NEW YORK – The Columbia women's basketball team plays its first home game of the Ivy League season on Saturday when it looks to avenge last week's loss against Cornell. Tip from Levien Gymnasium is slated for 4 p.m. with the game set to be televised live on SNY. A video stream will also be available on ESPN+. The Columbia men's basketball game against Cornell is set to follow the women's game at 7 p.m.

OPENING TIPS
• The Lions visited Cornell last Saturday, fighting their way back from 16 points down to take a fourth-quarter lead before eventually falling, 60-51. Columbia went on a 15-0 run to go up, 50-47, with 5:23 remaining, but Cornell's defense stepped up and limited the Lions to one point the rest of the way. Laura Bagwell-Katalinich did the majority of the damage for the Big Red, finishing with a game-high 21 points on 9-of-18 shooting.
 
• Sophomore Riley Casey is on a four-game double-figure scoring streak where she is averaging 21.3 points per game and shooting 40 percent (16-40) from 3-point range. She scored a team-high 16 points at Cornell and previously scored a career-high 31 points in an, 88-63, victory over Hampton (Jan. 2).
 
• First-year Mikayla Markham is coming off her first collegiate double-double in her Ivy debut, scoring a career-high 13 points and tying her career-high of 10 assists. She is the first Lion to register a double-double of points and assists since Danielle Browne in a win over Brown on Feb. 20, 2009.
 
• Columbia is in search of its first home win over Cornell since 2014 (71-64).
 
• Saturday will mark Columbia's 450th Ivy League game since officially joining the league in 1986.
 
• Columbia's first-year class has provided 54 percent of the team's scoring, 52 percent of its rebounds and 61 percent of its assists this season.
 
• First-year Madison Hardy went 5-for-7 from 3-point range in her Ivy debut with a season-high four steals.
 
• Sophomore Riley Casey and first-year Madison Hardy both rank among the Top 5 in the Ivy League in 3-point field goal percentage (Casey .369, Hardy .368).
 
• Casey leads the Ivy League in free throw percentage (.791).
 
• First-year Sienna Durr ranks No. 2 in the Ivy League in field goal percentage and No. 4 in free throw percentage. She is also No. 5 in the league in scoring (14.3 ppg) and leads Columbia in scoring and rebounding (6.5).
 
• First-year Mikayla Markham has had at least five assists in nine straight games and leads the Ivy league in both assists per game (5.8) and assist/turnover ratio (2.34).
 
• Junior Janiya Clemmons ranks third on the team in scoring (9.7), second in rebounding (5.6) and second in assists (2.3). She has been named to the Ivy League Weekly Honor Roll a team-best five times.
 
• Cornell's 50 rebounds last Saturday were the most by an opponent this season.
 
• Columbia shot 33 threes at Cornell, marking the fourth time this season the Lions shot 30+ threes.
 
• Columbia attempted a season-low four free throws at Cornell, its fewest since Feb. 28, 2016 against Penn (3).

SCOUTING CORNELL
• Cornell (7-5, 1-0 Ivy) enters Saturday winners of five straight overall after defeating the Lions in last weekend's Ivy League opener. It was the Big Red's first game since New Year's Eve, when they defeated St. Bonaventure, 58-44, at Newman Arena to earn their first A-10 win since the 2011-12 season. Junior Laura Bagwell-Katalinich scored a game-high 14 points against the Bonnies and followed it up with 21 against Columbia for her eighth consecutive game in double figures. She leads the Big Red in scoring at 14.6 points per game and in rebounds at 7.2 per contest. Fellow junior Samantha Widmann also averages double figures scoring (11.2) and is coming off a 13-point performance against the Lions. Widmann has also tallied a team-high 26 steals. Cornell does a lot of work defensively, allowing just 56.4 points per game to rank No. 26 nationally. They are also the Ivy League leaders in 3-point defense (.266) and No. 2 in steals (10.3). Their 3-point defense is No. 22 in the NCAA.
 
MEMORABLE IVY DEBUTS
• First-year Mikayla Markham posted her first collegiate double-double in her Ivy League debut at Cornell (Jan. 19). The Manasquan, New Jersey, native scored a career-high 13 points and tied her career-high of 10 assists in the process, becoming the first Lion since Danielle Browne in 2009 to post a double-double consisting of points and assists. Markham also registered her first full stat sheet by adding a rebound, two steals and her first two collegiate blocks. She scored seven points as part of Columbia's 15-0 fourth-quarter run, including the shot to put the Lions ahead, 48-47, and the shot to cap the run at 50-47. First-year Madison Hardy also had a memorable Ivy League debut, going 5-for-7 from 3-point range to score 15 points off the bench.
 
NCAA FRESHMEN LEADERS
• Columbia's first-year class is holding its own among NCAA freshmen. Point guard Mikayla Markham averages 5.8 assists per game, which is the third-best mark among freshmen and 19th in the NCAA overall. Markham also carries a 2.34 assist/turnover ratio, which is the second-best mark among freshmen and 32nd in the country overall. Forward Sienna Durr is No. 5 among freshmen in field goal percentage (.510), which is a mark that ranks among the NCAA's top 75. Durr is also top 15 among freshmen in points per game (14.3) while guard Madison Hardy is top 15 in 3-point field goal percentage (.368).
 
NEW YEAR, NEW TEAM
• Columbia got off to an explosive start in 2019 that began by snapping its nine-game losing streak with a 25-point thrashing of Hampton (Jan. 2). Columbia set or tied season-highs in that game for points scored (88), field goals made (34), field goal percentage (.486), 3-pointers made (13), 3-point field goal percentage (.481) and assists (24). The 25-point win marked its largest over a Div. I opponent since Feb. 20, 2009 when it thumped Brown by 31 at Levien Gymnasium. Adding to the victory, sophomore Riley Casey scored a career-high 31 points, shooting 7-for-11 from 3-point range, while first-year Sienna Durr tacked on 21 to mark the first time two Lions had 20 points in a game since last February at Dartmouth. It was also Columbia's first wire-to-wire victory since last January at Cornell.
 
• The Lions used that momentum to fly down to Macon, Georgia, and defeat defending Southern Conference champion Mercer, 72-68 (Jan. 6). Columbia built as large as a 14-point fourth-quarter lead that it maintained with less than three minutes remaining. However, they had to hang on as Mercer, which won 30 games last season, didn't go down without a fight. The Bears completed a 13-1 run to pull the score to 70-68 with 25.7 seconds remaining. Casey, who finished with a game-high 24 points, came through by hitting enough free throws in the final seconds to cement the victory. Durr impressed with 18 points and 11 rebounds to notch her third double-double.
 
CASEY ON FIRE
• Sophomore Riley Casey is on fire in 2019. After averaging 7.5 points and shooting 31.5 percent from the floor through the first part of the season, Casey has scorched the nets with an average of 23.7 points and 40.5 percent shooting from 3-point range (15.37). The Brentwood, Tennessee, native poured in a career-high 31 points against Hampton and a game-high 24 points at Mercer, eclipsing her previous career-high in scoring (21) in both of those games. Against Hampton, she also posted career-highs in field goals made (10), attempts (18) and 3-pointers made (7), coming up one 3-pointer shy of the program's single-game record. She went on to be named Ivy League and Met Basketball Writers Association Co-Player of the Week.
 
INSIDE COLUMBIA BASKETBALL PODCAST
Columbia Athletics debuted a brand new podcast featuring the men's and women's basketball programs. New episodes are available weekly on iTunes and SoundCloud.

THE IVY LEAGUE ON ESPN+
All home Columbia games and most Ivy League road contests will air on ESPN+ as part of The Ivy League's new partnership with ESPN. ESPN+ is a new, subscription-based service that offers monthly ($4.99) and yearly ($49.99) plans. Click here to subscribe to ESPN+ and start your free trial! Click here for frequently asked questions about the Ivy League on ESPN.  

#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.
 
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