had their number ready to be called and they did a very good job.”
Isabella Mauricio ’25, the team’s top three-point shooter, also played an impressive but unusual attack. She scored 15 points, but missed her first five attempts, just 1-for-6 from behind the arc.
“Colombia are really good at denying easy passes on the perimeter and my shot didn’t fall,” Mauricio wrote in an email to the Herald via Brown Athletics. I tried it and had some success that way.”
Jones and Mauricio helped the Bears shoot 46% from the field. This is the highest field goal percentage ever in Ivy.
However, the Colombian offense, which ranks first in the Ivy League in points per game, field goal percentage and 3-point percentage, proved too strong for Bruno. After two and a half minutes of play, the game was tied at nine each, with the Lions going on a 19-8 run to take a commanding lead that the Bears were unable to overcome.
Five Lions scored in double digits. Among them is Abbie Shue, who was Ivy’s top scorer in his league and his second-most three-point shot in the NCAA. He tallied his 26 points, 3 assists and 6 rebounds, and from behind 3 points he scored 7 buckets. line. Shue, who scored 20 total points against Columbia’s Cornell, was named Player of the Week by the Ivy League on Monday and by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association on Tuesday.
“In order to keep the score low and go for the win, (Sue) needed to do a better job of preventing her from getting such open looks,” Mauricio wrote.
The Bears were also rebounded 49–26 by the Lions, who scored 26 points on second-chance attempts.
“The thing that stands out the most to me is the fact that he gave up 21 offensive rebounds,” Jones wrote. “When you play against a team as talented as Columbia, you can’t afford to give them many offensive possessions.”
“The next time we face them, we need to do a better job of limiting three-point attempts and second-chance opportunities,” LeBlanc wrote.
The Bears will look to come out of a three-game slump in front of the crowd at home to Cornell on Saturday afternoon. This matchup marks the end of the first half of Bruno’s Ivy play.
“We’re really focused on playing great basketball against Cornell on Saturday and getting back on the winning line,” LeBlanc wrote. We know we have to be really strong on the edge of the floor on Saturday, including being a great rebounding team.”
Cornell “is a win we have to get and we know we can get it,” Mauricio wrote. I have.”
Get The Herald delivered to your inbox every day.
