Women's Basketball Heads to Dartmouth, Harvard
1/26/2017 12:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
PREGAME EVENT AT HARVARD
• The Columbia Alumni Association, Barnard Club of Boston and the Columbia College Women of Boston invite all Columbia affiliates to a pregame reception at John Harvard's Brew House (33 Dunster St.) before Saturday's game. The pregame event runs from 4-6 p.m., followed by the game against Harvard at 6 p.m.
NEWS/NOTES
OPENING TIPS
• The Lions have started the Ivy League season 0-2, suffering both losses to Cornell. Columbia began the conference slate two weeks ago in Ithaca, grabbing a fourth-quarter lead but falling down the stretch, 77-70. Last Saturday, the Big Red traveled to New York City and defeated the Lions, 69-55.
• Columbia has outrebounded its opponent in all 15 games and ranks No. 3 nationally in rebound margin (+13.1). Camille Zimmerman heads the rebounding effort, ranking No. 2 in the Ivy League at 9.6 per contest.
• Columbia hopes to put an end to an 11-game Ivy League losing streak. Its last conference win came against Yale, 77-71, last February 5. Dartmouth and Harvard each swept last year's season series.
• Columbia's 10-3 record in non-conference play marked its highest non-conference winning percentage (.769) in program history. Along the way, the Lions won seven straight, recording their longest winning streak since the 1986-87 season. Last year, Columbia went 11-4 (.733) out of conference, but finished 1-13 in the Ivy League.
• Camille Zimmerman leads Columbia in scoring (20.5), rebounding (9.6), steals (1.1) and blocks (0.9) on a per-game basis. The junior is also second on the team in assists (2.7). Zimmerman is atop the Ivy League in scoring, as well as double-doubles (8), field goals made (126), field goal attempts (260), total rebounds (144) and field goal percentage (.485, min. 5 makes per game). She has been named Ivy League Player of the Week four times.
POSTGAME NOTES FROM CORNELL (Jan. 21)
• Camille Zimmerman extended her double-figure scoring streak to 15 games.
• Tori Oliver registered her 10th game of the year in double figures, finishing with 12 points.
• Paulina Koerner tied her season-high of five field goals made, scoring 10 points to record her seventh game in double figures this season.
• Cornell earned the season sweep over Columbia and has now won seven straight in the series
• Attendance was 875 at Levien Gymnasium.
• The Lions fell to 24-39 all-time vs. Cornell.
SCOUTING DARTMOUTH
• The Big Green (5-10, 0-2 Ivy) join Columbia and Yale as the three teams still in search of their first Ivy League win. They began the conference season with back-to-back losses to Harvard, falling by five points in Cambridge, 70-65, and dropping a nine-point decision, 70-61, last Saturday in Hanover. Dartmouth has lost three straight overall, suffering a loss at New Hampshire, 64-47, on New Year's Eve.
• Dartmouth regularly plays low-scoring games, averaging 57.9 points and allowing 61.9 points this season. The Big Green's -4.1 scoring margin ranks last in the Ivy League, as do their points per game, field goal percentage (37.2 pct.), rebounds per game (34.60) and rebound margin (-5.1). Statistically, Dartmouth excels at the free throw line (73.2 pct.), where it ranks second in the conference. The Big Green also only average 14.2 turnovers per game, coming in a No. 2 in the conference and among the top 70 in the NCAA.
• Junior Kate Letkewicz heads the offense at 11.6 points per game and is the only member of the team averaging double figures. Letkewicz, a guard, has started all 15 games and connects at an impressive rate of 44.7 percent from 3-point range (34-76). She leads the team in makes from beyond the arc and ranks No. 2 in the Ivy League at 2.3 per contest. Letkewicz is also the team-leader in rebounds (7.1). Sophomore Isalys Quiñones averages a shade under double figures scoring (9.9) and is second on the team in rebounds (6.7).
SCOUTING HARVARD
• Winners of 14 straight, the Crimson are on a roll. Harvard has the fourth-longest winning streak in the nation and is two wins shy of the team record 16-game winning streak from the 2002-03 season. The Crimson are No. 6 in the ESPNW Mid-Major rankings, 21st in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25, 29th in the NCAA RPI and receiving one vote in this week's AP Top 25.
• Harvard averages 68.6 points and allows 60.3 points per game, boasting the Ivy League's top scoring margin (+8.3). The Crimson are a force on defense with the league's top field goal percentage defense (36.0 pct.). They also rank second in the Ivy League in shooting percentage on offense (42.4 pct.), rebounds per game (43.27), rebound margin (+8.3) and blocks per game (5.3). Statistically speaking, Harvard's numbers aren't the best on the assist/turnover side of things, where they rank seventh in the league in turnover margin (-2.60) and among the bottom half in turnovers per game (16.4), assist/turnover ratio (0.83) and assists per game (13.5).
• Freshman Katie Benzan (12.7), senior Destiny Nunley (12.1) and sophomore Madeline Raster (10.5) all average double figures in the scoring column. Benzan has been named Ivy League Rookie of the Week four times, including this past Monday after scoring a team-high 17 points to go with six rebounds, three assists and a steal in a 70-61 victory at Dartmouth. Benzan, Nunley and Raster have all been named Ivy League Player of the Week at some point during the season, with Nunley earning the honors twice.
ZIMMERMAN ON RECORD SCORING PACE
• Junior Camille Zimmerman is on pace to break Columbia's single-season Div. I scoring record. Zimmerman enters the weekend with 308 total points through 15 games, which puts her on pace to finish the regular season with 554 points. The program's Div. I scoring record is 521 points, accomplished by Judie Lomax '10BC during her senior 2009-10 campaign. Zimmerman is averaging 20.5 points per game this season, which would break Columbia's Div. I record for scoring average, also set by Lomax (18.6) in 2009-10.
HISTORIC NON-CONFERENCE SEASON
• Columbia posted a 10-3 (.769) record through the non-conference portion of its schedule, which is the best non-conference winning percentage in program history. Along the way, the Lions secured their best 10-game start when they defeated LIU Brooklyn (Dec. 12) to move to 8-2 for the first time ever. The non-conference season also included seven straight victories, tying for the longest winning streak during the program's Div. I era. The program's all-time longest winning streak is eight, accomplished in the 1985-86 season (Div. III).
CRASHING THE GLASS
• Columbia ranks No. 3 in the NCAA in rebound margin at +13.1. The Lions have outrebounded every opponent this season, including four opponents by more than 20. Columbia outdueled Richmond by 21 (Nov. 13), outrebounded Loyola Maryland 45-23 (Nov. 30), took a 47-23 advantage over UMass Lowell (Dec. 2), as well as a 50-27 showing at NJIT (Jan. 4).
HISTORIC DUO
• Senior Tori Oliver and junior Camille Zimmerman have each totaled 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in their careers, marking the first time in the program's Div. I era that two teammates actively played together with those accolades. The duo was honored before last Saturday's Ivy home opener against Cornell (Jan. 21). It is also the first time since the 1990-91 season that Columbia had two 1,000-point scorers on the floor together -- the last duo was Kathy Gilbert (1,309 points) and Jennifer Beubis (1,039 points), who played together from 1987-91. Oliver enters the game fourth in program history in scoring (1,234 points) and top 10 in rebounds (572). Zimmerman ranks sixth all-time in scoring (1,108 points), breaking the 1,000-point plateau against LIU Brooklyn (Dec. 12), as well as 12th in rebounds (529). They join Ula Lysniak (1983-87), Kathy Gilbert (1987-91), Shawnee Pickney (1997-01), Ellen Bossert (1984-86) and Lauren Dwyer (2007-11) in the program's 1,000-500 club.
#PATHTOTHEPALESTRA
• The Ivy League will conduct postseason tournaments for both men's and women's basketball at The Palestra in Philadelphia on March 11-12, 2017. The four-team tournaments will determine the conference's automatic bids to the NCAA Division I Basketball Championships, and all six games will be broadcast live on ESPN's networks.
#IVYMADNESS
• The inaugural Ivy League men's and women's basketball tournaments will take place Saturday & Sunday, March 11-12, 2017, at the Palestra in Philadelphia. The top four teams will earn berths to the tournament, with the semifinals on Saturday and the championships on Sunday. All six games will be broadcast live on ESPN's networks. For more information, visit www.IvyMadness.com.
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. The podcasts are part of the program's podcast series, The CUSP Show. Several 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 close a four-game, Ivy League road swing with trips to Yale and Brown. Columbia battles Yale on Friday at 6 p.m., followed by Brown on Saturday at 4 p.m.
