Columbia University
Albany
Columbia Returns to Action Saturday to Host Albany on SNY
12/28/2018 3:15:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Lions set for first of seven scheduled appearances on SportsNet New York this season
NEW YORK – After an 18-day break since its last game, the Columbia women's basketball team closes out the 2018 calendar year with its first matchup against Albany since 2005 on Saturday afternoon at Levien Gymnasium. Tip is scheduled for 2 p.m. and will be televised live on SportsNet New York (SNY). A video stream is also available on ESPN+.
YOUTH BASKETBALL DAY
• Columbia is hosting Youth Basketball Day Saturday against the Great Danes. Any child in attendance wearing a youth basketball jersey will receive a $5 discounted ticket.
MARCHING COBRAS PERFORMANCE
• Columbia is pleased to welcome the Marching Cobras to Levien Gymnasium for a special halftime performance.
OPENING TIPS
• Columbia and Albany have met twice on the hardwood but never at either team's home gym. The first meeting came at the 1986 NCAA Div. III Regionals, which Albany won, 74-67, at NYU's Jerome S. Coles Sports Center. The two sides met for the first time as Div. I teams in December of 2005 in the consolation game of the Contra Costa Times Classic, hosted by Cal. The Great Danes edged out a four-point victory in that contest.
• Albany marks the fifth and final in-state non-conference opponent on this year's schedule. The Lions defeated both Hofstra and Army West Point to start the season 2-0, including a 21-point victory over the Black Knights to mark their largest victory in a home opener since 2009. Columbia also traveled to Colgate and Fordham, falling in each of those contests to enter Saturday 2-2 against New York state opponents.
• First-year Sienna Durr leads the team in scoring at 15.1 points per game, a mark that ranks No. 4 in the Ivy League and No. 9 among all NCAA freshmen. Durr is also 11th among NCAA freshmen in field goal percentage (.479). She and junior Janiya Clemmons (.481) both rank top five in the Ivy League in field goal percentage.
• First-year Mikayla Markham leads the Ivy League in assists per game (5.3), a mark which ranks top 50 in the NCAA and No. 6 among all NCAA freshmen.
• Saturday's game is the third of four straight the Lions will play in the five boroughs. Three of the four games come at home.
• Columbia's first-year class has provided 57 percent of the team's points, 52 percent of its rebounds and 59 percent of its assists this season.
• Durr has scored in double figures in five straight games, as well as eight of the first 10 games this season.
• Durr ranks No. 2 in the Ivy League in free throw percentage (.750) (min. 2.5 made/game).
• Markham has had at least five assists in her last five games played.
• First-year Madison Hardy is 21-for-59 (.356) and from 3-point range and ranks No. 4 among qualified players in the Ivy League (min. 2 makes/game).
• First-year Sydney Brown had a season-high seven rebounds in Columbia's last game at Fordham (Dec. 11)
• Fordham's 53.8-percent shooting was the highest by a Columbia opponent this season.
• Columbia hopes to end an eight-game losing streak, its longest since dropping the last nine games of the 2015-16 season.
SCOUTING ALBANY
• Albany (2-10) enters Saturday on a 10-day layoff from games following a 53-41 defeat at Purdue on Dec. 19. The Great Danes lost seven straight from Nov. 18 - Dec. 8 before defeating St. Francis Brooklyn, 67-60, on the road. Redshirt junior Amanda Kantzy scored a career-high 20 points in the victory while senior Chyanna Canada posted a career-high 16 points. Sophomore Kyara Frames, who scored a team-high 15 points at Purdue, is the team's leading scorer at 12.8 points per game. Frames also heads the Great Danes in assists (2.7) and steals (1.4) while shooting 31.2 percent on 29 makes from beyond the arc. Canada leads the effort on the glass with 7.3 per contest. Albany is coached by first-year head coach Colleen Mullen.
DURR DOUBLE DIPS ON WEEKLY HONORS
• First-year Sienna Durr was named both Ivy League Co-Player and Rookie of the Week for games played Nov. 26 - Dec. 2. In doing so, she became the first Lion in program history to earn both Ivy honors in the same week. The rookie from Grinnell, Iowa, averaged 19.5 points and 11.5 rebounds in road games against Saint Joseph's and Boston College. She registered her first collegiate double-double in an overtime game against the Hawks, posting 16 points and a career-high 12 rebounds, and followed with her second double-double against Boston College, scoring a career-high 23 points while tacking on 11 boards. Durr completed the week shooting 48 percent (13-27) from the field and 75 percent (12-16) from the foul line. Durr was also listed on the week's Met Basketball Writers Association's (MBWA) Honorable Mentions.
#ROADTOIVYMADNESS
• The Ivy League men's and women's basketball tournaments have a new home this season. After the first two years of the tournaments were held at the Palestra in Philadelphia, this year's tournaments will be hosted by Yale at Payne Whitney Gymnasium. The top four men's and women's teams will earn berths to the tournament with the semifinals on Saturday, March 16, and the championships on Sunday, March 17. All six games will be broadcast live on ESPN's networks. For tickets and more information please visit IvyMadness.com.
