By: Matt Sugam
NEW YORK -- Two days after the biggest win in her tenure as Columbia women's basketball coach, and two and half hours into another one of her intense practices, Megan Griffith '07CC had seen enough.
She gave the whistle around her neck an emphatic blow to stop the drill.
"We still gotta play like underdogs!" Griffith exclaimed. "We haven't accomplished anything yet!"
The sixth-year head coach didn't even have to reference the lackadaisical movements through the offensive set against the scout team defense that caused her irritation. Her team knows going through the motions is below expectations.
While the coach doesn't deny the impact of the dramatic 14-point comeback at Clemson on Sunday -- just the second ACC victory in program history -- she and her team aren't working for early November wins. They're focused on the incomplete story they were writing for the Lions history books in March of 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic ripped away their chance at the first Ivy League title in program history.
And so, the coach is constantly motivating her team to always play with that extra EDGE.
"Our program's theme, our culture's EDGE. It's Columbia EDGE, and it's energy, discipline, grit and excellence. We talk about those four things every day. Talk about playing with an edge every day," Griffith said. "We haven't earned anything yet, and we just need to make sure that we keep that mentality.
"We have unfinished business from March 2020 and we're better than we were then. So to me, we have to stay mission focused, and know what's important."
Deeper, with more experience, Columbia added newcomers who are already making impacts. With the return of All-Ivy League players Abbey Hsu and Sienna Durr, as well as first-years Noa Comesana and Kitty Henderson, the group has quickly found chemistry after over a year away from each other and their home basketball court.
Kaitlyn Davis drives for a layup during Columbia's season-opening 78-56 win over Hampton.
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"The sky's the limit," Henderson, who was named Ivy League Rookie of the week after averaging 12.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.3 steals in her first three collegiate basketball games, said. "When we're playing our best game, I can't see many teams beating us. Abbey's the best shooter I've ever seen. Then we've got Sienna, who's also a great shooter and Noa is a great big. We have so many strengths in different people and I think for each game we can look to different people to step up."
Of course, the big win at Clemson helps solidify what Griffith has been preaching. That playing with an edge works. And wins.
"It just took our trust as a team to another level," Hsu said. "It was already pretty high. So now, you know, we feel good. We're trusting our system. We know it works. And that just proved itself."
After the high of one of the biggest wins in program history, don't expect any less effort at Lafayette Thursday night. Not from the team-oriented program that is focused on winning the first Ivy League title in school history, above all else.
"We always say before every game, it's us versus them," Hsu said. "We don't care who's them or who we're playing. Whether we're playing the number one team in the country or the worst team in the country, we're still gonna play Columbia basketball, so we're never gonna play down to anybody's level and we're never gonna get spooked to play. We're just gonna play our basketball and stick to our principles."
All the while gearing up for March, where the Lions hope to make it back to the Ivy League Tournament, and win it to head to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. Something the coach thinks her team is primed and ready for.
"We're even deeper than we were in 2019 or 2020," Griffith said. "This is a very deep team, which is a good problem to have. You look down the bench and you have answers for problems … It's a next up kind of mentality for our team. And we always say this, but the 15th player on our team, if they're not pulling their weight, doesn't matter if number one through five are, because we're only as strong as our weakest link."
Matt Sugam has been covering sports in the NYC Metropolitan area for over a decade. He has spent the last eight years covering college and professional sports as a stringer for the Associated Press, while also contributing to The New York Times, USA Today Network, NJ.com, and SNY.tv. He will be covering Lions Athletics for gocolumbialions.com while pursuing an M.S. in Strategic Communication at Columbia's School of Professional Studies. Follow him on Twitter @MattSugam
