Ivy women’s semifinal: No. 1 Columbia gets by No. 4 Penn, 60-54

Columbia junior forward Susie Rafiu paced the victorious Lions with a 16-point, 10-rebound performance on Friday evening. (Rob Browne | Ivy Hoops Online)

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Despite having multiple double-digit leads, the No. 1-seeded Columbia women couldn’t find a way to dominate No. 4 Penn and had to fight for a full 40 minutes to secure a 60-54 victory in Friday’s opening semifinal of the 2025 Ivy Tournament.

“Credit to them (Penn) for getting to this point and giving us their best,” coach Megan Griffith told the media in the postgame press conference. “Conversely, in our locker room, I don’t think we played our best, but that’s honestly what you’re going to get again in these games.”

With the win, the Lions (23-6) head to the program’s third-ever conference final. A victory in Saturday night’s contest against No. 3 Harvard. which won an instant classic against No. 2 Princeton in the nightcap, would give Columbia its first-ever Ivy Madness title, as well as the Ancient Eight’s automatic bid.

For Penn (15-13), the season is over and the drought for an Ivy League Tournament title now extends to eight years.

“I thought we really played well enough to put them (Columbia) in jeopardy,” Penn coach Mike McLaughlin said. “I’m just so proud that they hung in there … and gave ourselves an opportunity to beat a really good team tonight.”

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Reporter’s Notebook – Ivy League Tournament day two

Empty media room seat in memory of Grant Wahl (Photo by Rob Browne)

The morning of day two of Ivy Madness had more people in the media room and arena as the men’s teams took the stage for their interview sessions.

It’s certainly worth noting the empty media room seat left unoccupied as a tribute to Grant Wahl, the award-winning college basketball and soccer journalist who died a few months ago due to complications associated with Marfan syndrome.  Wahl attended Princeton from 1992 to 1996 and began his career as a reporter for the Daily Princetonian.  A very nice touch by everyone at the Ivy League office and Princeton Athletics.

Some more observations from the pre-semifinal part of the day:

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