On the strength of 14 three-pointers and a 30-point third quarter, the Columbia women soundly defeated UMass at the Mullins Center on Saturday afternoon, their second straight takedown of an opponent that defeated them in New York City last year.
“This is huge. We called it revenge week,” Abbey Hsu told Columbia Athletics following the win. “This was to prove that we are a better team than we were last year. We want to be a team that competes with teams in the post-season and we proved that tonight.”
The junior guard from Parkland, Fla. totaled a career-high 34 points with a career-tying nine three-pointers. She had 17 points in the first quarter alone and started the contest 6-for-6 from downtown.
Like Wednesday’s game at Stony Brook, the Lions jumped out to big leads in each of the opening two quarters, 11 and 14 points, respectively, only to give the opposition a late lifeline. The Minutewomen closed out the two quarters on 5-0 and 12-4 runs to make it 22-16 after one period and 37-31 at the midway point.
In a surge similar to its showing at Stony Brook, Columbia took control for good in the third quarter.
UMass cut the deficit to five, 46-41, at the 6:44 mark, when the Lions used long balls from Hsu and senior Jaida Patrick, as well as an old-fashioned three from sophomore point guard Kitty Henderson, over a 71-second span to make it a 14-point advantage.
After Henderson hit a three-point jumper and senior forward Kaitlyn Davis nailed a two pointer to make it a 60-43 game with four minutes left in the third quarter, UMass’ spirit was deflated, and the contest was effectively over.
Following a sixth straight victory and a current No. 31 spot in the NET rankings, let’s look at where things stand for Megan Griffith’s squad.
Field-goal shooting
The Light Blue are averaging 81.5 points per game, good for 15th-best in the country, and their 109 points per 100 possessions are 22nd-best.
Saturday’s 14-for-28 (50%) three-point performance, highlighted by Hsu’s 9-for-11 (82%) effort, showcased the Lions’ prowess from beyond the arc. The Lions are No. 1 nationally in made baskets (121), No. 4 in attempts (303), No. 9 in percentage of points from three (40.5%), No. 10 in field goal percentage (39.9%) and No. 30 in rate (37.8%).
On an individual level, Hsu, who is shooting 48.1% from deep and made an Ivy League-record 108 triples last year, is first in the nation in made baskets (39), second in buckets per game (3.5), and tenth in attempts (81).
Unlike a lot of three-point-focused teams, Columbia is also getting it done from inside the arc.
As a unit, the Lions are shooting 49.4% from two, which is No. 75, nationally, and their 43.9% of points coming from short range is No. 17 in the land.
Balance and sharing
All five of Columbia’s starters are scoring in double figures and dominating the conference’s leaderboard.
Hsu is leading the Ancient Eight with 18.3 points per game, while Patrick is No. 8 with 12.5 points per game, Davis is No. 11 with 12.1, Pratt is No. 15 with 11.2 and Henderson No. 18 at 10.5.
While the starting lineup averages between 24.5 (Pratt) and 32.9 (Hsu) minutes per game, senior Carly Rivera and juniors Paige Lauder and Nicole Stephens also have averaged double-digit minutes each contest. Although averaging just under nine minutes a game, senior Lilian Kennedy and first-year Perri Page have seen their court time increase the last few games and should shortly break into that next group.
Since this large group has done well finding ways to share minutes and points, it should come as no surprise that it’s one of the top teams in the country at distributing the rock.
The Lions are No. 1 in total assists (214), No. 8 in assists per game (19.5) and No. 9 in assist rate (67.3%).
Defense
The Columbia offense tends to get most of the publicity, but the Light Blue defense continues to be effective.
The Lions, who favor a more uptempo game, are giving up only 67.4 points per game and boast a league-best 14.2-point scoring margin.
Their Her Hoops Stats defensive rating is 83.9, good for No. 64 nationally.
While their two-point (45.8%) and three-point (31.5%) defensive is between the upper 190s and lower 200s, their strength is in their rebounding.
On the glass, the Light Blue are No. 49 in total rebounding rate (54.7%), No. 40 in offensive rate (37.8%), and No. 79 (72%) on the defensive side.
Free throws
If there’s one area that needs improvement for the Lions, it’s the effort at the charity stripe.
On the positive side, the Lions’ free throw rate is No. 59 in the country at 20%. However, their 66% shooting percentage is only good enough for No. 258. When looking at the Ancient Eight, Columbia sits at No. 4, behind Harvard (76.4%), Princeton (73%) and Penn (68.2%)
As 2022 comes to a close and the conference schedule gets closer, including a January 6 showdown at preseason favorite Princeton, the results at the charity stripe could be the difference between a first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament and another visit to the WNIT.
No doubt that the Lions are much improved this season, continuing a trend that Coach Griffith began as soon as she took the job. I note that Columbia received a couple of votes in the women’s ranking today, a sure sign that people are paying attention. If memory serves the Quakers and the Tigers met at Jadwin in the final game of the 2016 Ivy season with the outright title on the line, the only time that has occurred. The Quakers won more easily than I would have liked. The Tigers-Lions January 6 matchup in Princeton may be the most anticipated regular season game since that 2016 tussle, at least so far! These teams are likely to face off three times this season as they did last year.