Friday, February 16 | 4:00 p.m.
Levien Gymnasium | New York, N.Y.
Penn (15-6, 6-2)
Columbia (7-16, 1-7)
Saturday, February 17 | 4:00 p.m.
Levien Gymnasium | New York, N.Y.
Princeton (17-4, 7-1)
Columbia (7-16, 1-7)
NEW YORK – The Columbia women's basketball team hosts the top two teams in the Ivy League this Friday and Saturday as Penn and Princeton visit Levien Gymnasium. Both games will air live on the Ivy League Network with a tape delay scheduled for SportsNet NY (SNY). A tape delay of the Penn game will also air on NBC Sports Philadelphia. Friday's and Saturday's tips are scheduled for 4 p.m. and serve as the front end of doubleheaders with the men's basketball game.
PLAY4KAY
• Columbia will host its annual Play4Kay game Saturday against Princeton. The first 200 fans in attendance will receive a free pink t-shirt. The women's basketball team will be wearing pink socks, headbands and warm-ups in support of the Kay Yow Cancer Fund and its mission is to extend and improve the lives of those who are battling cancer. Fans can also join Columbia in the fight by signing up for the Play4Kay Free Throw Challenge. For every free throw the Lions hit during the month of February, fans can pledge a dollar amount that will directly benefit the Kay Yow Cancer Fund. One-time flat donations are also accepted.
To make a donation, please visit: https://pledgeit.org/columbia-women-s-basketball/
OPENING TIPS
• Senior Camille Zimmerman is coming off a 20-20 game on Saturday in which she scored 22 points with a career-high 24 rebounds (see 20-20 note below). • Zimmerman leads the Ivy League in points per game (20.3), total points (466), field goals made (168), free throws made (116), free throw percentage (.872), rebounds per game (9.7), total rebounds (223) and double-doubles (12). Nationally, she ranks 18th in free throw percentage and 28th in scoring average.
• Zimmerman enters the weekend with 1,874 career points, which is sixth in Ivy League women's basketball history. She is 59 points behind Gail Koziara (Dartmouth, 1978-82) for fifth. Zimmerman needs to average 21 points over the final six games of the regular season to become the fourth player in Ivy women's basketball history to reach 2,000.
• Penn and Princeton boast the top-two scoring defenses in the Ivy League. Princeton allows just 55.4 points per game, while Penn is second at 56.2. They are also 1-2 in field goal defense and rebound margin. The two programs have combined to win the last eight Ivy League championships (Princeton 5, Penn 3).
• Columbia hopes to snap a 13-game losing streak against Penn and a 19-game streak against Princeton. The Lions last defeated Penn in 2011 and last defeated Princeton in 2008 (both at Levien Gymnasium).
• Zimmerman is three blocks from becoming the fifth Lion in program history to record 100 in a career.
• Zimmerman leads the Lions in points (20.3), rebounds (9.7), assists (3.1), steals (1.0) and blocks (0.7). Last season, she was the only player in the country to lead her team in all five categories.
• Zimmerman is second on Columbia's all-time rebounding list, entering the weekend with 868 in her career. The program record is 937, set by Kathy Gilbert White '91CC. She would need to average 11.5 over the final six games of the season to catch Gilbert.
• Columbia has been outrebounded in 15 of its 16 losses. Saturday, the Lions outrebounded Brown, 43-41, but suffered their first loss of the season when grabbing more boards.
• Columbia has been held to 60 points or less in 10 of its 16 losses. Conversely, the Lions average 73.6 points in their victories and have never been held to fewer than 60 points.
• Zimmerman and senior Paige Tippet have played in all 107 games of their Columbia careers. Zimmerman became the third player in program history to make 100 career starts at Penn (Jan. 13). The only game Zimmerman did not start was on Senior Night of her rookie season.
SCOUTING PENN
• Penn (15-6, 6-2 Ivy) is coming off a 20-point loss at Princeton on Tuesday to fall to second place in the Ivy League standings. The Quakers were limited to a season-low 25.8-percent shooting (16-62), including 11.8 percent (2-17) from 3-point range. The loss snapped Penn's nine-game winning streak, which included six consecutive wins in league play. Both of their Ivy League losses have come against Princeton. Penn leads the Ancient Eight in scoring margin (+11.7), field goal defense (.363), rebounds per game (42.76), blocks per game (5.8), fewest turnovers per game (12.0) and assist/turnover ratio (1.30). Nationally, they rank top-25 in four categories, including 12th in fewest turnovers and 13th in blocks. Rookie Eleah Parker leads the team in scoring (12.2) and rebounding (8.0), just ahead of last season's Ivy League Player of the Year Michelle Nwokedi, who averages 11.6 points and 7.9 boards. The two centers also head the team in blocks with Nwokedi ranking 23rd nationally at 2.43 per contest.
SCOUTING PRINCETON
• Princeton (17-4, 7-1 Ivy) has won four straight and 11 of its last 12 heading into the weekend. Its only blunder since the middle of December came at Yale, falling to the Bulldogs, 73-59, to mark its first loss in the series since 2009. The Tigers lead the Ivy League in scoring defense (55.4), 3-point defense (.294) and rebound margin (+6.2). They are coming off their most impressive win yet, downing two-time defending Ivy League champion Penn, 60-40, on Tuesday at Jadwin Gym. Sophomore Bella Alarie led the charge with 18 points (6-10 FG) and 15 rebounds. Alarie is the team-leader in scoring (14.3), rebounding (9.7) and blocks (2.62), also ranking 20th in the NCAA in blocks. Senior Leslie Robinson averages 10.3 points, 7.1 on the glass, ranks third in the Ivy League at 4.0 assists and also averages a team-best 1.48 steals.
20-20 VISION
• Senior Camille Zimmerman went for 22 points and a career-high 24 rebounds last Saturday against Brown. It marked the first 20-20 game by an Ivy League player since Michelle Nwokedi had 21 points and 20 rebounds at Richmond last season, Dec. 10, 2016. It marked the first such game by a Lion since Hall of Famer Judie Lomax '10BC went for 20 points and a program-record 27 rebounds in her final game, March 6, 2010, which also came against Brown. There have been 20 20-20 games in NCAA Div. I this season to date.
CASHING IN AT THE STRIPE
• Columbia is one of the best free-throw shooting teams in the country, ranking No. 8 in the NCAA in free throw percentage (.773). Senior Camille Zimmerman leads the Ivy League and ranks 18th nationally at 87.2 percent. Zimmerman has made 116 free throws on 133 attempts, both of which also lead the Ivy League. Senior Paige Tippet (.781), junior Abby Lee (.750) and first-years Riley Casey (.800) and Madison Pack (.857) are all hitting at least 75 percent from the charity stripe.
KATRINA McCLAIN FINALIST
• Senior Camille Zimmerman was named a finalist for the 2018 Katrina McClain Award, presented by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) to recognize the nation's best power forward. The committee announced its 10 finalists on Thursday, Feb. 1. In the preseason, Zimmerman was one of 20 named to the Katrina McClain Award Watch List. The 10 finalists for the Katrina McClain Award also include Lauren Cox (Baylor), Kristine Anigwe (Cal), Napheesa Collier (UConn), Caliya Robinson (Georgia), Myisha Hines-Allen (Louisville), Stephanie Mavunga (Ohio State), Ruthy Hebard (Oregon), Bella Alarie (Princeton) and Maria Jesperson (South Florida). The list will narrow down to five in March.
30-POINT NIGHT
• Senior Camille Zimmerman had 31 points and 11 rebounds at Harvard (Feb. 2) to mark her fourth career 30-point game. Her 31 points tie for the most in a regulation game in her career. She scored a career-high 37 points in a quadruple overtime victory (Jan. 27, 2017) at Dartmouth.
20-POINT PAIR
• Senior Camille Zimmerman and first-year Riley Casey each scored 20 points at Dartmouth (Feb. 3). Casey scored a career-high 21 on 7-of-15 shooting, including 19 second-half points as the Lions tried to forge a comeback. Zimmerman put together her 14th 20-point game of the year on 8-of-12 shooting, including a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc. It marked the first time two Lions scored 20 points in the last 45 games, when Tori Oliver (23) and Camille Zimmerman (20) did so in a victory over Saint Francis (PA) on Nov. 22, 2016.
PICKING A FIGHT
• Columbia has shown it's not afraid to play anybody, as evidenced by the strong opponents on this year's schedule. Columbia has faced five teams in the RPI top-50, which includes Mississippi State (3), Green Bay (12), Buffalo (15), Princeton (33) and Arizona State (34), Houston ranks 60th. According to the Jeff Sagarin ratings, Columbia's strength of schedule ranks 105th nationally, which is second-toughest in the Ivy League behind only Princeton (97).
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