BRONX, N.Y. — Fordham raced out to a 16-point first-quarter lead and the Columbia women's basketball team was never able to catch up, falling to the Rams, 68-49, Tuesday night at Rose Hill Gym.
Columbia (2-8) was led by first-year Sienna Durr's game-high 19 points on 8-of-17 shooting. The Iowa native added five rebounds, a pair of blocks and an assist to her tally. First-year point guard Mikayla Markham found Durr twice on her way to a game-high six assists in 28 minutes off the bench. First-year Sydney Brown also came off the bench for a season-high seven rebounds.
Fordham (6-5) put three in double figures, led by the play of redshirt sophomore Bre Cavanaugh's 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting. She and senior Mary Goulding scored seven points apiece as part of Fordham's 27-11 first quarter. Goulding finished with 14 points and senior Lauren Holden recorded a dozen.
The Rams shot 71 percent (12-17) in the first quarter before Columbia climbed back in it with a 10-2 run to start the second. Durr converted a 3-point play off a give-and-go with Markham and sophomore Imani Whittington capped the run with a triple to cut the lead to 29-21. Fordham responded with nine of the half's final 11 points, including a three at the buzzer by Goulding to go into the break leading by 15.
"Fordham's a good team. They play hard and they have some really good pieces," Columbia head coach Megan Griffith stated. "We bounced back some in the second and the fourth quarters but giving up 48 points in the first and third quarters isn't a great way to start either half."
Fordham held a 17-2 edge in points off turnovers at the half on the way to ending the night with a 21-5 advantage. Columbia's deficit grew to 20 in the final few minutes of a third quarter that saw the Rams knock down eight of their 12 shots from the floor. They were shooting over 60 percent heading into the final 10 minutes.
Columbia put together one last run with eight of the fourth quarter's first 10 points. Durr, Brown and Markham combined to score six straight and bring the Lions within 15, but Columbia was held to only three points over the final five minutes to suffer its eighth consecutive defeat.
"We've got to put the time in to get better individually and take care of ourselves over this break," Griffith added. "We have a lot of kids who are new to college basketball and we can't rely on just going out and playing. We've got to put the time in and back that up on the court."
The Lions have an 18-day break from games before returning to action on Saturday, Dec. 29, at home against Albany. Tip from Levien Gymnasium is scheduled for 2 p.m. with the game airing live on SportsNet New York (SNY).
POST-GAME NOTES
- The game was the first between the two programs since 2000 and marked Columbia's first trip to Rose Hill Gym since 1995.
- First-year Mikayla Markham has registered at least five assists in each of her last five games played.
- First-year Sienna Durr recorded her fifth consecutive game in double figures and has scored 10-plus points in eight of her first 10 collegiate games.
- Fordham won its eighth consecutive series meeting and improved to 11-1 against the Lions all-time.
