NEW YORK – The Columbia women's basketball team (8-17, 4-8 Ivy) heads to Dartmouth and Harvard this weekend for its final two games of the season. The Lions begin the trip at Dartmouth (12-13, 5-7 Ivy) for a Friday night game at 7 p.m. The season finale is set for Saturday against Harvard (14-11, 7-5 Ivy) at 5 p.m. Both games are available on ESPN+.
 
OPENING TIPS
• Columbia is coming off a 1-1 weekend in which it defeated Brown, 93-62, and fell to Yale in the home finale, 67-54. The Lions earned a season sweep over the Bears for the first time since 2013 and scored their most points in an Ivy League games since defeating Penn in quadruple overtime, 114-111, on March 5, 1988. Friday's 31-point margin of victory was Columbia's best since defeating Brown, 88-57, in February of 2009.
 
• Sienna Durr was named Ivy League Rookie of the Week for a sixth time on Monday, which ties the program record. She leads the Lions in scoring (15.0) and rebounding (6.2), and has a chance to become the first Columbia first-year to lead the team in both categories since Edytte Key in 2001-02 (10.7 pts, 7.1 reb).
 
• First-year point guard Mikayla Markham leads the Ivy League in assists per game (4.8) and has 115 on the season, which ranks her ninth in Columbia's single-season history.
 
• Janiya Clemmons has scored in double figures in 10 of her last 11 games, including five 20-point performances over that stretch. She enters the weekend No. 2 on the team in scoring (12.7), rebounds (5.9) and assists (2.5).
 
• The Lions will try to split the season series against Dartmouth and are looking for their first season sweep over Harvard in program history. Columbia's only win in Cambridge came on March 4, 2000.
 
• Columbia shot 52,2 percent in last Friday's victory over Brown, marking its highest shooting percentage in a game since Dec. 6, 2017 in a win over Saint Francis (PA).
 
• Columbia had 22 assists against the Bears, marking its third game of 20 or more this season.
 
• Columbia committed a season-low nine turnovers against the Bears.
 
• Columbia is 8-4 when shooting for a higher percentage than its opponent compared to 0-13 whey they do not.
 
• Columbia is 6-2 when outrebounding its opponent and 2-15 when it does not.
 
• Columbia's first-year class has provided 50 percent of the team's scoring, 53 percent of its rebounds and 58 percent of its assists this season.
 
• Markham averages an Ivy League-best 4.8 assists per game and carries a 2.17 assist/turnover ratio. She ranks third in assists/game among NCAA freshmen and No. 4 in assist/turnover ratio.
 
• Riley Casey ranks top five in the Ivy League in 3-point pct. (.343), 3-point makes (60) and attempts (175).
 
• Casey has reached double figures in 13 of her last 15 games, which includes six 20-point games.
 
• Sienna Durr ranks No. 2 in the Ivy League in field goal percentage (.496), a mark which also ranks No. 2 among all NCAA freshman. She is No. 6 among NCAA freshmen in scoring (15.0).
 
• Clemmons was named to the Ivy League weekly Honor Roll for a team-best 11th time on Monday.
 
• Senior Abby Lee played in her 100th career game last weekend and enters this weekend with 101 played.
  
SIX-TIME ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
• First-year Sienna Durr earned her sixth Ivy League Rookie of the Week selection after averaging 19.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and shooting 58.3 percent from the field against Brown and Yale (Mar. 1-2). In doing so, the Iowa native tied the program record for Rookie of the Week selections in a season set by Camille Zimmerman in 2014-15. Columbia has combined for eight Rookie of the Week selections this season, which breaks the record set by the 2014-15 first-year class.
 
MAKING HER MARK
• First-year Mikayla Markham has broken into Columbia's single-season record book, currently ranking No. 9 in total assist with 115. The rookie from Manasquan, New Jersey is just one assist away from eighth in single-season history and can climb as high as No. 5 with 14 total assists this weekend. The single-season assists record of 148 is held by head coach Megan Griffith (2005-06).
 
TRIPLE THREAT
• Janiya Clemmons, Riley Casey and Sienna Durr have all scored 20-plus points in the same game twice this season. The first occasion was in a 75-65 victory over Harvard (Feb. 8), in which Casey scored 23, Durr scored 22 and Clemmons scored 21. In last Friday's win over Brown, Clemmons scored 23, Durr scored 22 and Casey scored an even 20. Prior to this season, Columbia had not had three players all score 20 points in a game in its 35-year program history.
 
SCOUTING DARTMOUTH
• Dartmouth (12-13, 5-7 Ivy) enters the final two games of the regular season one game behind Yale (6-6 Ivy) for the fourth and final spot in the Ivy League Tournament. The Big Green have either swept or has gotten swept each of the last four Ivy League weekends. The weekends in which Dartmouth lost both games came against league leaders Penn and Princeton, including last weekend on the road. Two weeks ago, they toughed out a 56-54 win over Yale before blowing out Brown by 25. Seniors Isalys Quinones (13.9) and Cy Lippold (11.7) lead the team in scoring. Quinones is also averaging 6.2 rebounds, behind Paula Lenart's 7.4 per game.
 
SCOUTING HARVARD
• Harvard (14-11, 7-5 Ivy) needs one win or a loss by either Dartmouth or Cornell to clinch its spot in the Ivy League Tournament. The Crimson enter the weekend in third place, one game ahead of fourth-place Yale and two games ahead of both the Big Green and Big Red. Last weekend, they took both Penn and Princeton down to the wire, falling in overtime to the Quakers and by three points to the Tigers. Four Harvard players average double figures, led by junior Katie Benzan's 14.1 points per game. Madeline Raster (11.9), Jadyn Bush (11.0) and Sydney Skinner (10.0) are the other three who average double figures. Harvard leads the league in scoring offense (71.2), field goal percentage (.413), 3-point percentage (.332) and assists per game (16.5).
 
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.