BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Columbia rallied from a 13-point halftime deficit to pull within a bucket of Missouri, but the Tigers held on, defeating the Lions, 87-80, in NCAA women's basketball action on Saturday. It was the first day of the Christmas City Classic, hosted at Lehigh's Stabler Arena.
Columbia (5-2), which trailed by as many as 16 in the second quarter, started the second half on a 12-4 run to pull within five of Missouri (6-0). The Tigers extended the lead back to nine but Carly Rivera hit a trey at the third-quarter buzzer to make it a six-point game heading to the fourth.
Hannah Pratt's third triple of the afternoon came just 15 seconds into fourth quarter and it was game on. Mizzou rebuilt a 10-point advantage, only to see it wiped away by another 12-4 Columbia run. Consecutive threes from Abbey Hsu and Carly Rivera made it a 79-77 game with just under two minutes remaining.
That was as close as it would get. Columbia had the ball trailing, 84-80, entering the final minute, but Kaitlyn Davis had her shot blocked underneath and the Tigers came away with the rebound. By the time the Lions got the ball back, it was a six-point game and only eight seconds remained.
"This team has a lot of fight in them and they battle really hard," said Columbia head coach Megan Griffith on her team's efforts. "It was just unfortunate that we put ourselves in that position going into the second half. Yeah, it's great that we can be comeback kids, but I don't think that's the story we want to write for the rest of the season. I would just say that we need to be way better at being locked in and adjusting on the fly, early in games."
The Lions struggled to find an answer for Mizzou's Hayley Frank, who finished with a game-high 29 points on 10-of-16 shooting. The 6-1 junior forward was 6-of-11 from beyond the arc and hit three of her first four from downtown in the first quarter to help the Tigers lead by as many as 14. Haley Troup scored 20 points while LaDazhia Williams added 15 off the bench.
For Columbia, Abbey Hsu caught fire in the second half and finished with a team-high 17 points on 4-of-7 from beyond the arc. She also pulled down seven rebounds to go with three assists and a pair of steals. Reigning Ivy League Player of the Week Kaitlyn Davis had 15 points and came up a rebound shy of a double-double. Davis also had two assists and two blocks. Juniors Carly Rivera, Sienna Durr and Hannah Pratt had nine points apiece. Rivera matched her career-high of eight assists.
Mizzou hit six of its first nine 3-point attempts to build its early lead. Columbia would end the quarter on a 9-0 run to get back within five. They held the Tigers scoreless over the final 3:10 and got buckets by Nicole Stephens, Kitty Henderson and Jaida Patrick to close out the quarter.
After holding the Tigers scoreless for more than four minutes, they caught fire again. Frank swished back-to-back threes in a span off less than 25 seconds to make it a double-digit game again. The lead ballooned to 40-24 as the Tigers closed a 16-5 run with free throws by Williams.
A 13-point game at the half was suddenly brought to five less than three minutes into the second half as Sienna Durr's triple at the 7:25 mark made it 50-45. A couple of minutes later, after the Tigers were back up by eight, Noa Comesaña scored inside and Abbey Hsu hit from deep to pull the Lions within three, 55-52.
It was anyone's game from there as Columbia would go on to hit 10-of-17 from 3-point land through the second half, However, they were never able to find the shot to tie it up or take the lead. Mizzou escaped with the win, ultimately outscoring the Lions 28-4 off turnovers, to advance to Sunday's championship game.
The Lions will play Rider on Sunday in the Christmas City Classic consolation game. Tip-off from Stabler Arena is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. ET.
For the latest on the Columbia women's basketball, follow @CULionsWBB on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, or on the web at GoColumbiaLions.com.
