NEW YORK – The Columbia women's basketball team welcomes Princeton and Penn to Levien Gymnasium for the first back-to-back weekend of the Ivy League season. Friday's game against Princeton is scheduled for 4 p.m., followed by Saturday's game against the Quakers at 5:30 p.m. Both games are available live on ESPN+. A tape delay of Friday's game will air Saturday on both SportsNet New York (SNY) and NBC Sports Philadelphia Plus.

OPENING TIPS
• Columbia is coming off of its first Ivy League victory of the season, defeating Cornell, 65-57, last Saturday at Levien Gymnasium. The Lions built as large as an 18-point lead in the first half but Cornell pulled the margin all the way back to one point in the fourth quarter. Junior Janiya Clemmons helped the Lions hold on, scoring 10 fourth-quarter points on her way to a team-high 16 for the afternoon.
 
• First-year Lilian Kennedy became the third Lion this season to earn Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors on Monday. Kennedy grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds in Saturday's victory at Cornell, which helped the Lions outrebound the Big Red, 38-33, just a week after being outrebounded by 17 in a loss in Ithaca. Kennedy also scored seven points on a perfect 3-for-3 shooting and added two steals and an assist.
 
• First-year Mikayla Markham has had at least five assists in 10 consecutive games. She averages an Ivy League-best 5.8 assists per game, which ranks No. 3 among NCAA freshmen and No. 17 in the NCAA overall.
 
• Columbia's win over Cornell was its first against the Big Red at home since 2014.
 
• First-year Lilian Kennedy is averaging 9.8 rebounds over her last four games.
 
• 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 Mikayla Markham has 81 total assists this season and is on pace to break the single-season assists record currently held by head coach Megan Griffith (148, 2005-06).
 
• Sophomore Riley Casey is on a five-game double-figure scoring streak where she is averaging 19.2 ppg.
 
• First-year Madison Hardy ranks No. 2 in the Ivy League in 3-point field goal percentage (.371).
 
• Casey leads the Ivy League in free throw percentage (.800) and is No. 8 in 3-point field goal percentage (.344).
 
• First-year Sienna Durr ranks No. 2 in the Ivy League in field goal percentage (.509), a mark that ranks No. 69 nationally and No. 5 among NCAA freshmen. Durr also ranks No. 4 in the Ivy League in free throw percentage (.745) and is top 10 in the league in scoring (14.2).
 
• Junior Janiya Clemmons ranks third on the team in scoring (10.1), second in rebounding (5.7) and second in assists (2.3). She has been named to the Ivy League Weekly Honor Roll a team-best six times.
 
• Columbia is 4-2 when outrebounding its opponent compared to 1-8 when getting outrebounded.

• Columbia hopes to snap a 20-game losing streak against Princeton and a 14-game losing streak against Penn. The Lions last defeated Penn in 2011 and last defeated Princeton in 2008 (both at Levien Gymnasium).

• Princeton and Penn have combined to win the last nine Ivy League titles (Princeton 6, Penn 3).

SCOUTING PRINCETON
• Princeton (8-8, 0-1 Ivy) hasn't played a game since January 5, when it fell at home in its Ivy League opener to Penn, 66-60. Junior Bella Alarie, the 2017-18 Ivy League Player of the Year, went for 21 points and 17 rebounds. She missed the first nine games of the season but is averaging  a team-best 19.6 points and 9.6 rebounds since her return on Dec. 8 against Quinnipiac. Sophomore Carlie Littlefield (13.5) and senior Gabrielle Rush (13.0) are also averaging double figures scoring. Princeton fought its way through a non-conference schedule that included two matchups against top 25 teams at the Cancun Challenge. They rank No. 3 nationally in free throw percentage (.783) and lead the Ivy League in turnover margin (+2.75).
 
SCOUTING PENN
• Penn (11-3, 1-0 Ivy) will play at Cornell Friday night before traveling down to New York Saturday. The Quakers won their Ivy League opener over Princeton to start the New Year and have played three games since, falling to Villanova, 58-50, and defeating both Temple, 71-62, and Div. III Haverford, 81-46. Eleah Parker, the 2017-18 Ivy League Rookie of the Year, enters play averaging a team-high 14.7 points and 8.9 rebounds. She has scored in double figures in 10 straight games, including 25 against Villanova and 21 in just 21 minutes against Haverford. Senior Ashley Russell comes in averaging 10.0 points per game while fellow senior Princess Agheyere is averaging 9.8. Penn prides itself on defense, leading the Ivy League and ranking No. 4 nationally in both scoring defense (51.1) and field goal percentage defense (.326). They are also tops in the league in scoring margin (+13.4), rebounds (43.50), rebounding margin (+7.9), blocks (5.4) and fewest turnovers (13.8).
 
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK TRIO
• Three different Lions have been named Ivy League Rookie of the Week this season. First-year Sienna Durr is responsible for three of them (Nov. 19, Dec. 3, Jan. 7), while Mikayla Markham (Nov. 26) and Lilian Kennedy (Jan. 28) have each been named once. It marks the first time three different Lions have been named Ivy League Rookie of the Week since the 2011-12 season, when Amara Mbionwu, Miwa Tachibana and Caitlyn Unsworth were each selected once. Columbia's five overall Rookie of the Week selections are its most since 2015-16, when Emily Surloff and Josie Little combined for six.
 
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).
 
NATIONAL HONORS
• First-year Sienna Durr earned national recognition when she was named United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) National Freshman of the Week (Jan. 8). The Iowa native out of Grinnell High School powered her way to 19.5 points and 8.5 rebounds while shooting 68 percent (17-25) from the field to help the Lions to a 2-0 week over Hampton and reigning Southern Conference champion Mercer. She scored 21 points against the Lady Pirates and followed it up with a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds against the Bears. She joins Camille Zimmerman '18CC as the only two players in program history to earn the USBWA's national weekly honors. Zimmerman was named Player of the Week on Jan. 31, 2017.
 
FRESHMEN IMPACT
• 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 17th in the NCAA overall. Markham also carries a 2.25 assist/turnover ratio, which is the third-best mark among freshmen and 40th in the country overall. Forward Sienna Durr is No. 5 among freshmen in field goal percentage (.509), which is a mark that ranks among the NCAA's top 70.
 
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.