Women's Basketball Set for West Coast Swing
12/28/2016 2:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
LOS ANGELES – The Columbia women's basketball team (8-2) ends the calendar year with a West Coast trip for a pair of games against Cal State Fullerton (2-9) and Long Beach State (8-6). The Lions battle the Titans Thursday night at 10 p.m. ET (7 p.m. local), followed by a New Year's Eve showdown against the 49ers at 4 p.m. ET (1 p.m. local).
GAMEDAY MEDIA
Columbia vs. Cal State Fullerton
Date: Thursday, December 29
Time: 10 p.m. ET (7 p.m. local)
Location: Titan Gym - Fullerton, Calif.
Watch: BigWest.TV
Audio: FullertonTitans.com
Live Stats: FullertonTitans.com
Columbia vs. Long Beach State
Date: Saturday, December, 31
Time: 4 p.m. ET (1 p.m. local)
Location: Walter Pyramid - Long Beach, Calif.
Watch: BigWest.TV
Audio: KBeach.org
Live Stats: BeachLiveStats.com
NEWS/NOTES
OPENING TIPS
• Columbia is off to its best 10-game start in program history and has won six straight for the first time in 30 years. The Lions secured the program's first 8-2 record with a 66-57 victory over LIU Brooklyn on December 12. The streak includes an overtime win over Providence, which marked the program's first BIG EAST victory.
• Junior Camille Zimmerman has been named Ivy League Player of the Week four times this season. Zimmerman leads Columbia in scoring (20.9), rebounding (9.3), assists, (3.0), steals (1.3) and blocks (1.1). She ranks atop the Ivy League in points per game, total points (209), field goals made (86), field goal attempts (177) and double-doubles (6). Nationally, Zimmerman ranks No. 13 in scoring and No. 17 in double-doubles.
• The Lions are making a West Coast trip for the fifth consecutive season, which includes a holiday swing at Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State in December of 2012. On that trip, Columbia fell to LBSU, 79-50, and to CSU Fullerton, 61-49. The Titans made a return trip to New York in November of 2013.
• Senior Tori Oliver and junior Camille Zimmerman each have over 1,000 career points, marking the first time two 1,000-point scorers have taken the court together since the 1990-91 season. Zimmerman became the 11th Lion in program history to reach 1,000 in Columbia's last outing. The last two active 1,000-point scorers that played together were Kathy Gilbert (1987-91) and Jennifer Beubis (1987-91).
• The Lions are receiving votes in the Mid-Major Top 25. The poll is sponsored by CollegeInsider.com.
THE SERIES
• Columbia and Cal State Fullerton are tied 2-2 in the series. The teams last met in November of 2013 in New York.
• Long Beach State leads Columbia 2-0 in the series. The Lions last played the 49ers in December of 2012 in California.
POSTGAME NOTES FROM LIU BROOKLYN (Dec. 12)
• Columbia improved to 8-2 for the first time in program history.
• Columbia won its sixth straight game for the first time since the 1986-87 season.
• Camille Zimmerman became the 11th Lion to record 1,000 career points. Zimmerman also climbed into the top 10 on the all-time scoring list, passing Charlene Schuessler's (1986-90).
• The Lions improved to 12-5 against the Blackbirds, winning the last four series matchups.
SCOUTING CAL STATE FULLERTON
• Cal State Fullerton (2-9) enters Thursday's game on a five-game losing streak. In their last outing, the Titans dropped a 10-point decision at home to San Diego State, 71-61. Fullerton's two victories on the season came against Whittier College (NCAA Div. III) and Montana. The Titans are 2-4 at home.
• The Titans average 64.5 points per game, but rank 322nd out of 344 NCAA Div. I teams in scoring defense at 74.2 points per game. Opponents shoot an average 43.7 percent against CSU Fullerton, including 38.1 percent from beyond the arc, ranking the Titans last in the Big West in both categories. On offense, Fullerton boasts the conference's top scorer, Iman Lathan, who averages 18.1 points per game. Lathan does a lot of her scoring at the foul line, also leading the Big West in free throws made (46) and attempts (68). Daeja Smith heads the effort on the glass at 7.4 per contest.
SCOUTING LONG BEACH STATE
• Long Beach State (8-6) went 1-2 at the Play4Kay Shootout in Las Vegas (Dec. 19-22), defeating 22nd-ranked South Florida, 73-68, before falling in close games to Oklahoma State, 63-57, and Quinnipiac, 63-60. The victory over USF earned the 49ers a season-long, five-game winning streak.
• It's all about the 3-point shot for the 49ers, who rank No. 7 nationally in total attempts (373) and No. 9 in total makes (120). The Beach's up-tempo pace is even more pronounced on defense, where they try to cause havoc by causing more than 21 turnovers per game and earning more than 10 steals per game. They are among the top 25 in the NCAA in turnover margin (+6.29) and total steals.
• LBSU spreads the scoring on offense with five players averaging between 8.7 and 10.3 points per game. Madison Montgomery currently leads the way in scoring as the only 49er averaging double figures. Meanwhile, Jewelyn Sawyer averages a team-best 7.0 rebounds and Anna Kim heads the effort in assists (43) and steals (22).
RECORD START
• Columbia (8-2) is off to its best 10-game start in program history. The Lions have never won eight of their first 10 games, besting teams from 2002-03 and 1986-87 that started 7-3. Along the way, Columbia has won six straight games, its longest winning streak since the 1986-87 campaign. That year, the Lions won seven straight from December of 1986 through January of 1987, which stands as the program's longest winning streak in the NCAA Div. I era. The program's all-time longest winning streak is eight, accomplished in the 1985-86 season.
CRASHING THE GLASS
• Columbia ranks No. 3 in the NCAA in rebound margin at +14.9 (through Saturday, Dec. 23). The Lions have outrebounded every opponent this season, including three opponents by more than 20. Columbia outdueled Loyola Maryland on the glass 45-23 on Nov. 30, followed by a 47-23 advantage over UMass Lowell two days later on Dec. 2. Earlier in the season, Columbia outrebounded Richmond by 21, 54-33. Columbia has held its opponent to less than 40 rebounds in all seven games, while the Lions have gathered more than 40 rebounds on six occasions.
ZIMMERMAN JOINS 1,000-POINT CLUB
• Junior Camille Zimmerman became the 11th Lion in program history to score 1,000 career points, doing so on December 12 in a victory over LIU Brooklyn. Zimmerman scored 20 points in the contest, hitting the milestone on a 3-point play in the fourth quarter. She is on pace to break the school's career record of 1,447 points, accomplished by Hall of Famer Ula Lysniak from 1983-87.
RAKING IN PLAYER OF THE WEEK AWARDS
• Junior Camille Zimmerman has been named Ivy League Player of the Week four times this season (Nov. 14, Nov. 21, Dec. 12, Dec. 19). Zimmerman is the 26th player in Ivy League history to earn at least four Player of the Week honors in a single season and the 23rd Ivy to receive six awards in a career. She is the second Lion to accomplish both feats, joining Judie Lomax (2009-10), who was named 10 times in just two years at Columbia.
1,000-POINT DUO
• Senior Tori Oliver and junior Camille Zimmerman have each totaled over 1,000 career points, marking the first time since the 1990-91 season that two active 1,000-point scorers took the court together. Oliver enters the game fourth in program history in scoring (1,188 points), moving into the top 5 with a 15-point performance at Richmond (Nov. 13) and passing current head coach Megan Griffith (2003-07) and Ellen Bossert (1984-86) in the process. Zimmerman ranks 10th all-time in scoring (1,009 points), breaking the 1,000-point plateau against LIU Brooklyn (Dec. 12). The last pair of active 1,000-point scorers was Kathy Gilbert (1,309 points) and Jennifer Beubis (1,039 points), who played together from 1987-91.
COLUMBIA BASKETBALL PODCAST
• The Columbia University Sports Management program is producing a series of podcasts involving the Columbia men's and women's basketball programs this season. The podcasts are part of the program's podcast series, The CUSP Show. The first five episodes are already available and can be downloaded for free in the App Store. Fans can access the podcasts in a variety of other ways as well, which includes going to BlogTalkRadio.com/TheCUSPshow. The podcasts will also be posted as they become available to GoColumbiaLions.com.
UP NEXT…
• The Lions return to the Northeast to open 2017 at NJIT on Wednesday, January 4. Tip is set for 11:30 a.m. from the Fleisher Athletic Center in Newark, New Jersey. It will be Education Day at NJIT. The game will air on ESPN3.
