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NEW YORK — Riley Weiss 40, Dartmouth 32.
Saturday’s contest between Columbia and Dartmouth was a historic victory on both ends of the court for the Lions.
Star junior guard Riley Weiss scored 40 points, a program record, and the Lions held Dartmouth to just 32 points, the fewest Columbia has ever allowed against a Division I opponent, in an 89-32 shellacking of the Big Green.
“It was a great team effort tonight,” Columbia coach Megan Griffith said. “Riley shined really bright.”
In the hostile confines of Lavietes Pavilion, Columbia women’s basketball squeaked by Harvard, 58–55, in a marquee Ivy League matchup Saturday. The Lions (10-5, 1-1 Ivy) dominated the first 21 minutes of play before a furious Crimson (8-7, 1-1) third-quarter comeback led to a vigorous fourth-quarter battle.
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. — It wasn’t pretty, but Columbia got its biggest road win of the young season.
The Lions (7-4) took the short ride to South Orange, New Jersey and beat Seton Hall (6-2) on a Perri Page layup with 0.7 seconds left, 54–53. Facing an unrelenting Seton Hall defense, the Lions never led in the second half until the final second.
At the Cancun Challenge, Columbia women’s basketball played much improved basketball against quality opponents, as junior guard and reigning Ivy League Player of the Year Riley Weiss rounded into midseason shape.
Prior to the tournament, Weiss averaged 16.2 points per game. In these three games, she averaged over 27, notably shooting 48.3% overall and 42.3% from three, both numbers higher than any previous single game.
In three days of play, the Lions (4-4) lost a close shootout to Kansas State (5–3), 95–92; powered past perennial mid-major power South Dakota State (6–2), 80–67; and lost 80–63 against Courtney Banghart-led No. 12 North Carolina (8–1).
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.
In a battle between two of the nation’s premier mid-major teams, Richmond women’s basketball used hot three-point shooting to come away from Levien Gymnasium with a 77-67 win Saturday night.
Both teams, which made it to the NCAA Tournament and won a game last year, have aspirations of returning to the Big Dance in 2026. A victory for the Spiders (3-1) helps their overall resume, in case they cannot secure the Atlantic 10’s automatic bid in March. Despite the unfavorable result, the Lions (2-1), as often is the case, will find valuable lessons as they move forward with their difficult nonconference schedule.
The release of the Ivy League preseason media poll and 2025-26 Media Day revealed Princeton as the favorite heading into the 2025-26 season, followed by three-time defending champion Columbia, 2025 Ivy Madness title-holder Harvard in third and Penn rounding out the upper half of the conference.
Brown, which has tied the Quakers for fourth place the last two years, is the clear choice for the fifth slot. Dartmouth, Cornell and Yale are pegged for the last three spots, with the Big Green one point ahead of the Big Red and seven points in front of the Bulldogs.
In less than a week, the Princeton men’s and women’s basketball teams will tip off their new seasons, and for the first time since 2016, neither program will enter the campaign as the defending Ivy League champion.
What are the prospects for the Orange and Black returning to the top of the Ivy League standings in 2025-26? Let’s investigate the probabilities for both programs, starting with the women:
The 2025-26 Ivy women’s basketball season tips off Friday, so it’s time for Ivy Hoops Online’s preseason poll – not to be confused with the Ivy League-released media preseason poll. Here’s how our contributors collectively predict the league will shake out, with select observations from some of them:
Princeton coaching and Dartmouth playing legend Courtney Banghart spent 45 minutes in conversation with Ivy Hoops Online contributor Steve Silverman.