NEW YORK - The Columbia women's basketball team is opening the 2012 calendar year with one of two remaining non-conference match-ups, as the Lions will travel to Easton, Pa., to take on Lafayette, Wednesday, January 3 at 5 p.m. Lafayette will be the first and only Patriot League team on Columbia's schedule this year. 

Columbia will be looking to build momentum from December 30, as the Lions are coming off their second win of the season, and the best offensive effort they've seen all year. Brittany Simmons and Caitlyn Unsworth hit five of six free throws in the game's final 40 seconds to give Columbia a 77-74 win over Bryant in Levien Gymnasium.Columbia trailed by two at the half (36-34), but opened the second period on a 26-8 run over 10 minutes to take a 16-point lead, 60-44, with 10:22 to play. Senior Melissa Shafer led the Lions with 17 points, while first-year Caitlin Unsworth and junior Tyler Simpson had 12 points each. First-year Amara Mbionwu led the Lions on the boards with 10 rebounds. 

Lafayette is coming off a tough overtime loss on the road at Pittsburgh New Year's Eve. The Leopards are 5-9 on the season, with wins over Wagner, St. Francis (N.Y.), East Carolina, St. Peter's and Manhattan. Sophomore center Danielle Fiacco leads Lafayette in both points per game (11.5) and rebounds per game (8.4). First-year forward Emily Homan is second on the team with an 11.1 ppg average. She's also one of the Leopards' top rebounders, averaging just over five rebounds per game. Homan recently swept both the Patriot League Rookie and Player of the Week honors, as she averaged 20.3 points and 7.0 rebounds in three games last week. Homan becomes just the second player in Patriot League history to sweep the awards. 

Lafayette has taken on several opponents that match up with Columbia's schedule. Thus far in the season, the Leopards have beaten two teams the Lions lost to (Wagner and SFNY), and fallen to a team the Lions beat (Bryant). The Leopards have also suffered two losses at the hands of Ivy League opponents, as they fell to Princeton early in the year, 87-47, and fell to Penn just two weeks later, 49-39.

 

Columbia and Lafayette are a recent matchup, as the two teams first played each other in the 2006-07 season. Columbia holds the all-time edge, 2-1, but Lafayette holds the advantage of the most recent win. The Leopards won in Levien Gymnasium last season in a close game, 64-63. Columbia and Lafayette have always played close games, as the widest score margin in the series history is just eight points. 

Columbia's win over Bryant was the second of the season for the Lions, and one of the best games of the year. Columbia scored a season-high 77 points, a full 14 points higher than their next team total, 63 points that they scored in a win over Army. It was the first time this year Columbia has had three athletes in double figures, as Melissa Shafer, Caitlyn Unsworth and Tyler Simpson all had 10+ points. 

First-year Caitlyn Unsworth earned her first career Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors for the week of January 2. She is the third Lion to earn the honors this year. Unsworth had a breakout week, hitting two career scoring highs. She had a career-high six points in Columbia's loss to Fairleigh Dickinson, and bested that mark with 12 points in Columbia's 77-74 win over Bryant. The first-year hit two free throws with three seconds left in the game to clinch the win for the Lions, and was 3-for-4 from three point range. The win snapped Columbia's five game losing streak, and helped the Lions improve to 2-10 on the season.

Senior co-captain Melissa Shafer has continued to improve on already stellar performances throughout the season. She leads the team in scoring (11.3 ppg), and has scored in double figures in six of the team's 12 games. She's also the team's most reliable free throw shooter, as she's hit 81% of her shots from the charity stripe. 

Junior guard Taylor Ball is fourth in the Ivy League in assists per game, with a 3.2 assists per game average. And when Ball passes the ball, the Lions win. She had her season-high assist total in the win against Army (7), and nearly matched that in Columbia's win over Bryant (6). The only time Ball has had more than five assists and the Lions haven't won was the game against Hawai'i on December 3. 

 

The Dec. 11 game against the Blackbirds marked the first time this season the Lions out-rebounded their opponents. Columbia notched 38 total rebounds, including 27 defensive rebounds, while LIU had 31 total rebounds. The Lions also had more second chance points, more fast break points and more points from its bench. It was also the fifth time this season Columbia has held an opponent to fewer than 60 points. 

Columbia has had seven different players lead scoring in 12 games this season. Senior Melissa Shafer has led the Lions in scoring in six games this season, including four of the last five. Meanwhile, Columbia has gotten contributions from six other athletes, as Taylor Ward and Tyler Simpson (12 pts) led at Sacred Heart. At Wagner, Ward and first-year Miwa Tachibana both had 11 points, while sophomore Courtney Bradford led the Lions with a career-high 17 points against Army. Against San Diego, junior Brittany Simmons and first-year Lizzy Stachon got in on the action as well, both with six points to lead Columbia's scoring. 

Columbia first-year Amara Mbionwu was named Ivy League Rookie of the Week for the week ending November 13. She became the first Lion to earn Rookie of the Week honors since Lauren Dwyer took home the award on Feb. 18, 2008. The Bowie, Md. native averaged 6.5 points and a team-best 8.5 rebounds in two games for the Lions, who fell to Vermont, 63-52, and Sacred Heart, 60-42. Mbionwu grabbed a team-high eight rebounds to go along with 11 points against Vermont. She shot 5-of-8 from the field. In the Lions' next game, Mbionwu set a new personal-best with a game high nine boards against Sacred Heart. After the first week of action, she led all Ivy League freshmen in rebounding and ranked tied for third overall.

Columbia notched its second-straight Ivy League Rookie of the Week nod, as first-year Miwa Tachibana was named the Rookie of the Week for the week ending November 18. Tachibana led the Lions in scoring that week, as she was 4-for-7 against Wagner, scoring 11 points, a new collegiate career high for the Los Angeles native. She went 3-of-4 from the free throw line, and recorded two assists, one rebound and a steal.

Once again, Columbia brings back two seniors, who will be crucial to Columbia's success in the 2011-12 season. Senior co-captains Melissa Shafer and Jazmin Fuller will lead the Lions into the year. Shafer returns as a starting guard for Columbia, and one of the top five all-time three point shooters in Columbia history. Fuller saw action in 22 games last year for the Lions, including four starts to close out the season.