Women’s basketball loses in high-scoring affair against Columbia

BY LINUS LAWRENCE SPORTS EDITOR

The women’s basketball team (8-10, 1-5 Ivy League) fell to Columbia (163, 5-1) in New York on Saturday afternoon by a final score of 94-74. The Bears have now lost three straight games after earning their first win in Ivy play against Dartmouth earlier this month.

The Bears both scored and surrendered more points against the conference-leading Lions than in any of their previous Ivy matchups this year. Bruno’s offense was led by guard Kyla Jones ’24, the team’s top scorer who currently sits third in the conference in points per game. Jones filled up the stat sheet with 22 points, five assists and seven rebounds.

“Getting to the rim is something that has been working for me all season long and it continued to work for me on Saturday night,” Jones wrote in an email to The Herald through Brown Athletics. “As I started knocking down shots it caused the defense to collapse, making my teammates more open for easy kick outs and dump off passes.”

“Kyla has been excellent all season,” Monique LeBlanc, head coach of the women’s basketball team, wrote in an email to The Herald through Brown Athletics. “She’s a great finisher and has an attack mindset, and that really helps set the tone for our team.”

Jones is one of a few key Bears starters who have missed time amidst the team’s current losing streak — she was sidelined in previous matchups against Yale on Jan. 16 and Princeton on Jan. 14. Bruno was also without regulars Charlotte Jewell ’24 and Mackenzie Leahy ’26 for the second straight game on Saturday.

“With some of our rotational players injured there has been opportunity for others to step in and play more minutes,” LeBlanc wrote. “They’ve been ready for their number to be called, and they’ve done a very good job.”

Isabella Mauricio ’25, the team’s top three-point shooter, also had an impressive, though atypical, offensive showing. She racked up 15 points but went just 1-for-6 from behind the arc, missing her first five attempts.

“Columbia was really good at denying the easy pass on the perimeter and my shot wasn’t falling,” Mauricio wrote in an email to The Herald through Brown Athletics. “So I tried to back door a lot more and was able to get some success that way.”

Jones and Mauricio helped the Bears shoot 46% from the field, their highest field goal percentage in Ivy play to date.

But Columbia’s offense — ranked first in the Ivy League in points per game, field goal percentage and three-point percentage — proved too powerful for Bruno. With the game tied at nine apiece after two and a half minutes of play, the Lions went on a 19-8 run to take a commanding lead which the Bears were unable to overcome.

Five different Lions posted double-digit scoring efforts, including Abbey Hsu — the Ivy League’s top scorer and second in three-pointers in the NCAA — who had 26 points, three assists and six rebounds, with seven buckets coming from behind the threepoint line. Hsu, who totaled 20 points in Columbia’s previous game against Cornell, was named player of the week by the Ivy League on Monday and by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association on Tuesday.

“We definitely needed to do a better job at preventing (Hsu) from getting such open looks to keep that score lower and have a shot at winning,” Mauricio wrote.

The Bears were also outrebounded 49-26 by the Lions, who scored 26 points on second-chance attempts.

“What sticks out the most to me is the fact that we gave up 21 offensive rebounds,” Jones wrote. “When you play a team as talented as Columbia, we just can’t afford to give them so many extra possessions on offense.”

“We’ll need to do a better job limiting their three-point attempts and second-chance opportunities next time we play them,” LeBlanc wrote.

The Bears will look to snap out of their three-game slump in front of a home crowd against Cornell on Saturday afternoon. The matchup will mark the conclusion of the first half of Ivy play for Bruno.

“We are really focused on playing great basketball against Cornell on Saturday to get back in the win column,” LeBlanc wrote. “Our team is at our best when our defense is fueling our offense. We know that we have to be really strong on that end of the floor, including being a great rebounding team, on Saturday.”

Cornell is “a win we must have, and know we can get,” Mauricio wrote. “Hopefully once we get a win, we can carry that momentum into the second half of Ivy play.” layup to give the Bears an eight-point lead. The Lions hit a late three to cut the margin to five points, making the score 51-46 entering halftime.

Owusu-Anane opened the scoring for Brown to begin the second half, hitting a layup to give Bruno a seven-point lead. Cooley soon ignited the Bears’ offense with a jumper and a steal, sending him flying into the stands, before an explosive 14-point run capped by Perry Cowan ’23 scoring a three that extended the lead to 71-50.

“Aaron Cooley gave us an unbelievable spark to start the half, (scoring) a bucket and then (diving) into the fifth row (to get) us a steal,” Martin said. “We need everyone to play with that confidence and that edge.”

Owusu-Anane, displaying his command of the game, snagged two offensive rebounds and hit a layup over two defenders, giving the Bears a 17-point lead of 85-68 with 4:30 left in the contest.

“He’s a bull down there,” Martin said of Owusu-Anane’s aggressive play. “He’s tough and he’s got an unbelievable motor.”

Although the Lions shed a few points off their deficit, the Bears ultimately prevailed by a final score of 97-85.

All five starters for Brown, along with Lewis off the bench, scored in double figures in the Bears’ highest scoring output of the season. Owusu-Anane — with career highs in points and rebounds — helped carry Bruno to the victory, shooting a strong 11-23 from the field and 2-5 from three-point range. Lilly Jr. added 16 points, the second most on the team.

“There’s a lot we can improve upon, but we took care of the ball offensively (and) didn’t turn it over,” Martin said. “We shared the basketball really well, and we didn’t give up too many second chance points.”

Bruno shot 39-78 from the field and 6-17 from behind the arc. Notably, the

Bears converted on 13 of 16 free throw attempts, significantly outperforming their season average of 59.5% from the charity stripe. The Bears outrebounded the Lions 41 to 30 in addition to recording more assists, steals and blocks and fewer turnovers.

Throughout January, Brown played five other Ivy League opponents. They split the six games evenly, defeating Dartmouth, Princeton and Columbia, while losing to Penn, Harvard and Yale.

In a narrow upset against Princeton, the top team in the Ivy League, Lilly erate $250 million in tax revenue over the next 40 years, along with over $86 million in construction wages.

Jr. scored 26 points and Owusu-Anane contributed in all facets, tallying eight points, eight rebounds, five assists, four steals and two blocks. With competitive play in December and January, Bruno has risen to fifth in the Ivy League rankings.

The Bears look to improve their record when they face off against Cornell Saturday, Jan. 28, at 2 p.m. on the road. The game will be available to stream on ESPN+.

“The project will bring energy and vitality to the city,” Malachowski wrote. “Six hundred eighteen residential units will house close to 900 people who will add to the mix and flavor of Providence. Local businesses will also benefit from their presence.”

At the meeting, Eric Zuena, managing principal of ZDS, the architecture firm that designed the tower, presented side-by-side views of the new design compared to the version issued for review in September 2019. He highlighted changes regarding planned floor use, construction materials and four requested zoning variances for the project.

Residential units jumped from 557 to 618 with the redesign, while parking spaces were reduced from 333 to 166. “We think that satisfies all our market needs for these 600-plus units,” Zuena said at the meeting.

Following the design presentation at the meeting, Tim Love from Utile, Inc. — a consultant for the commission — presented recommendations regarding the new design. Before the meeting, Utile sent a memo to the commission recommending that they not approve the project until Fane makes “significant design revisions.”

Love cited several conerns with the new design, including wind impacts and design changes impacting the building’s aesthetic and functional fit with the city.

The protruding balconies of the original design are considered best practice to mitigate wind impacts around the structure, but the smoother airfoil shape of the new design “can create adverse wind effects,” Love said at the meeting. Utile’s analysis showed that those effects would impact the adjacent Providence Innovation District Park, especially during winter months.

According to Malachowski, a wind study was previously conducted and another will be performed for the new design. With “other wind mitigation measures,” the Fane Organization does “do not anticipate wind from the tower being a problem.”

The Providence Preservation Society has concerns about the proposed tower’s location, compliance with zoning and the scope of rentals offered, Advocacy Manager Adriana Hazelton told The Herald. She also questioned the sustainability of a large structure on Parcel 42’s riverfront site, “especially in the face of climate change.”

“The building will be completely safe as it will be anchored to bedrock” similar to the anchoring pillars used for the Empire State Building in New York City, Malachowski wrote.

Economic impacts of the towers

Some community members highlighted the economic benefits of the project while others voiced concerns about the building’s scale and location as well as the lack of available information.

According to Greg Mancini, a representative for the trade organization BuildRI, the Fane Tower is the second-largest construction project in Providence’s history and would generate 1,500 direct and indirect jobs along with $250 million “much-needed property tax revenue” for the city.

“Market conditions have changed so much that just about every private sector project is drying up,” Mancini said, noting that the $300 million project could support private sector economic development.

Despite potential construction jobs, for Hazelton, concerns remain about community impact. “It creates construction jobs, but then it will end and then what’s next?” she said. “Will the construction jobs created be for Providence and Rhode Island construction workers?”

“Providence and Rhode Island construction workers will fill these jobs, but it is impossible to predict the residences of all of the construction workers,” Malachowski wrote.

At the meeting, Sharon Steele, president of Building Bridges Providence and president of the Jewelry District Association, discussed concerns over a lack of publicly available data regarding market need for the new design, a vetted cost estimation and the structural engineering analysis by Odeh Engineering. She agreed with Utile’s recommendation that the commission not approve the new design. tower given that it uses “land that was taken by eminent domain and displaced tons of residents,” Hazelton added. But using the land that the government took for public benefit to build “ultra-luxury housing” is “very insensitive,” she added.

The closing date on the sale of the parcel to the Fane Organization is set for March 2023 after multiple extensions from its original April 2020 date. The sale is contingent on Fane securing financing commitments and signing a construction contract, WPRI reported — something Fane will not do until the design is approved, Malachowski wrote.

At the meeting, Steele requested that any further extension of the deadline “be coupled with a completion guarantee from Fane, as there is a real-world risk that Fane will never be able to complete this project, irrespective of whether the commission approves this new design,” Steele said.

Following the meeting, the commission accepted additional public comment for one week, and when all parties are prepared, a second meeting will be scheduled for the revised design and a potential vote, Crisafulli said.

“These are very high-end units, and no one seems to know where exactly that market’s going to be in the Rhode Island or greater Providence and Boston market,” added Fox Point Neighborhood Association President Nick Cicchitelli.

“We do need residents downtown,” Cicchitelli said. “We don’t want a ghost building.”

Malachowski, explained that there is demand for all types of housing and pointed to Fane’s 50-plus years in residential development, which have “given him confidence to invest a substantial amount of money in this project to date with millions more to come.”

“If this was a private developer on private land, it’s one thing, but if this interrupts the 195 Development District vision, then you absolutely need to incorporate community concerns,” he said.

Cicchitelli also discussed concerns about market need for the building and lack of transparency, and he disputed Zuena’s claim that the proposed parking is enough. He said the new design disregards those who have repeatedly called for more parking on the parcel.

“We feel unheard,” Cicchitelli said.