NEW YORK – Led by the play of its first-year class, the Columbia women's basketball team went toe-to-toe with Houston before the game got away late, 83-72, Wednesday afternoon at Levien Gymnasium.
Despite the loss, Columbia showed promise with a couple of great performances from its rookie class. Point guard Mikayla Markham became the first Lion in 10 seasons to tally 10 assists in a game while Madison Hardy scored a game- and career-high 17 points off the bench, including 11 in the third quarter. All told, the five first-years were responsible for over 50 percent of Columbia's scoring.
"I have people around me who can hit shots, it's that simple," said Markham, who also had nine points, four steals and three rebounds. "Houston definitely picked on our weaknesses a little bit and we learned a lot about what we need to work on."
Columbia (2-3) took a 50-48 lead in the third quarter when Hardy knocked down a triple to complete an 8-0 run in which she scored all eight points herself. Houston (3-3) answered with a 15 of the next 17 points to retake an 11-point advantage before Hardy swished home her third 3-pointer of the quarter as the horn sounded to cut the margin back to single digits.
It got away in the fourth quarter as Houston scored the first nine points to extend their run to 24-5. The Cougars took their largest lead of the game, 76-58, when Alyssa Okoene scored with 4:56 to go. Columbia fought until the end but ran out of time, scoring seven straight points to cut the lead to 10 before getting within single digits on Madison Pack's three with 45 ticks left.
"There are absolutely positives that come out of this game," Columbia head coach Megan Griffith said. "There's a lot of pride in what we do and we just got away from trusting our system both offensively and defensively. We wanted to set the pace, we wanted to set the tempo and we did not dictate very well in the second half."
The Lions turned the ball over a season-high 27 times against a Houston side that came into the afternoon forcing opponents into an average of 25.4 turnovers per game – a mark that ranked top-20 nationally. Fourteen of them came in the second half, including four during the Cougars' 15-2 third-quarter run.
Columbia used a season-high 13 3-pointers, shooting 42 percent from long range, and assisted 22 of its 28 made baskets to hang around. Sophomore Riley Casey finished with 11 points to join Hardy in double figures while Markham and junior Janiya Clemmons added nine points apiece. First-year Sienna Durr led the effort on the glass with eight points and five rebounds before fouling out early in the fourth quarter.
Houston was led by 6-foot-2 center Alyssa Okoene, who finished with 14 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Jasmyne Harris, Serithia Hawkins and Tayana Hill all contributed 13 points and Dorian Branch added 10 to put five Cougars in double figures. Houston finished the game shooting over 50 percent from the field.
The Cougars opened by scoring with the game's first six points and raced out to an 18-4 lead by turning the Lions over seven times in the first six minutes. Columbia stormed back with six points from Hardy and 3-pointers from Markham and Durr to cut the deficit to 22-16 at the end of the first quarter.
Columbia continued to rally in the second quarter with great transition offense. Durr completed a 3-point play and Casey knocked down a long range shot with 4:25 to go to cut Houston's lead down to two points. A pull-up jumper by Clemmons tied the game at 30 before a steal by Markham gave Columbia its first lead of the game at, 34-32, with 2:41 left in the opening half. Sophomore Madison Pack drilled a 3-pointer from the corner to make it a three-point lead, but Houston scored the final four points to take a 38-37 advantage into the locker rooms.
With Columbia trailing 48-42 in the third quarter, Hardy sparked Columbia. She hit a 3-pointer, scored on a layup and then swished a 3-pointer from the corner to give the Lions a 50-48 lead midway through the quarter. That set the stage for Houston's 15-2 run that put the game out of reach.
Columbia returns to action on Sunday when it travels upstate to take on Colgate. Tip time from Cotterell Court in Hamilton is scheduled for 2 p.m.
POST-GAME NOTES
- Mikayla Markham's 10 assists were the most by a Lion since Danielle Brown had 11 in an 88-57 victory over Brown on Feb. 20, 2009.
- Columbia's 13 made 3-pointers were the most since it shot 15-of-33 in a 72-49 victory over Brown on Feb. 4, 2011.
- Columbia's 22 assists were its most in a game since Dec. 6, 2017, when it had 23 in a 94-81 home victory over Saint Francis (PA).
- Houston moves to 2-0 in the all-time series, also defeating the Lions last year in Texas.
