Columbia Rings in 2020 Saturday Afternoon against Mercer

Saturday, January 4

New York, N.Y.

2:00 P.M.

Columbia University

Mercer

Buy tickets

Photo by: Columbia University Athletics/Mike McLaughlin

Columbia Rings in 2020 Saturday Afternoon against Mercer

1/3/2020 2:51:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Tickets Register for Pre-Game Clinic Watch (ESPN+)Live Stats Game Notes (pdf)

Lions to host Autism Awareness Day and Men’s Basketball Pre-Game Clinic

NEW YORK – Columbia (8-4) ushers in 2020 with its non-conference finale on Saturday, hosting two-time defending Southern Conference champion Mercer (3-11) for a 2 p.m. matinée at Levien Gymnasium.

Amy Lawrence and Doug Feinberg will have the call of Saturday's game live on ESPN+. Fans can find live stats by visiting GoColumbiaLions.com, or keep up with the action on Twitter by following @CULionsWBB.

AUTISM AWARENESS
Columbia will be raising awareness for Autism during Saturday's game. Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by: social impairments, cognitive, impairments, communication difficulties and/or repetitive behaviors. Because Autism is a spectrum disorder, it can range from very mild to very severe and occur in all ethnic, socioeconomic and age groups. Males are four times more likely to have autism than females. Some children with autism appear normal before age 1 or 2 and then suddenly "regress" and lose language or social skills they had previously gained.

Columbia has partnered with New York Families for Autistic Children, Play4Autism and Autism Speaks for Saturday's game. Click the links below to learn more about these groups.

- New York Families for Autistic Children
- Play4Autism
- Autism Speaks

PRE-GAME CLINIC
The men's basketball team will be hosting a pre-game clinic prior to Saturday's women's basketball game against Mercer. The clinic begins at 12 p.m., and will take place in the Blue Gym, located on the second floor of the Dodge Physical Fitness Center. Registration includes the clinic, food and a ticket to the game! The clinic is available for boys 6th grade and younger, as well as for girls 8th grade and younger.

Click here to sign up for Saturday's pre-game clinic.

OPENING TIPS
• Columbia rings in 2020 with its non-conference finale, welcoming Mercer to Levien Gymnasium on Saturday for a 2 p.m. tip. The Lions defeated the Bears last January down in Macon, Georgia.

• The Lions have won seven of their last eight and return to New York after a six-day trip to Nashville. Columbia flew down on the 26th in preparation for back-to-back games against Vanderbilt (Dec. 29) and Tennessee State (Dec. 30). After falling to the Commodores, the Lions bounced back to defeat TSU, 75-65.

• Columbia blocked a season-high 10 shots in the win over Tennessee State. It marked the team's most blocks in a game since rejecting 12 against Central Penn in January of 2016. It also tied for the seventh- most blocks in a single game in program history.

• The Lions have won their last five in a row at home. Over that stretch, they are averaging 72.0 points and holding opponents to 49.8 points per game, which includes a 99-43 victory over NJIT in their last home appearance. Columbia has held the opposition to fewer than 50 points three times.

• First year Abbey Hsu is the team's leading scorer, averaging 12.3 ppg entering Saturday. Sophomore Sienna Durr (12.1) also averages double figures and is coming off a 20-point performance in Monday's win over Tennessee State. First year Kaitlyn Davis is the team's leading rebounder (6.7 rpg).

QUICK NOTES
• Hannah Pratt has blocked a shot in 11 consecutive games.
• Janiya Clemmons had a career-high five steals against Tennessee State.
• Sienna Durr recorded her eighth career 20-point game in the win over TSU.
• Columbia ranks 25th nationally in 3-point defense (.252), 43rd in blocks (4.6) and top 75 in rebounds (41.17).
• Columbia ranks No. 2 in the Ivies in offensive rebounds (13.8).
• Mikayla Markham ranks No. 3 in the Ivy League with 48 assists and 4.1 assists per game.
• Kaitlyn Davis, Hannah Pratt, Kallin Spiller and Sienna Durr are all top 10 in the league in blocks per game.
• Janiya Clemmons is top 5 in the Ivy League in steals (2.1); Abbey Hsu is top 10 (1.8)
• Columbia has shot better than its opponent in nine of its 12 games.
• Columbia is 8-0 when holding the opponents to fewer than 70 points and 0-4 when opponents score more.
• Columbia is 7-1 in day games and 5-1 on the weekend.

SIX-PACK OF WINS
• The Lions put together a six-game winning streak that spanned Nov. 17 - Dec. 21. It began with a 61-59 victory over reigning NEC champion Robert Morris and was the longest winning streak since they rolled off seven straight during the 2016-17 non-conference season.

• Over the course of its winning streak, Columbia held opponents to 53.2 points per game, 33.6 percent shooting and 20.2 percent from 3-point range. They held opponents to fewer than 50 points three times and boasted a +17.1 scoring margin. Four of the six wins have came when trailing in the fourth quarter.

BALANCED EFFORT
• Columbia is the only team in the Ivy League that:
   • Has five players rank inside the top 25 in scoring (Durr, Hsu, Davis, Clemmons, Pratt)
   • Has four players rank inside the top 10 in blocks (Spiller, Pratt, Davis, Durr)

SCOUTING MERCER
• The two-time defending Southern Conference champions enter Saturday's game trying to snap a five-game losing streak. Columbia is the second Ivy League opponent on Mercer's trip to the northeast. The Bears fell at Yale, 68-60, on Thursday after leading by as many as 11 in the first half and getting outscored 24-14 in the fourth quarter. Sophomore Jaron Dougherty led the Bears, matching her career-high with 26 points on 12-of-25 shooting and adding 10 rebounds. Dougherty is averaging a team-best 15.5 ppg and leads a trio of double-figure scorers. Shannon Titus is second on the team in scoring (13.2) and tops the Bears on the boards (7.9). Amoria Neal-Tysor scored 19 against Yale and is averaging 11.9.

INSIDE COLUMBIA BASKETBALL PODCAST
• The Inside Columbia Basketball Podcast is back for second season. Columbia Athletics debuted the new podcast last season, which features weekly interviews with coaches and members of 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 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
• This year's Ivy League Men's and Women's Basketball Tournaments will be hosted by Harvard at Laveites Gymnasium. The top four men's and women's teams will earn berths to the tournament with the women's semifinals on Friday, March 13, and the championship on Saturday, March 14. All games will be broadcast live on ESPN's networks. For tickets and more information please visit IvyMadness.com.

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.