As we enter the July 4th holiday weekend, we at Ivy Hoops Online wanted to round up some postseason updates:
columbia
Columbia women to host Duke, Seton Hall in 2023-24
Columbia women’s basketball will face stiff tests in the 2023-24 nonconference slate.
The Lions will host Duke and Seton Hall at Levien Gym next season in addition to making a previously announced trip to Bahamas to join the Baha Mars Hoops Pink Flamingo Championship 10-team field in November.
Megan Griffith inks five-year extension with Columbia women’s basketball
After a historic season for Columbia women’s basketball in which the Lions earned their first ever Ivy League regular season championship and WNIT Final appearance, coach Megan Griffith has signed a five-year extension that will keep her in Morningside Heights through the 2027-28 season.
Griffith, a King of Prussia, Pa. native, played point guard for Columbia from 2003 to 2007 and captained the team for her last three years. Over that time, she twice earned All-Ivy and Academic All-Ivy accolades. Following three years of professional basketball in Europe, she joined Courtney Banghart’s staff at Princeton, where she was director of basketball operations, assistant coach and recruiting coordinator.
When Columbia athletic director Peter Pilling tabbed the then-30-year-old to be the team’s head coach in March 2016, the Lions had just finished a five-year period in which they went 34-107 (.241) overall and 10-60 (.142) in the Ivy League.
“This is my home and I can’t thank Peter Pilling enough for taking a chance on me seven years ago. The buy-in and investment from our administration are unmatched in the history of our program and the Ivy League in general,” the coach told Columbia Athletics. “We’ve created something special for our community, our campus, our alumni and our fans, and I know we will continue to build on that.”
Inside Ivy Hoops 4-11-23
Ivy Hoops Online editor Mike Tony and IHO writer Rob Browne discuss memorable postseason runs for Princeton men’s and women’s basketball and Columbia and Harvard in the WNIT, the new “Big 5” (really City 6) Classic, the prospect and potential impact of athletic scholarships for Ivy hoopsters and much more:
Columbia women fall short at Kansas in WNIT title game
Amazing atmosphere for a @WomensNIT Championship Game. Thank you, @KUWBball fans for the experience! Here’s to us both being in the Big Dance next year! #GrowTheGame #RoarLionRoar // #EDGE 🦁
📸 Joshua Wang
FULL PHOTO GALLERY:https://t.co/jMkTonpYDe pic.twitter.com/1hCmLs0Ppo
— Columbia Women’s Basketball (@CULionsWBB) April 2, 2023
The deepest run for an Ivy League team in WNIT history ended in defeat in the tournament final Saturday as Columbia fell at Kansas, 66-59, before an Allen Fieldhouse crowd of 11,701.
Horrid shooting and a disadvantage in the paint doomed the Lions in a defensive struggle they slowly but steadily lost control over in the second and third quarters, requiring a comeback effort that came up short.
Columbia women advance to WNIT title game after holding off Bowling Green
🎞 Time to check out the highlights from Wednesday night’s @WomensNIT victory at Bowling Green#RoarLionRoar // #EDGE // #OnlyHere 🦁 pic.twitter.com/TLzpcEhVUi
— Columbia Women’s Basketball (@CULionsWBB) March 30, 2023
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.
Harvard at Columbia in WNIT Great 8: What to watch for
Columbia and Harvard women’s basketball will square off for a fourth time this season Sunday at 4 p.m. at Levien Gym on ESPN3.
This time, a WNIT Fab 4 berth is on the line.
Columbia women return to WNIT Super 16 after pushing past Fordham
Columbia is back in the WNIT Super 16 after a 78-73 defeat of Fordham in a tight interborough contest Monday night.
The Lions closed a nail biter on a 12-2 run to secure the victory.
”We stepped up and made some big plays,” Columbia coach Megan Griffith said.
Columbia women show how to take care of business against Fairleigh Dickinson
Postseason wins are never to be taken for granted.
Columbia women’s basketball was expected to prevail in its WNIT opening-round matchup against Fairleigh Dickinson at Levien Gym Friday, and it did just that in a ho-hum 69-53 victory.
But as the Knights fell to the Lions Friday night, their No. 16-seeded men’s counterparts shocked the basketball world by toppling No. 1 Purdue in the Round of 64 in a 63-58 triumph.
It says a lot about the advancement of Columbia (24-5, 12-2 Ivy) under coach Megan Griffith that the Lions have transitioned from going without a postseason win for its first 36 years in Division I to being well-positioned to make a deep WNIT run for the second season in a row.
And the Lions made history of their own against Fairleigh Dickinson (24-8, 14-2 NEC) Friday night.
Ivy hoops postseason picture comes into view
The Ivy hoops postseason picture is emerging.
The Princeton men were handed the lowest seed handed to an Ivy since Penn was disrespected with a No. 16 seed in 2018, while the Columbia women were deprived of a NCAA Tournament berth altogether despite a top-50 NET ranking.