In front of a boisterous Education Day crowd of New York City schoolkids, Columbia women’s basketball struggled to get anything going and went down to a 66-48 defeat to Saint Joseph’s at Levien Gymnasium on Thursday afternoon.
With the win, the Hawks improved to 4-1 on the season and get ready for a Monday Big 5 matchup against Penn. Meanwhile, the Lions lost their second consecutive game and fall to 2-2 on the year.
Columbia opened the scoring with a floating jumper from junior guard Riley Weiss two and a half minutes into the game, but the Hawks scored the next nine points and ended the quarter up 15-6.
The teams matched each other with 16 points in the second frame, and the Hawks went into the break with a 31-22 lead.
After the visitors went up 13 a minute into the second half, the Lions finally turned the tables and used a 11-3 run to make it a 40-35 game with three minutes to go in the quarter. Unfortunately for the hosts, junior guard Gabby Casey and sophomore guard Rhian Stokes combined to score the next nine points and the quarter ended with Saint Joseph’s up 49-37.
The Light Blue and White managed to cut the deficit to eight on four different occasions in the final quarter, but the Hawks wouldn’t let it get any closer.
Ultimately, Saint Joseph’s ended the afternoon on an 11-1 run, sending Columbia to its second straight home loss, something that hasn’t occurred since the final two games of the 2020 Ivy League season.
Some thoughts on a disappointing day for the Lions and its ‘6-7’-loving fans.
Finding the positives
Columbia continues to get strong offensive efforts from its two seniors, guard Perri Page and forward Susie Rafiu. The Pittsburgh native finished the day with 12 points (63% field-goal shooting) and is averaging 14.8 points per game (59% field-goal shooting) on the season, while the British big added 14 points (56% field-goal shooting) and averages 14.3 points per contest (59% field-goal shooting).
In Saturday night’s loss to Richmond, the Lions went 8-for-15 (53%) from the free throw line, which was a similar to its 13-for-22 (59%) opening night result at Butler. On Thursday, the team connected on 16 of 18 (89%) shots from the charity stripe with sophomore guard Mia Broom going 6-for-7 and Rafiu and Weiss each going 4-for-4.
With two games in the 80% range on the year, Columbia has the ability to grab those extra free points. The key going forward will be consistency.
Accepting the negatives
There is no way to sugarcoat the Light Blue and White’s results from the three-point line.
Despite going up against a Hawks team that gave up 12 triples to Penn State four days earlier and entered the contest as one of the weakest three-point defending programs in the country, Columbia went 0-for-14 with Broom missing all six of her attempts and Weiss going 0-for-3.
For the year, the Lions are shooting 21% (18-for-85) from the outside, which puts the team at No. 350 out of 363 in the land.
Weiss continues to lead Columbia in scoring with 17.8 points per game, but the three-point specialists has struggled to find her mark from downtown. She has gone 1-for-13 (8%) from beyond the arc during the first two games of the opening homestand and is 5-for-30 (17%) over the first month of the season.
Broom, arguably the Lions’ second-best deep threat, started off the season with a 3-for-4 effort at Butler, but has gone 3-for-13 (23%) in the other three contests.
Both guards have expanded roles with the graduation of Kitty Henderson and Cecelia Collins, and the higher expectations could be contributing to the lesser results in the early going. Given their past performances, it would seem to be a matter of when, not if, their shots will go in with more regularity.
While the team continues to have problems shooting from the outside, it also is also having troubles defending the inside shots.
The Hawks went 55% (18-for-33) from inside the arc on Thursday, which was the third time in four games where the Lions allowed its opponents to shoot 52% or better from two and left the team at 53% for the year (No. 335 nationally).
Although those interior numbers aren’t looking good at this time, Columbia should be able to figure things out since it has its tallest team ever with seven players between 6-foot-0 and 6-foot-3 and two 5-foot-11 players in Page and junior guard Fliss Henderson, who are comfortable defending near the basket.
Focusing on patience
The loss of the elder Henderson and Collins, who dominated on the offensive and defensive side of the ball, was significant, so it’s not surprising that it’s taking time for this group of Lions to find out how, exactly, the spaces will be filled.
Coach Megan Griffith is aware of this, emphasizing that her team is still a work in progress.
“I just think we have so far to go, which again is very exciting,” the coach said during her recent press availability. “I just have to be patient to let them get there. That’s going to be the pressure on us as a staff. How do you let this young group find their identity, as we still continue to challenge them but keep their confidence?”
While the last few days have been rough for Columbia, the team did play against solid competition, the season is only two weeks old and there’s plenty of time before the Jan. 2 league opener against Cornell.
Based on the level of talent on the roster and the coaching staff, it should be a matter of time before the players fully embraces its challenges and learns the necessary lessons that will get them in place to make a run for the program’s fourth straight regular season Ivy title.
The loss of two great players and teammates is a factor the Lions have not yet overcome. But Griffith will find a way by January.
The Tigers should be knocking on the door of the top 25 after beating an unbeaten Penn State squad. Tigers are the Fourth Quarter Flyers so far.