For the second time in two weeks, the Columbia Lions women’s basketball team made history by knocking off a top-25 opponent.
Their victim in each case was the same team, the Princeton Tigers.
After trailing for nearly the entire first half, Megan Griffith’s Lions roared back in the second half to seize control of a tight game, before pulling away late to defeat No. 24 Princeton, 70-56, at Levien Gymnasium in Morningside Heights.
The win lifted Columbia into a tie with Princeton for first place in the Ivy League standings and provided the Lions with a season sweep of Princeton for the second year in a row.
No other Ivy program has swept the Tigers during the Carla Berube coaching era at Old Nassau.
The game featured the Ivy League’s top two ranked offenses, but only the team wearing powder blue executed consistently.
“It was really just execution and finding my teammates,” Perri Page, who led all scorers with 25 points, told ESPNU. “It was just understanding that we have a size advantage, so just making sure I’m getting my post touches, taking advantage of my size and executing on that.”
Princeton came into this contest looking to avenge its loss to Columbia at home just two weeks ago.
And initially it looked as though the Tigers had the right mindset to even the score with their Ivy nemesis.
Led by Fadima Tall’s nine points on 4-for-7 shooting, Princeton jumped out to a 20-11 lead at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Tigers extended their lead to 29-18 behind consecutive midrange jumpers by Madison St. Rose, whose injury in the second half of Princeton’s last meeting with Columbia loomed large in the Lions’ victory at Jadwin on Jan. 30.
St. Rose tallied six points in the first half for Princeton but was completely shut down by Columbia’s defense in the second half.
Meanwhile, the Lions closed the second quarter on a 7-2 run to cut the Tigers’ lead to 31-25 at the intermission.
In the third quarter, Riley Weiss, the reining Ivy League Player of the Week, took over the game.
Held to just three points on 1-for-7 shooting in the first half, Weiss erupted for 11 third-quarter points as Columbia quickly erased Princeton’s lead.
Weiss exploited a sloppy defensive switch by Princeton on an out-of-bounds play to splash a wide open corner three to make it a five-point game, 35-30, at the 7:50 mark of the third quarter. It was the 200th triple of Weiss’ storied career.
Weiss then hit a stepback trey over Olivia Hutcherson, who was late closing out on the Ivy League’s leading scorer. Moments later, after the Tigers played 29 seconds of intense defense, Weiss blew by Skye Belker just as the shot clock was expiring for an and-one layup.
To cap off her third quarter exhibition, Weiss threw up a circus shot in the paint that found the bottom of the net. The junior guard from Hewlett, N.Y. finished with 23 points, including 4-for-8 from downtown.
By the time the horn sounded to end the third stanza, the Lions had stormed to a six-point lead, 47-41.
In the fourth quarter, Weiss continued her torrid playmaking, hitting two contested jumpers to extend Columbia’s lead to 54-43 with 7:16 to play.
From there, the Lions rode Page in the paint to victory as the senior forward from Pittsburgh tallied six fourth-quarter points to salt the game away for Columbia.
Here are three Tiger takeaways from another shattering Princeton loss to Columbia:
Once again, Columbia bullied the Tigers in the paint and on the boards.
Two weeks ago, the Lions shocked the Tigers by coming into Jadwin Gym and punching Princeton in the nose.
On Friday night at Levien Gym, they did it again.
The Lions demolished the Tigers on the offensive glass, outmuscling Princeton’s post players over and over for second and third chances.
In all, Columbia amassed a whopping 21 offensive rebounds and converted them into 23 points compared to only 12 second-chance points for Princeton.
Overall, the Tigers were outrebounded 43-28, with most of the damage coming in the second half.
In the first half, the Tigers mostly held their own on the boards as both Page and Susie Rafiu had to spend extended stretches on the bench with foul trouble.
But in the second half, with Columbia at full strength, the Tigers were mauled on the glass, surrendering 24 caroms to the Light Blue compared to only 12 for the Orange and Black.
The rebounding differential wasn’t merely due to Columbia’s superior size.
The Lions outhustled the Tigers, repeatedly beating Princeton players to the ball even on missed free throws. Fliss Henderson, a 5-foot-11 junior, led the charge for Griffith’s squad with 12 caroms, which was only two fewer than Princeton’s entire starting lineup.
Princeton couldn’t turn the Page on Columbia’s talented post player.
In the first matchup between these Ivy titans two weeks ago, Perri Page was the difference maker on the court, leading all scorers with 23 points on 8-for-13 shooting.
On Friday night, Page upped her game a notch further, tallying a career-high 25 points and hauling down 10 rebounds for a double-double.
Much of the game featured a classic duel between Page and Hutcherson, an uber-talented defender who often draws the assignment of guarding the other team’s best player.
Hutcherson made her share of plays tonight, tallying 12 points, grabbing seven rebounds and registering four blocks.
But Hutcherson clearly lost the battle with Page tonight and at times was schooled by the Columbia forward. Page displayed a variety of moves in the paint and consistently beat Hutcherson and her teammates in the post with superior speed and athleticism.
It was a humbling experience for Princeton’s post players, who have punched above their size for much of the season. But in two matches with Columbia this season, Berube’s squad has had no answer for Page, deploying double-teams, match-up zones and a variety of defenders, all to no avail.
It’s official: Columbia now controls the rivalry with Princeton.
As painful as it may be for Orange and Black nation to admit, it’s clear at this point that Columbia has the upper hand in the rivalry with Princeton.
Not only has Columbia beaten Princeton four times in a row, the margin of victory seems to be growing with every contest. In fact, Columbia’s 14-point margin of victory tonight was its largest against Princeton since 2007.
It’s gotten to the point now where the Lions seem to have gotten into Princeton’s head. Normally confident and full of swagger, the Tigers seem to be waiting for the hammer to fall when they have faced Columbia the past two seasons.
Give credit to Griffith and her coaching staff. For whatever reason, Columbia always seems to be mentally prepared to face a Tigers squad that typically has more talent, at least on paper.
In contrast, Berube’s team has not matched Columbia’s intensity and physicality over the past two to three years.
Princeton’s only consolation in facing this reality is that they may have one more chance at redemption should these teams meet again in Ivy Madness. At this point, thought, it’s hard to see how the Tigers can achieve a different outcome without making significant adjustments in all phases of the game.
Overall, Princeton’s two losses to Columbia in just 14 days has completely altered the trajectory of an otherwise outstanding season.
With only five games remaining in the regular season, Princeton (19-3, 7-2 Ivy) must immediately regroup, starting with a tough road contest tomorrow evening at Cornell.
Despite the pain of tonight’s humbling loss, the goals of winning the Ivy League regular season and cutting down the nets at Ivy Madness are still achievable.
Columbia (16-6, 7-2) will look to continue its winning ways by hosting the Penn Quakers Saturday evening at Levien Gym.
Two weekends ago, the Quakers surprised the Lions with a 64-55 takedown at the Palestra. Griffith’s squad will have revenge on its mind when its tips off with Penn on Saturday at 5 p.m.