Just nine days after snapping an 18-game losing streak against Penn, the Columbia women on Friday stretched their winning streak against the Quakers to two, this time in Philadelphia, 66-57.
The Lions (16-3, 7-0 Ivy) now head into the Tigers’ den for a battle of the unbeatens.
As they did the week before in Manhattan, Columbia and Penn played about even for the first half, in this case mostly because Lions guard Abbey Hsu couldn’t miss a three. It’s not that the Quakers left her alone on the perimeter; she just went 4-for-4 in the first quarter for 12 of Columbia’s 17 points to keep the Lions within two of the Quakers. Hsu finished the night with 17 points on 6-for-11 shooting.
As it did in their previous game against Penn, Columbia also relied on juniors Kaitlyn Davis and Jaida Patrick, both of whom scored double-doubles. Davis, a 6-foot forward, was the biggest reason the Lions outrebounded the Quakers, 51-42, and outscored them in the paint, 38-20: It’s not just the 17 points she scored herself, but also the way her presence and passes set up teammates for baskets inside.
Patrick again displayed her versatility as a 5-10 guard who can play hard to the inside as well. In 24 minutes off the bench, the Duke transfer contributed 10 points and 12 rebounds as well as three assists. (Speaking of assists: Columbia put its passing game to good effect, racking up 17 assists, most of them from Carly Rivera, to Penn’s nine.)
The Quakers, for a change, got major contributions from their bench as well, mostly in the form of another talented junior transfer guard: Sydnei Caldwell, formerly of Arizona State. Less than three weeks after rolling her ankle badly against Princeton, Caldwell returned to action with her best game yet by far: 20 points on 6-for-15 shooting, including 3-for-4 on threes, plus four rebounds.
After a Harvard game six days earlier in which Penn got no points and very few minutes from its bench — and suffered a fourth-quarter collapse — coach Mike McLaughlin said he knew he had to spell his starters more, and he did that against Columbia. But no one caught fire: The usual top scorers, Kayla Padilla and Jordan Obi, barely cracked double digits, and the team overall shot a tepid 27.9% from the floor, compared with Columbia’s 40.6%. What kept the game close, aside from Caldwell, was the Lions’ uncharacteristic failure to hit free throws — just 7-for-17 for the day compared to 10-for-14 for the Quakers.
While Columbia faces Princeton (15-4, 7-0) Saturday, Penn (7-12, 2-5) will host Cornell (7-11, 2-5) in a game the Quakers can’t afford to lose as they aim to come back in the second half of the conference schedule and make the four-team Ivy Madness field.