NEW YORK – Behind 13 threes and another suffocating defensive performance, the Columbia women's basketball team rolled off its sixth consecutive home win, 77-48, over Mercer Saturday afternoon at Levien Gymnasium.
 
The victory wraps up a 9-4 non-conference season for the Lions, marking the third time in the last five seasons they've won at least nine heading into Ivy League play. However, this non-conference season might be the most impressive, seeing Columbia take down three conference champions from a year ago. Mercer (3-12) is included among them as the two-time defending Southern Conference champions.
 
Sophomore Mikayla Markham had a career day scoring. The point guard from the North Jersey shore was lethal from 3-point land, sinking 5-of-6 from beyond the arc on her way to a game- and career-high 16 points. Markham's performance helped the Lions shoot 43-percent from the perimeter. Columbia sank 13 threes for the second consecutive home game.
 
"After the road trip we just wanted to come back and get our feet back under us to get ready for Ivy play," said Markham, who also had six assists and tied another career mark with four steals. "It was a nice win.
 
"[Defense] was our big focus today. We had active hands and wanted to use pressure in general to take them out of a rhythm. They run a lot of sets but our main focus was on us and not necessarily what they run."
 
Mercer is the fourth team this season that has failed to reach 50 points against the Lions at Levien Gymnasium. Over their six-game home winning streak, Columbia is holding opponents to 49.5 points and outscoring them by an average margin of 23.3 points per game.
 
"It's depth, attention to detail and buy-in," said head coach Megan Griffith afterwards. "I'm really proud of them. Twenty assists in another game is a true sign of a team that shares the ball and doesn't care who gets the credit."
 
Sophomore Lilian Kennedy got the starting nod for the first time this season and scored a season-high 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Kennedy added eight boards as the Lions outrebounded the Bears by 13. She also filled up the stat sheet with an assist, a steal and a block.
 
"I really think Lil has been consistent defensively for us and she knows what to do," Griffith added. "Today, I wanted to set the tone from the jump about how aggressive we were being, what we were trying to do and trying to take away. I think Lil has embodied that all week so we gave her the go."
 
Hannah Pratt turned in 10 points to round out Columbia's double-figure scorers. Sienna Durr finished with nine points, a game-high nine rebounds and five assists.
 
Columbia never trailed and scored the first five points off baskets by Kennedy and Durr. The lead got to double figures early at 15-5 and back-to-back treys by Markham and first year Kaitlyn Davis made it a 16-point game before the quarter's end.
 
The Lions led by 20 for the first time at the 7:53 mark of the second quarter. Mercer showed some fight and used a 9-0 run to get within 11, but that was as close as it would get the remainder of the afternoon. Triples by Durr and Markham followed by a 3-point play from Pratt quickly increased the margin back to 20.
 
The second half was more of the same, as Columbia simply overmatched the Mercer Bears from beginning to end to win for the eighth time in its last nine outings.
 
Columbia now has a two-week layoff from game action before starting up Ivy League play at home on Saturday, January 18, against Cornell. Tip from Levien Gymnasium is scheduled for 3 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.