DAVIDSON, N.C. – In a game that saw neither side lead by more than single digits through the first three quarters, the Columbia women's basketball team stood tall in the fourth and passed its first road test of the season, 87-78, over Davidson Friday night at Belk Arena.
Leading by just a point, Columbia (2-0) put together a 10-0 run over a span of 4:30 of the final period to surge to victory. It started with first-year Kitty Henderson nailing a jumper and ended with sophomore Abbey Hsu knocking down three at the charity stripe, making it a 79-69 game with three minutes remaining.
Davidson (0-2), which tested No. 24 Virginia Tech in its season opener on Tuesday, momentarily stopped the bleeding with a free throw, but Hannah Pratt answered with the exclamation point. The junior out of Boca Raton, Florida knocked down a trey to balloon the lead to a dozen and put the game out of reach.
"We figured it out in the fourth quarter and played Columbia basketball down the stretch," head coach Megan Griffith stated. "A lot of credit to Davidson, that's a really good college basketball team and I thought that was a great game. They were relentless and I thought our players matched that really well."
The Lions were led by Abbey Hsu's second-straight outing of 22 points to start her sophomore season. Hsu did a lot of damage by getting to the foul line on a night where the three wasn't falling, going 9-of-10 at the stripe and adding six rebounds and four steals.
First-year duo Kitty Henderson and Noa Comesaña were impressive. Henderson scored 16 off the bench on 6-of-10 shooting, while Comesaña scored 10 on 5-of-6 from the floor. Junior Kaitlyn Davis recorded her first double-double of the season with 12 points and a game-high 10 rebounds, while Sienna Durr rounded out Columbia's double-figure scorers with 10.
"That was the definition of Columbia women's basketball," said Henderson, who hails from Australia. "Just finishing that really hard win there. We're going to celebrate this win tonight, get around each other, and tomorrow morning we've got to focus on Clemson for Sunday."
The Lions overcame a hot 3-point shooting night by Davidson, who started 5-of-10 from three to lead 24-20 at the end of the first quarter. Henderson's three early in the second quarter tied it up at 27.
A 12-0 second-quarter run gave the Lions the first bit of separation. Hsu's trey at the 5:55 mark forced Davidson to call for time. Pratt closed out the run to put Columbia up 36-27.
Davidson answered with a run of its own and led 45-43 with the half winding down. Carly Rivera was fouled on a desperation heave one second before halftime and knocked down all three free throws to put the Lions back in front.
A stalemate of a third quarter had things deadlocked at 66 heading for the final 10 minutes. Columbia was simply better down the stretch, outscoring Davidson 23-6 over a span of nearly 10 minutes to improve to 2-0 for the second time in its last three seasons.
Columbia's weekend road trip continues in South Carolina, as the Lions head down I-85 for a Sunday afternoon battle at Clemson. Tip from Littlejohn Coliseum is set for 12 noon.
For the latest on the Columbia women's basketball, follow @CULionsWBB on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, or on the web at GoColumbiaLions.com.
