Columbia and Harvard women’s basketball will square off for a fourth time this season Sunday at 4 p.m. at Levien Gym on ESPN3.
This time, a WNIT Fab 4 berth is on the line.
The Lions and Crimson last tussled in the Ivy League Tournament semifinals, with No. 3 Harvard upsetting No. 2 Columbia in an instant classic that proved just enough of a blemish for the NCAA selection committee to questionably deny Columbia an at-large NCAA Tournament slot.
Just 15 days later, the Lions (26-5, 12-2 Ivy) get an unexpectedly speedy shot at revenge against the Crimson (20-11, 9-5).
“I’ve been hoping this would happen since the WNIT Tournament started,” Columbia coach Megan Griffith told Columbia Athletics, referring to getting another matchup with Harvard.
But the Lions will have their hands full.
Harvard is coming off a 74-63 win at Lavietes Pavilion over a Rhode Island (26-7, 14-2 Atlantic 10) squad it lost to, 88-74, in the season opener after outscoring the Rams 22-9 in the fourth quarter and getting a critical boost from the foul line, where it shot 17-for-18 (94.4%) as a team. Eight of those free throws – as many as the visitors managed to sink as a team – came from junior guard Lola Mullaney, who led the Crimson with 19 points in 37 minutes. Sophomore guard Elena Rodriguez stuffed the stat sheet with 16 points and 6-for-10 shooting from the field, 10 rebounds and five assists.
But it’s been sophomore guard Harmoni Turner who has been the Crimson’s most outstanding player in their WNIT run, the first time the program, thriving in Carrie Moore’s first year as coach, has moved to the round of eight in any postseason tournament.
Turner has averaged 15.7 points, 9.7 assists and nine rebounds in Harvard’s WNIT run so far, notching a triple-double in a first-round win over Towson. Turner struggled in Harvard’s 82-56 defeat at Columbia on January 14, contributing just five points in 25 minutes off the bench. But in Harvard’s two subsequent games against Columbia, Turner has stepped up to average 17.5 points, nine rebounds and five assists.
Columbia is coming off an 88-82 win over Syracuse (20-13, 9-9 ACC) at Levien Gym in a game that contained 11 lead changes and six ties. Clutch shots by sophomore guard Kitty Henderson and senior guard/forward Kaitlyn Davis helped clinch the victory propelling the Lions to their second straight Great 8 appearance. Junior guard Abbey Hsu notched a team-high 21 points, passing 1987 graduate Ula Lysniak for second on the program’s all-time scoring list.
The Lions’ 72-65 overtime loss to Harvard in the Ivy League Tournament came despite Davis’ career-high 27 points. But Harvard outrebounded Columbia, 48-39, and got a 27-point performance of its own from senior guard McKenzie Forbes, enough to push the Crimson over the top after a narrow 75-70 loss to the Lions at Lavietes on February 17. Harvard outscored the Lions 33-24 in the fourth quarter of that game, including a 4-for-9 showing from three-point range.
Columbia and Harvard are the Ivy League’s two most productive offenses and best three-point shooting teams, so even though teams as familiar with each other as these two are often lock each other in tight defensive battles given a lack of surprise, they must know their opponent can still turn it on at any time. Expect more exceptional play from Davis and Turner all over the floor and a tighter contest than these squads’ last Levien meeting, but the Lions are poised to take advantage of home-court and experience edges.