Women's Basketball Travels to Binghamton Saturday
12/9/2016 11:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
ESPN3 // Talent: Tim Heiman, Chelsea Loscalzo
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NEW YORK – The Columbia women's basketball team (6-2) will look to secure its first five-game winning streak since 2003 when it travels to take on Binghamton (3-5) Saturday afternoon. Tip is slated for noon at the Events Center.
GAMEDAY MEDIA
• The game will be broadcast on ESPN3 with Tim Heiman and Chelsea Loscalzo on the call. The Columbia audio broadcast with Jay Alter can be accessed on the Ivy League Digital Network. Live stats will be provided by BUBearcats.com.
NEWS/NOTES
OPENING TIPS
• The Lions defeated a BIG EAST opponent for the first time on Wednesday, knocking off Providence, 66-64, in overtime at Levien Gym. Junior Camille Zimmerman scored the game-winning basket with 7.5 seconds left in overtime. Prior to Wednesday's victory, the Lions were 0-8 all-time against the conference's 10 current members.
• Junior Camille Zimmerman leads Columbia in scoring (20.3), rebounding (9.8), assists, (3.3), steals (1.1) and blocks (1.1). She ranks atop the Ivy League in five statistical categories, including points per game, total points (162), field goals made (68), field goal attempts (147) and double-doubles (5). Wednesday, she scored a season-high 27 points to go with 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals to lead the Lions past Providence. Zimmerman also set career marks in field goals made (12-22 FG) and minutes played (42).
• Columbia ranks No. 4 in the NCAA in rebound margin (+14.5), as of games through Wednesday. The Lions have outrebounded every opponent this season, including three by 20 or more.
• With a win, Columbia would improve to 7-2, matching its best nine-game start in program history. The Lions also started 7-2 in 2002-03 and 1985-86 (Div. III). A win would also be Columbia's fifth straight, marking its longest winning streak since December of 2003.
• Columbia is 1-2 against America East opponents, accounting for its only two losses of the season.
FIRST BIG EAST WIN
• Columbia earned its first victory against a BIG EAST team on Wednesday, knocking off Providence, 66-64, in overtime at Levien Gym. Prior to the win, the Lions were 0-8 against the conference's 10 current members (Georgetown 0-2; Marquette 0-1; St. John's 0-2; Seton Hall 0-1; Villanova 0-1; Xavier 0-1). Columbia fell behind 18-5 at the end of the first quarter, but held the Friars to just two points in the second quarter to go into halftime only down five. The Lions took their first lead of the game in the third quarter and went toe-to-toe with Providence the rest of the way. Tied at 64 in overtime, Camille Zimmerman scored with 7.5 seconds left to win the game. Zimmerman finished with a season-high 27 points and 10 rebounds.
CRASHING THE GLASS
• Columbia ranks No. 4 in the NCAA in rebound margin at +14.5 (through Wednesday, Dec. 7). 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.
SECOND-HALF SURGE
• Columbia has come back to win three times this season when trailing at halftime, doing so against Saint Francis (Nov. 19), Colgate (No. 27) and Providence (Dec. 7). In fact, the Lions hold a winning record when trailing at the half (3-2), which includes a 12-point comeback at Saint Francis (Nov. 19).
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 1,156 points and 511 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 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 all five major statistical categories – scoring (20.3), rebounding (9.8), assists (3.3), steals (1.1) and blocks (1.1). Zimmerman also leads the Ivy League in five statistical categories and is tied for seventh nationally in double-doubles (5).
POSTGAME NOTES FROM PROVIDENCE (Dec. 7)
• Columbia earned its first victory over the BIG EAST's 10 current members. The Lions were 0-8 previously.
• Zimmerman scored a season-high 27 points to go with a game-high 10 rebounds. It was Zimmerman's fifth 20-point game and fifth double-double of the season.
• Zimmerman set career marks in field goals made (12) and minutes played (42).
• It was the first ever matchup between the two programs.
• It was Columbia's first overtime game of the season. The Lions last OT win came January 6 of last year at Fairleigh Dickinson.
SCOUTING BINGHAMTON
• The Bearcats (3-5) have won their last two games, both on the road, over Fairleigh Dickinson and NJIT. Binghamton is still in search of its first victory at home, entering with a record of 0-3 with losses to Bucknell, Sacred Heart and Brown.
• Binghamton ranks second in the America East in scoring offense (64.1), 3-point field goal percentage (35.6 pct.), field goal percentage defense (38.1 pct.), steals per game (9.4) and turnover margin (+2.75). Nationally, they rank just outside the top 50 in turnovers at only 14.1 per game. Imani Watkins heads the offense at 22.8 points per game, which leads the America East and ranks No. 7 nationally. Watkins also leads the conference in field goals made (67), attempts (158), total points (182), minutes per game (37.25), steals (22), steals per game (2.75), 3-pointers made (27) and 3-pointers made per game (3.38). Jasmine Sina is the only other Bearcat averaging double figures in scoring at 11.8 per contest.
• Head coach Linda Cimino is in her third season at Binghamton with a record of 21-48 (.304). After getting through a four-win campaign her first season, Cimino coached the Bearcats to 14 wins last season, including an 8-8 mark in America East play and an appearance in the America East semifinals. Prior to Binghamton, Cimino was the head coach for eight seasons at NCAA Div. II Caldwell University, winning two conference titles and two conference tournament titles. Cimino posted a coaching record of 128-100 at Caldwell.
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…
• Columbia returns home for its final game before winter break, hosting LIU Brooklyn on Monday. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Levien Gymnasium.
