Women's Basketball Hosts Providence Wednesday Night
12/6/2016 4:30:00 PM | Women's Basketball
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NEW YORK – The Columbia women's basketball team (5-2) looks for its fourth straight win when it hosts Providence (7-1) Wednesday night at Levien Gymnasium.
GAMEDAY MEDIA
• The game will be broadcast on the Ivy League Digital Network. The audio broadcast can also be accessed on the ILDN. Live stats will be provided by GoColumbiaLions.com.
NEWS/NOTES
OPENING TIPS
• The two programs will meet for the first time when they take the court Wednesday night. Columbia is 0-8 all-time against the BIG EAST's current members.
• Junior Camille Zimmerman ranks atop the Ivy League in scoring (19.3) and offensive rebounds (4.4). Zimmerman also has the league's most double-doubles (4), field goals made (56) and field goal attempts (125). She ranks among the top five in the Ivy League in rebounding (9.7), blocks (1.3) and minutes (34.9).
• Sophomore Josie Little has secured 10 or more rebounds in back-to-back games. Little went for a career-high 19 rebounds in last Wednesday's win at Loyola Maryland, tying her career-high of 14 in the first half. She went for 11 boards in only 19 minutes on Friday against UMass Lowell. Little (8.6) and Zimmerman (9.7) each rank among the top five in the Ivy League in rebounding.
• As of Tuesday, Columbia ranks No. 4 in the NCAA in rebound margin (+15.4). The Lions have been very impressive on the glass over their last two games, outrebounding Loyola Maryland by 22 and UMass Lowell by 24.
• The Lions are coming off their largest victory of the season, defeating UMass Lowell by 19 on Friday. Columbia led by as many as 31 in the fourth quarter and shot a season-high 48.1 percent from the field.
• With a win, Columbia would earn its best eight-game start since going 7-1 in 2002-03. Columbia has started 5-2 for the second consecutive season. The last time the Lions won at least five of their first seven games in back-to-back seasons was 1985-86 and 1986-87, going 6-1 both years.
CRASHING THE GLASS
• Columbia ranks No. 4 in the NCAA in rebound margin at +15.4 (as of games through Monday, Dec. 5). The Lions have outrebounded each of their last two opponents by more than 20, outdueling Loyola Maryland 45-23 last Wednesday, followed by a 47-23 advantage over UMass Lowell last Friday. 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.
EDUCATION DAY RECORD
• Columbia partnered with the New York City Department of Education for the ninth consecutive year to invite elementary school students representing 15 New York City institutions to Columbia for the December 2 game against UMass Lowell. The Lions defeated the River Hawks, 76-57, in front of a program-record crowd of 2,271, most of which were elementary school students.
OLIVER JOINS 1,000-500 CLUB
• Senior Tori Oliver became the sixth Lion in program history to amass 1,000 points and 500 rebounds on Nov. 30 at Loyola Maryland. Oliver collected four rebounds in the contest to go above 500 and now has 1,143 points and 504 rebounds. She joins Ula Lysniak (1983-87), Kathy Gilbert (1987-91), Shawnee Pickney (1997-01), Ellen Bossert (1984-86) and Lauren Dwyer (2007-11) as the six members of the 1,000-500 club.
ZIMMERMAN AT THE TOP
• Junior Camille Zimmerman enters the game atop the Ivy League in five statistical categories, which includes points per game (19.3), offensive rebounds per game (4.4), double-doubles (4), field goal attempts (125) and field goals made (56). She ranks among the top 20 nationally in double-doubles and offensive rebounding.
ZIMMERMAN GOES BACK-TO-BACK AS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
• Junior Camille Zimmerman was named Ivy League Player of the Week each of the first two weeks. She averaged a double-double of 20 points and 12.5 rebounds in Columbia's first two games of the season to earn the selection on Nov. 14. The following week, Zimmerman scored 20 points and came up with a season-high 17 rebounds to help the Lions defeat Saint Francis PA. The Tempe, Arizona, native leads Columbia in scoring (19.3), rebounding (9.7), assists (3.1) and blocks (1.3).
POSTGAME NOTES FROM LOYOLA (Nov. 30)
• Columbia women's basketball set an attendance record with 2,271 at Levien Gymnasium.
• First-year Stephanie Flynn scored her first collegiate points.
• First-year Maya Sampleton made her first collegiate field goal.
• Seniors Ara Talkov and Carolyn Gallagher, and junior Jillian Borreson scored their first points of the season.
• Sophomore Sarah Elston made her collegiate debut.
• Columbia held its opponent below 30-percent shooting for the second time this season.
• Sophomore Paulina Koerner went 8-for-8 at the foul line, marking a career-high for makes without a miss.
• Camille Zimmerman recorded her fourth 20-point game of the season.
• The 19-point victory was Columbia's largest of the season.
• The Lions avenged their only two losses of the season to America East opponents UMBC and Stony Brook.
SCOUTING PROVIDENCE
• The Friars suffered their first loss of the season on Sunday, falling to local rival Brown, 77-70, in the Ocean State Tip-Off Tournament (hosted by Brown). Prior to the loss, Providence had won its first seven games, including a double-overtime victory in its season opener against Colgate. The Friars also went 2-0 to win the UNCW Hampton Inn Thanksgiving Classic (Nov. 26-27), defeating UNCW and Miami Ohio.
• Providence has outscored its opponents by an average of 11.4 points per game on its way to a 7-1 start. The Friars rank No. 9 in the NCAA in 3-point field goal percentage (42.2 pct.) and are among the top 20 in the NCAA in field goal percentage (47.8 pct.) and free throw percentage (77.8 pct.). Four Friars average double figures in the scoring column, led by Yoyo Nogic's 14.9 points per game. Sarah Beal (13.1), Maddie Jolin (13.1) and Allegra Botteghi (10.1) round out the quartet of double-figure scorers. Aliyah Miller, a 6-1 senior forward, heads the rebounding effort at 7.3 per contest.
• Head coach Jim Crowley is in his first season at Providence and 20th season on the head-coaching circuit overall. Crowley spent the past 16 seasons at St. Bonaventure, leading the Bonnies to two NCAA Tournaments and four WNITs. Crowley was named Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year three times, as well as ESPN.com National Coach of the Year in 2012 following a 31-4 campaign that saw St. Bonaventure advance to the Sweet 16.
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 four 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…
• Columbia heads to Binghamton for its final road game before the winter break on Saturday to take on the Bearcats. Tip is slated for noon at the Events Center in Vestal, N.Y.
