PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Despite having multiple double-digit leads, the No. 1-seeded Columbia women couldn’t find a way to dominate No. 4 Penn and had to fight for a full 40 minutes to secure a 60-54 victory in Friday’s opening semifinal of the 2025 Ivy Tournament.
“Credit to them (Penn) for getting to this point and giving us their best,” coach Megan Griffith told the media in the postgame press conference. “Conversely, in our locker room, I don’t think we played our best, but that’s honestly what you’re going to get again in these games.”
With the win, the Lions (23-6) head to the program’s third-ever conference final. A victory in Saturday night’s contest against No. 3 Harvard. which won an instant classic against No. 2 Princeton in the nightcap, would give Columbia its first-ever Ivy Madness title, as well as the Ancient Eight’s automatic bid.
For Penn (15-13), the season is over and the drought for an Ivy League Tournament title now extends to eight years.
“I thought we really played well enough to put them (Columbia) in jeopardy,” Penn coach Mike McLaughlin said. “I’m just so proud that they hung in there … and gave ourselves an opportunity to beat a really good team tonight.”
The opening 10 minutes were an offensive challenge, as both teams struggled to get buckets.
Junior guard Simone Sawyer got the Quakers on the board first with a triple a minute into the contest, but the Lions held the Red and Blue without a basket until sophomore guard Mataya Gayle hit her own three-pointer with only four seconds left in the frame.
Columbia had its own difficulties from the field, shooting 3-for-13, but its physical play led to five offensive rebounds, six second chance points and seven free throw attempts. While the Lions entered the night No. 359 in the nation from the charity stripe, the Light Blue made six of those shots to help open up a 13-6 lead.
A jumper by senior guard Cecelia Collins and layup by sophomore guard Marija Avlijas, who missed the last four games with an injured ankle, upped the Columbia lead to 11, 27-16, 90 seconds into the second quarter.
Just when it seemed like the game might get away from Penn, the Quakers settled down and chipped away at the lead by limiting the Lions’ dominance on the glass and making shots.
A jumper from rookie guard Sarah Miller, a triple from junior guard Saniah Caldwell and a tip-in from first year guard Brooke Suttle led the Red and Blue on a 6-2 run to make it a 19-13 game midway through the second quarter.
Another layup from Suttle cut the deficit to four, 25-21, with 1:20 on the clock, but a bucket from senior guard Kitty Henderson on the Lions’ next possession ended the scoring for the half.
Columbia came out on fire to start the third quarter, hitting its first six shots from the field and two attempts at the free throw line over the opening five minutes to stretch its advantage to 42-25.
The Light Blue was still up 16 late in the frame, when senior forward Stina Almqvist drove through Lions rookie guard Riley Weiss to get a layup and convert the and-one.
After a missed three from junior guard/forward Perri Page, Penn first year forward Katie Collins sank two free throws to end the frame with the Lions up 45-34.
Gayle started the scoring off in the fourth quarter with a mid-range jumper and followed that up with a driving layup off an assist from Almqvist to cut the Columbia’s lead to seven, 47-40, with just under eight minutes left in regulation.
Less than a minute later, Gayle returned the favor with a bullet pass to Almqvist, but the senior first team All-Ivy missed a close range shot that would have made it a five-point game. To make matters worse, Lions rookie guard Mia Broom grabs the rebound, quickly pushes the ball up the floor and bounces a pass to an open Collins to complete the four-point swing.
Henderson netted a layup off an inbounds pass from Collins to bring it back to a double-digit lead, 51-40, for the Lions, but Gayle quickly drained a triple from the top of the arc to make it an eight-point game halfway through the final stanza.
The difference was still eight two minutes later when Suttle converted two free throws to make it 53-47.
Following missed possessions from both teams, Columbia had the ball with 2:19 left on the clock. Henderson got the ball to Susie Rafiu for the layup. The junior guard missed the close range shot but came down with the crucial offensive rebound and Weiss was eventually fouled in the act of shooting.
The first team All-Ivy sharpshooter, who earlier went 0-for-3 from the charity stripe, converted both attempts to make it 55-47.
After both teams missed their next attempts, Gayle drove three-quarters of the length of the court to make it a six-point game.
With 47 seconds left on the clock, Henderson missed a close-range jumper, but Rafiu was there for another big offensive board. The 6-foot-1 forward from England picked up the foul on her attempted putback and sank both shots to make it 57-49.
On the next possession, Gayle quickly crossed midcourt and got the ball to Almqvist, who drove along the left baseline for the layup and was fouled by Page. Unfortunately for the Quakers, the team’s star guard missed the free throw, and the deficit remained six.
Henderson was fouled on the next possession and went to the line for two shots, but the Lions’ all-time leader in wins missed both shots.
Gayle came down the board after the second missed free throw and rushed up the court. She found space for an uncontested mid-range jumper, but the ball hit the back of the rim and landed into Henderson’s hands.
When the Ivy League’s Defensive Player of the Year was fouled and sent back to the line, she made the second of the two attempts to make it 58-51 with 17 seconds left in the game.
On the next trip up the floor, Almqvist found Katie Collins at the top of the key and the rookie sank a triple to make it a four-point contest, but there was only 10 seconds remaining.
The Lions inbounded the ball to Broom, and she was immediately fouled. The Lions’ heralded first year went to the line and calmly made both attempts to make it 60-54 and finally put the game away for the regular season champions.
For the evening where the outside shooting ended up at 18% (2-for-11), Columbia had its success inside the arc with a 50% (17-for-34) effort. While the 69% result from the free throw line was far from ideal, Griffith actually saw it as a positive.
“Steve, better than our average (60.9%),” the leader of the Ivy League’s Coaching Staff of the Year jokingly told IHO‘s Steve Silverman during the press conference. “I’m going to let you know, 20-for-29 we’ll take, buddy.”
While the offense had its difficulties, the Lions did its typically solid job on the defensive end, limiting the Quakers to 38% (12-for-32) from inside the arc and only eight free throw attempts. The Red and Blue was able to connect on 41% (7-for-17) of its shots from beyond the arc in quarters one, two and four, but the Columbia defense held its rivals to a 14% (1-for-7) in the third quarter. That effort, done while the Light Blue opened up its biggest lead of the game, created a deficit that was too deep for Penn to overcome.
Rafiu led the way for the Lions with a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double, and Collins added 10 points, five rebounds and five assists.
For the Quakers, Almqvist ended her stellar career with a game-high 17 points, while Gayle finished with 10 points and Suttle had six points and boards.
When asked how the challenging win may have affected its overall profile with the NCAA Selection Committee, the Lions’ leader focused on what she could control.
“We came here to win the tournament. We didn’t come here to try to get an at large again. We did that last year, and that’s great. And I came to win the (2025) tournament. My team came to win the tournament,” Griffith said. “I’m ready to get to the next one … the most important thing right now, is just focus on winning this thing tomorrow.”
After the late game, the Lions know their final opponent is Harvard.
The two rivals split the season series with the Lions coming away with an 80-71 road victory on January 31 and the Crimson defeating Columbia 60-54 at Levien Gymnasium on February 16.
The rubber match for Ivy supremacy starts at 5:30 p.m. and can be seen on ESPNU.
