NEW YORK – Off to its best 14-game record in the program's Div. I history, the Columbia women's basketball team (11-3, 2-0 Ivy) resumes Ivy League action on Thursday when it hosts Cornell. Tip-off from Schiller Court at Levien Gymnasium is set for 5 p.m. ET. The game was originally scheduled to be played earlier this week on Monday, but was postponed due to travel concerns from a winter weather system affecting the northeast.
GAME COVERAGE
Fans can watch Thursday night's game live on
ESPN+. SportsNet NY (SNY) will air a tape delay of the broadcast Thursday night at 9 p.m. ET. With a total distribution of nearly 12 million homes, SNY is available to viewers throughout New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Northeastern Pennsylvania for a regional reach of 8.0 million households.
Live stats will be provided by GoColumbiaLions.com. Live updates will also be posted to the women's basketball team's Twitter page (
@CULionsWBB).
TEMPORARY NO-SPECTATOR POLICY
Due to the substantial increase in the number of COVID-19 cases being reported in New York City, New York State, and the Columbia University campus community, Columbia University is implementing a temporary no-spectator attendance policy for its home athletics events through January 18. Attendance to all events shall be limited to participating players, coaches, and officials, as well as athletics administrators and essential personnel required to conduct an NCAA Division I contest.
5 THINGS TO KNOW:
1. THE LATEST
• The Lions enter the game 2-0 in the Ivy League for the first time since 2010, a year in which they finished the season a program-best 9-5 in league play. Their other 2-0 starts came in 2005 and 2003. Columbia has never started league play 3-0. Columbia's 11-3 record through 14 games stands alone as its best in the Div. I era.
• Last Saturday, the Lions traveled up to Harvard and defeated the Crimson, 72-64. The win gave the Lions their first three-game winning streak against Harvard in program history. Columbia went on an 18-3 run between the third and fourth quarters, flipping a 37-36 deficit into a 54-40 lead with 8:11 to play.
2. HSU-IN FOR PLAYER OF THE WEEK
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Abbey Hsu was named the Ivy League Women's Basketball Player of the Week following a 21-point effort over the weekend at Harvard. She was on fire in the Lions' 72-64 victory over the Crimson, hitting 8-of-11 (.727) from the floor and 5-of-7 (.714) from 3-point land on her way to her 10th career 20-point performance. Hsu was a perfect 5-for-5 from the field and 4-for-4 from the perimeter in the first half. The sophomore guard ended the game with season-highs of nine rebounds and two blocks while also adding three assists and a steal.
3. CLIMBING THE 3-POINT CHARTS
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Abbey Hsu scored 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting (5-7 3-PT) in Saturday's win at Harvard and was named Ivy League Player of the Week for a second time this season. Along the way, Hsu posted season-highs in rebounds (9) and blocks (2), while also tallying three assists and a steal. Hsu enters Thursday night with 117 career 3-pointers, which ranks eighth in the Columbia career record books. She is one behind Susan Kern (2001-05) for seventh, two behind Sue Altman (2002-05) for sixth and three behind Megan O'Neill (1999-03) for fifth.
4. HISTORY OVER HARVARD
• With a 72-64 victory against the Crimson on Jan. 15 in Cambridge, Columbia earned its third consecutive win in its all-time series with Harvard. Columbia's three-game series winning streak stands alone as its longest ever against the Crimson. The Lions have now won four of their last five in the series. Prior to
Megan Griffith's arrival as head coach, Columbia was just 3-58 all-time against Harvard, a series which dates back to 1985.
5. SCOUTING CORNELL
• Cornell (6-8, 1-2 Ivy) started off league play with a gritty 45-36 victory at Dartmouth back on Jan. 2. The Big Red were scheduled to play Princeton and Penn two weeks ago, but had the game against Penn postponed. They wound up falling that Saturday against Princeton, 65-41, and lost to Yale this past Saturday in Ithaca, 66-42. Senior Theresa Grace Mbanefo is the team's leading scorer at 11.8 points per game. Mbanefo sits No. 2 in the Ivies in field goal percentage (.486), good enough for Top 100 nationally, and also tops the Big Red in rebounds (7.8), and blocks (2.0), ranking No. 2 in the league in blocks. Ania McNicholas is a threat to cause turnovers, averaging 27 and totaling 35 steals on the season to rank among the league leaders. Cornell prides itself defensively, allowing just 57.9 points per game, third-best in the league and Top 100 nationally.
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MORNINGSIDE HOOPS
The newly branded Morningside Hoops podcast is back for a fourth season. Formerly known as Inside Columbia Basketball, the podcast features weekly interviews with coaches and members of the men's and women's basketball programs. New episodes are available weekly on SoundCloud, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
To listen to this week's episode,
click here.
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For the latest on the Columbia women's basketball, follow @CULionsWBB on
Twitter,
Instagram and
Facebook, or on the web at
GoColumbiaLions.com.
