NEW YORK – Janiya Clemmons and Abbey Hsu both scored a game-high 19 points and Sienna Durr added 16 as the Columbia women's basketball team jumped out to an early first-quarter lead and coasted to a 73-63 Ivy League win over Dartmouth Friday evening at Levien Gymnasium.
 
Columbia (12-8, 3-4 Ivy) won the game by capitalizing off Dartmouth's turnovers and converting at the foul line. The Big Green (7-18, 1-6 Ivy) gave it away 16 times and the Lions ended the night with a 19-7 advantage in points off turnovers. The Lions also hit 18-of-21 from the charity stripe while Dartmouth was just 4-of-6.
 
Despite the win, head coach Megan Griffith knows her team has to put together a better effort against a tough Harvard team in less than 24 hours.
 
"I thought Dartmouth played very well in that second half," Griffith said during her postgame interview on SNY. "I'm sure Belle [Koclanes] was happy with their effort, but I just didn't think we played very well today. We need a quick turnaround. We need to make sure that we're disciplined and pay attention to the scout and each other … It has nothing to do with effort – we play hard and that's what we do. They've shown us that they fight and they're not going to give up."
 
Columbia led by as many as 18 in the first half and held off a small fourth-quarter rally. Dartmouth got within eight with under eight minutes remaining but a 7-0 run that included four points from Clemmons ballooned the lead back to 15.
 
"We've said it 1,000 times – our defense is what drives our offense," said Clemmons, the senior captain. "When we can get stops and string them together we can put teams away. We came together and communicated pretty well and we were able to force them into some shot clock violations and turnovers"
 
Clemmons converted 7-of-9 from the field and was a perfect 3-for-3 in the third quarter to help hold Dartmouth off. Hsu hit four treys and grabbed seven rebounds, while Durr grabbed a game-high eight rebounds and scored 13 of her 16 points in the decisive first half.
 
It was all Columbia in the opening five minutes as the Lions jumped out to 10-0 lead. Columbia quickly took advantage of three Dartmouth turnovers and Durr responded on offense by scoring eight of the Lions' first 10 points. She converted a layup on Columbia's first possession before hitting from deep and scoring inside one more time to help the Lions lead 18-8 after 10 minutes.
 
Columbia extended its lead to 26-10 early in the second quarter, scoring eight of the period's first 10 points. Pratt hit a 3-pointer, swished three free throws and Durr added two more at the charity stripe during the run. Minutes later, the Lions built their largest lead of the game, 32-14, on a Madison Hardy 3-pointer with five minutes to play before the half. They would lead by 15 at the break.
 
After an even third quarter, Dartmouth opened with the first seven points of the fourth to make things interesting. The 7-0 run cut Columbia's margin down to eight before the Lions turned it back around for their first win over Dartmouth since sweeping them back in 2017.
 
Dartmouth was led by Katie Douglas, who scored 14 points. Anna Luce and McKenna both scored 10 points apiece.
 
Columbia is back in action tomorrow when it hosts Harvard for a 5 p.m. matchup at Levien Gymnasium. The game will air live on SportsNet New York (SNY).

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.