WEST POINT, N.Y. – Columbia closed the game on a 22-6 run to overtake Army West Point on the road, 71-62, Saturday afternoon in women's basketball action at Christl Arena.
 
Army scored the first nine points of the fourth quarter to take its largest lead of the game, 56-49. Columbia snapped the run at the 6:42 mark and went on to score eight straight over the next 1:22 to reclaim a one-point advantage. The momentum carried the Lions through the finish, hitting 6-of-9 from the field, 10-of-13 from the free throw line and coming up with five steals down the stretch to pull away.
 
With the win, Columbia has made its way back to .500 on the season at 3-3. Two of those three victories have come against defending conference champions. Meanwhile, Army falls to 1-4.
 
"I thought the girls battled extremely hard and together," head coach Megan Griffith said. "We were really poised when we needed to be in the fourth quarter … We unraveled there at the beginning but give credit to Army. I thought they played really well, they hit big shots, they were in the moment, they wanted to win this game and they were battling hard.
 
"For us to respond the way we did with a 22-6 run to end the game, that's what you need to win games. You need people that are going to dig deep, believe in themselves, believe in our system and go out and execute together."
 
Senior Janiya Clemmons scored a season-high 15 points and boosted the Lions through the closing moments with nine in the fourth quarter. She hit two consecutive jumpers inside to turn a one-point lead into five with less than two minutes remaining. Sophomore Lilian Kennedy scored five of her nine points in the final period and also came down with a team-high seven rebounds. Columbia ended the afternoon plus-12 on the glass.
 
"We talk a lot about defense," Clemmons said. "At halftime, that was the message. We needed to get stops, put some pressure on them and turn them over a little bit so we could start running and flowing. That's exactly what we did … We had great defensive presence, especially from Lilian Kennedy in our press. It was just a team effort after that."
 
The Lions turned Army over 19 times and converted that into a 23-11 advantage in points off turnovers. Columbia also had a strong presence inside, outscoring the Black Knights 42-22 in the paint and muscling away 22 offensive rebounds. Kennedy carried the load on the offensive glass with four.
  
The Lions return to action next Saturday when they host Milwaukee at Levien Gymnasium. Tip is slated for 1 p.m.
 
For the latest on the Columbia women's basketball program, follow @CULionsWBB on Twitter and Instagram, on Facebook at Facebook.com/ColumbiaWBB, on the web at GoColumbiaLions.com.