Columbia women look to eclipse Princeton in marquee matchup

Coming off its first Ivy loss of the Carla Berube era, the Princeton women (8-4, 0-1 Ivy) hope to bounce back at Jadwin Gym against a Columbia squad (12-2, 1-0) looking to prove it has surpassed the Tigers. Our George “Toothless Tiger” Clark previews the marquee matchup slated for Friday at 7 p.m. on ESPNU in this audio report:

Columbia women blow out Yale, 97-53, in Ivy opener

Junior guard Abbey Hsu registered 13 points, five rebounds and two assists in 25 minutes in Columbia’s 97-53 rout of Yale Saturday afternoon. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)

Saturday was just another day at the office for high-flying Columbia women’s basketball.

The Light Blue defeated Yale, 97-53, at John J. Lee Amphitheater before a highly partisan Columbia crowd.

Columbia (12-2, 1-0 Ivy) never trailed in winning its ninth straight contest.

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Columbia women complete revenge week sweep with UMass win – and they’re sharing the wealth

Abbey Hsu shone during what she called “revenge week” for Columbia, leading the Lions to triumphs over teams that beat them last season. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)

On the strength of 14 three-pointers and a 30-point third quarter, the Columbia women soundly defeated UMass at the Mullins Center on Saturday afternoon, their second straight takedown of an opponent that defeated them in New York City last year.

“This is huge. We called it revenge week,” Abbey Hsu told Columbia Athletics following the win. “This was to prove that we are a better team than we were last year. We want to be a team that competes with teams in the post-season and we proved that tonight.”

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Columbia women win “revenge game” at Stony Brook, get ready for showdown at UMass

Columbia senior guard/forward Kaitlyn Davis’ 19 points, nine rebounds and three steals helped propel the Lions past Stony Brook on the road Wednesday night. Davis called the matchup a “revenge game” after the Seawolves beat Columbia last season. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)

STONY BROOK, N.Y. – Like the first stop in the Columbia women’s 2022-23 redemption tour, last night’s appearance in eastern Long Island was a resounding success for the Lions.

Senior forward Kaitlyn Davis’ 19 points (including this nifty behind-the-back drive in the third quarter), nine rebounds and three steals led a balanced offensive and defensive attack from the starting five as the Lions came away with an 84-68 victory over the Stony Brook at Island Federal Arena on Wednesday night.

The win avenges a 91-82 defeat at the hands of Seawolves last November at Levien Gymnasium.

“This was a big game for us, a revenge game from last year,” Davis told Ivy Hoops Online.  “(We’re) Just trying to do our job, show that this year we’re a different team, a better team.”

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Columbia women gathering momentum after taking Miami Thanksgiving Tournament title

A double-double from Jaida Patrick helped propel Columbia past Miami to win the Miami Thanksgiving Tournament. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)

“I love any buzz about our team,” coach Megan Griffith said at her weekly media availability.  “Anytime somebody’s talking about our program, it’s a good thing.”

After crushing Arkansas-Pine Bluff by 38 and outlasting Miami in front of its home fans en route to winning the Miami Thanksgiving Tournament title Sunday, there’s definitely positive buzz about Columbia women’s basketball.

Just since this weekend’s games, the team has moved up to No. 9 in the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25. ESPN has listed the Lions as the automatic Ivy League qualifier and a No. 12 seed for the NCAA Tournament.

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Columbia women finally make the Pirates walk the plank

Abbey Hsu led Columbia to a win over Seton Hall Thursday that avenged the Lions’ WNIT loss to the Pirates last season, notching a team-high 19 points, including a 4-for-6 three-point shooting performance. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)

It took 234 days, but Columbia women’s basketball got its revenge on Seton Hall, the team that came out victorious in last year’s WNIT Quarterfinal, in a 83-76 victory on Thursday night.

“I’m so proud of our team. We’ve had this game circled on our calendar for a while, since March 28,” head coach Megan Griffith said in a postgame interview. “It was just an opportunity for us to come back and battle with a really great Seton Hall program.”

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Columbia women take down Memphis on opening night

Returning over 96% of the team’s points, rebounds and minutes from last year’s WNIT quarterfinal team, expectations are high for the Columbia women this season.  The Lions took their initial step toward the program’s first ever NCAA Tournament bid with a 77-69 victory over Memphis at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse on Monday night.

The game was knotted at seven halfway through the opening frame, but the Tigers finished the quarter on a 11-2 run.  Down eight with just over a minute to go, the Lions returned the favor and ended the half on 8-2 run to cut the deficit to two.  Memphis extended the lead to four, 54-50, after three quarters.

But the game would quickly turn in Columbia’s favor.

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Columbia women bow out in WNIT Elite Eight loss to Seton Hall, 78-75, ending best season in program history

Columbia sophomore guard Abbey Hsu got off to a hot start in the WNIT Elite Eight after a cold shooting performance in the Sweet 16, but it wasn’t enough to prevent a 78-75 loss to Seton Hall Monday night. (photo by Erica Denhoff)

The best season in Columbia women’s basketball history is over.

Columbia came up on the low end of a see-saw showdown at Levien Gym Monday night, bowing out to Seton Hall, 78-75, in the Elite Eight round of the WNIT.

The Lions’ appearance in the WNIT national quarterfinals came after wins in each of the tournament’s first three rounds – the program’s first postseason wins since it joined Division I in 1986.

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Ivy women’s weekend: Saturday separation

The Ivy League’s most prolific three-point shooter, Columbia sophomore guard Abbey Hsu ranks second in the Ivy League in scoring and third in minutes and is likely to play a pivotal role in Columbia’s tilt against Princeton Saturday. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)

As the calendar moves into February, we have reached the midpoint of the Ivy season.  While this weekend brings the first back-to-back games of the season, Saturday night looks to be the more pivotal evening for the women’s division.  Each game pits teams from the four tiers of the conference against one another.

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Columbia women outlast Cornell, 57-46, for best start to Ivy play in program history

After running out to a 24-point lead over the first 7:30 of the game, the Columbia women surprisingly found themselves in a battle with Cornell on Thursday night.  In a typically intense physical battle between the Empire State rivals, the Lions used the offense of Kitty Henderson and the rebounding of Kaitlyn Davis to come away with a 57-46 victory at Levien Gymnasium.

With the win, the Light Blue are 3-0 in league play (12-0 overall) for the first time in program history and remain tied with Princeton for first place.  For the Red, the defeat was their first of the year when holding an opponent to 60 points or less and they are now 1-3 in the conference (6-9 overall).

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