Columbia

Columbia women’s basketball trounces Penn, 85-55

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A week after falling short at Princeton, Columbia women’s basketball invaded the Palestra for an emphatic, wire-to-wire win Saturday over Penn, 85-55.
As she so often does, senior Abbey Hsu led the onslaught: 28 points on 10-for-17 shooting, including a deadly 6-for-10 on three-pointers, plus 10 rebounds. With 1,879 career points, she’s just a few games from becoming the first Columbia player — men’s or women’s — to hit 2,000.
Hsu told ESPN+ the focus leading up to the game — in fact, all season — has been on defense.
“We had lapses where, you know, it wasn’t Columbia basketball here, but I think overall we did make a huge step from last week, and that’s all you can ask for, is to get better every week,” Hsu said.
It wasn’t just Hsu.

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How Princeton women’s basketball won a chess match against Columbia

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Princeton women’s basketball coach Carla Berube led the Tigers to another big win in a big game versus Columbia Saturday.

The contrast in demeanor could not have been starker.

Trailing 3-2 at the 8:23 mark of the first quarter, Columbia coach Megan Griffith gathered her team while officials reviewed a play to check for possible head contact.  Griffith smiled broadly, exuding confidence as she leaned into her team’s huddle. Her players listened and nodded while she spoke, their arms wrapped around each other in a tight circle.  

On the other sideline, a grim-looking Carla Berube paced while her Princeton players stood apart from each other, hands of their hips.  

Was there meaning in this moment?  Did Griffith’s sureness foretell an upset or was she simply trying to radiate belief in her team in the biggest game of the Ivy League season so far?

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LISTEN: Princeton men’s basketball outlasts Columbia, 70-62

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Ivy Hoops Online contributor George “Toothless Tger” Clark delivers an audio report on a 70-62 victory for Princeton (15-1, 3-0 Ivy) over Columbia (9-7, 0-3) at Levien Gym Saturday:

Princeton women’s basketball takes round one over Columbia, 80-65

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Ivy Hoops Online contributor George “Toothless Tiger” Clark brings us the postgame press conference after a 80-65 win for Princeton women’s basketball (14-3, 4-0 Ivy) over Columbia (12-5, 3-1) in a key matchup in the Ivy League championship race Saturday. Senior guard Chet Nweke, sophomore guard Madison St. Rose, freshman guard Skye Belker and coach Carla Berube held court at the presser after engineering the win on the court at Jadwin Gym:

Ivy Hoops Online contributor Rob Browne recaps the action:

The Tigers, winners of nine straight, claimed sole possession of first place in the Ancient Eight, while the Lions, which had their own 10-game winning streak stopped, slipped into a three-way tie for second place with Harvard and Brown.

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“Some of our best basketball of the year”: How Yale men’s basketball pulled away from Columbia

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Yale men’s basketball has been a first-half team all season.

But don’t tell that to Columbia coach Jim Engles, as the Bulldogs went on a 29-6 second-half run Monday night to turn a narrow 41-39 first-half lead into an 89-70 victory at John J. Lee Amphitheater.

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Columbia women’s basketball defeats Cornell to go 2-0 in Ivy League play

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It wasn’t the prettiest game, but Columbia women’s basketball still cruised to an 82-53 victory over Cornell Saturday afternoon at Levien Gymnasium.

With the team’s ninth straight win, the Lions (11-4, 2-0 Ivy) are undefeated in league play and tied with Princeton and Brown at the top of the standings. Cornell (6-8, 0-2), meanwhile, is winless in the conference and knotted up with Yale and Dartmouth at the bottom of the table.

In last year’s regular season finale, Columbia clinched its first-ever Ivy League title at home but was kept on its heels by Cornell. The Lions had to go an extra five minutes for the historic victory. The difficult win dropped the Lions’ NET rating and moved them to the No. 2 seed in the Ivy League Tournament.

With a quick turnaround on Monday against Yale and a showdown at Princeton set for next Saturday, Columbia looked to avoid a repeat of last year’s Empire State battle.

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Nazir Williams leads Cornell men’s basketball to Ivy League-opening win over Columbia

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Junior guard Nazir Williams led Cornell to a 91-79 win over Columbia Tuesday night. (Cornell Athletics)

ITHACA, N.Y. – For the first time this season, Brian Earl finally gave junior guard Nazir Williams the nod to start. After an offseason knee procedure, he had been coming off bench and playing fewer minutes than last year.

Naturally, he delivered.

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Columbia women’s basketball bests Penn in Ivy League opener

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Columbia women’s basketball opened its defense of its Ivy hoops title Saturday at home with a solid 79-66 win over Penn.
As if to underline that this isn’t the same Lions team as last year’s, the game’s standout player wasn’t even playing in Manhattan until the fall. Bucknell junior transfer Cecelia Collins had 19 points, five rebounds and seven seriously nifty assists. On a subpar day for senior guard and leading scorer Abbey Hsu (a mere 14 points on 5-for-14 shooting), Collins frustrated the visitors on both ends of the court.

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Columbia women’s basketball wins a 77-75 thriller over Villanova

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After giving up a buzzer-beating three to Florida at the Baha Mar Hoops Pink Flamingo Championship the week prior, Columbia women’s basketball made sure lightning wouldn’t strike twice and used clutch plays on both end of the court over the last few seconds to defeat visiting Villanova, 77-75, Sunday afternoon.

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Columbia women’s basketball comes up short against No. 22 Duke

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Senior guard Abbey Hsu’s 25 points on 10-for-17 shooting weren’t quite enough for Columbia to top No. 22 Duke at Levien Gym Tuesday. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)

While the Columbia campus is divided over global events, most are united over the performance of the school’s athletic programs.

On Sunday, the women’s soccer team faced Rutgers in front of a raucous crowd during its NCAA Tournament first-round victory. Two days later, the Lions’ faithful (and Ivy League Executive Director Robin Harris) packed Levien Gymnasium as the women’s basketball team welcomed Kara Lawson and Duke, the first time a top-25 team ever visited Morningside Heights.

Megan Griffith’s Light Blue squad went toe-to-toe with the No. 22 Blue Devils the entire evening but came up short in a 66-62 defeat. 

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