Columbia University
San Diego
Women's Basketball Topped by San Diego in Offensive Shootout, 91-87
11/27/2010 7:05:00 PM | Women's Basketball
SAN DIEGO -- After trailing by as many as 16 points in the first half and by 12 points with 4:21 remaining in the second, the Columbia University women's basketball put together a 13-3 run to cut its deficit to two with just over a minute left in regulation against San Diego. The Lions forced the Toreros into a pair of misses on the ensuing possession, but an offensive rebound and a pair of free throws by USD's Dominique Connors helped seal a 91-87 win for San Diego at Jenny Craig Pavilion on Saturday.
Junior Melissa Shafer had a breakout game in defeat, scoring 17 of her team-high 19 points in the second half to lead five Columbia players in double-figures. Sophomore Tyler Simpson also had an impressive outing with 17 points, four rebounds -- all offensive -- and three steals.
First-year Brianna Orlich added 14 points, seven boards and four assists, senior Kathleen Barry contributed 12 points, seven rebounds and a block, and senior Lauren Dwyer had 11 points and three assists before fouling out late in the second half.
Both teams got off to hot starts offensively, and Columbia's early scoring punch came from Dwyer. The 6-3 center scored the team's first seven points, and a corner jumper at the 17:43 mark gave the Lions a 7-5 advantage.
The lead would be shortlived, however, as San Diego exploded for 35 points over the next 10 minutes to take a 42-28 lead. The Toreros at one point hit 11 shots in a row from the field over a six-minute stretch that was capped with a three-pointer by Izzy Chilcot.
USD missed only seven of its 29 shots in the period (73.3%) and headed into the locker room with a 10-point advantage. Columbia had its best offensive half of the season and shot an even 50.0 percent, including 5-for-11 from long range. Barry led the Lions with 10 points at the break, while Sam Child had 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting.
Child continued her offensive onslaught to begin the second stanza, as her jumper gave the Toreros a 53-41 lead. A Child layup pushed the USD cushion to 15 points with just over 15 minutes left on the clock.
But as has been the case all season, the Lions would not back down regardless of the score and slowly began to chip away. A three-point play by first-year Taylor Ward and a pair of foul shots by Orlich were part of a 7-1 run that got Columbia to within single digits at 64-55 with 13:07 remaining.
San Diego bumped its cushion back to 15 at 74-59 with 9:40 left, and it looked as though the Toreros may pull away. The pesky Lions continued to battle though, and were helped immensely by the hot hand of Shafer. The sharp-shooting junior, who struggled for much of the first four games of the year, found the range from deep and scored 15 points over the final 9:32 of the contest.
A three-ball from the Raleigh, N.C. native got the comeback started, and back-to-back three's cut the USD advantage to 86-77 with 4:02 to play. Conners scored on a jumper and a free throw to put the Torero lead back to 12, before Columbia tallied 10 straight points to pull within two. A full-court press, three straight forced turnovers and perfect free-throw shooting were keys to the frenetic stretch of play. The Lions hit all eight of their attempts from the charity stripe, including four from Orlich.
Following two freebies by Barry that put the score at 89-87 with 1:03 left, tremendous defense by the Lions nearly gave them possession back and in a position to tie or take the lead. A blocked shot by first-year Courtney Bradford went out of bounds with five seconds remaining on the shot clock and just under 40 seconds in the second half.
The inbounds play put the ball to Child's, and she got into the lane and put up a contested runner as the shot clock expired that was no good. But Connors was able to come out of the pack in the lane with the ball, and connected on two free throws with 26 seconds left to bump the lead back up to four. The Lions were unable to get any closer in the closing seconds.
Child finished with a game-high 26 points, while Connors had 14 points for USD. Hatch added 13 points and Woodrow tallied 12 points for the Toreros, who improved to 4-1 with the victory.
Columbia will return to Levien Gymnasium for its next contest on Thursday, Dec. 2 against Wagner at 7 p.m.
LION LINES
- The 87 points is the most a Columbia team has scored in a game since Feb. 20, 2009 when the Lions netted 88 points in a home win over Brown.
- The Lions were slightly outrebounded by San Diego, 32-29, but had 13 offensive rebounds which they converted into 12 points.
- Columbia shared the ball with great effectiveness as the team had a season-high 15 assists.
- Ball closed with a career-high five points, and Simpson's 17 points also represents a career best.
- Simpson and Shafer scored 36 of Columbia's 41 points off the bench. The Lions led the bench points category, 41-21.
