Columbia women advance to WNIT title game after holding off Bowling Green

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Columbia women’s basketball’s second straight historic WNIT run will continue after a wire-to-wire win at Bowling Green in the tournament semifinal setting up the Lions for a shot at the title Saturday.

Columbia held off host Bowling Green in a 77-70 victory Wednesday night before a sold-out crowd of 4,155 at the Stroh Center. The Lions will play for a WNIT championship as the visiting team at Kansas  (24-11, 9-9 Big 12) Saturday at 5:30 p.m.

Columbia becomes the first team in Ivy League history to reach the WNIT championship game.

The Lions (28-5, 12-2 Ivy) never let the Falcons (31-7, 14-4 MAC) within fewer than five points after a three from senior guard/forward Kaitlyn Davis extended Columbia’s lead to 64-57 with 6:04 left. Columbia didn’t miss again from the field.

Columbia had raced out to a 23-7 lead and protected it with superior outside shooting, offsetting a 42-30 disadvantage in points in the paint. The Lions shot 10-for-26 (38.5%) from three-point range, easily besting Bowling Green’s 5-for-25 (20%) showing.

Davis was instrumental in the win, contributing 19 points on 9-for-13 field-goal shooting, 15 rebounds, seven assists and three steals in 38 minutes. Junior guard Abbey Hsu delivered too, posting 21 points on 7-for-16 shooting from the floor, sinking four triples.

Columbia happily embraced the role of road warrior.

“It was like 300 the movie. It was like us versus the 4,000.” Griffith said. “I said, ‘Y’all got a lot of fans here. Everyone has got Columbia on their chest.'”

The next stop will be Allen Fieldhouse for the Lions in a title showdown to be televised on CBS Sports Network.

 

1 thought on “Columbia women advance to WNIT title game after holding off Bowling Green”

  1. Congratulations to the Lions on amazing run!

    After suffering a heartbreaking loss to Harvard in the Ivy Tournament semis & being the first team left out of the NCAA Tournament, this team did a fantastic job regrouping and getting back to playing their successful brand of basketball.

    No matter the result on Saturday, they have had another historic season, have given their fans a tremendous amount of amazing memories and made the whole league proud.

    The NCAA WBB Selection Committee should be embarrassed by Columbia’s omission from their tournament. No only were the Lions the Ivy champs, but their NET was Top 50. They also beat Miami, an Elite Eight team, on the road. (The Lions were the better team that day & I feel they are still the better team.

    Btw, Abbey Hsu now has 109 three pointers on the season, breaking her Ivy record 108 set last year. Who knows what she’ll accomplish in her senior season.

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