By: Matt Sugam
NEW YORK – After the best start in program history, followed by a quick COVID pause to spoil the holiday cheer, Columbia women's basketball began the New Year looking to complete its unfinished business from March 2020.
It began with a hard-fought, come-from-behind victory, 65-55, over Yale to start Ivy League play.
After trailing by as many as 12, Columbia outscored Yale 43-25 in the second half. Sienna Durr and Mikayla Markham sparked the Lions in the third quarter, Kaitlyn Davis helped the team lock in defensively and Carly Rivera helped ice the game away late in the fourth.
"There was honestly never a doubt that we were going to win that game. From the tip, even going down 12 – we could have been down 15. I just never would have thought we would lose that game," head coach Megan Griffith '07CC said. "And Yale is a very good team. I think [Coach Guth] does a great job with them. It's more about the team that I know that we have and the capability and potential that we have.
"This team is very hungry. They're mission driven right now and we just have to make sure that we set the tone earlier."
With an opportunity to play for the first Ivy League Title in school history, the 2020 Ivy League Tournament was canceled at the outbreak of COVID-19 and the Lions were left yearning for another chance. Fast forward to January 2, 2020, and Columbia (10-3, 1-0 Ivy League) took the floor at Schiller Court in Levien Gym to play Yale (7-6, 0-1 Ivy League) in the Lions' first Ivy League contest in nearly two years.
And it was a rock fight. With the Bulldogs boasting the league's top defense, allowing just 56.4 points per game, and the Lions only losses coming when giving up 80+ points per game, the Sunday matinee started as a defensive slugfest.
While Columbia took a 2-0 lead to start the game, they trailed by as many as seven in the first quarter. The Lions pulled to 16-12 when Abbey Hsu broke a double team and found Carly Rivera on the right wing for the 3-pointer to end the first quarter.
Yale would take control for much of the second quarter, leading by as many as nine. The Bulldogs held Columbia to just 22.9 percent in the first half, while shooting 44.4 percent to take a 30-22 lead into the break.
"It wasn't the way that we envisioned starting this game, but I do think it's been a big break for us. And I was really pleased with the way that our team made a statement on the game to start the second half," Griffith said. "For us, the slow start doesn't really mean anything, but again, a lot of time since our last game, and I just think that's not going to be an issue moving forward."
Trailing by as many as 12 early in the second half, the Lions roared back as Sienna Durr got going, scoring her first points at the 8:17 mark of the second half and finishing with 11 points. Columbia got it within two on a couple of occasions, before trailing 41-40 thanks to a pair of free throws from Mikayla Markham.
Kitty Henderson gave Columbia its first lead since 17-16 on an old-fashioned 3-point play. With the 43-41 lead a minute into the final stanza, the Lions locked down defensively and never trailed again.
Griffith praised the team's play down the stretch, especially the valuable minutes she got from the lone senior, Mikayla Markham. She hit a three halfway through the fourth quarter to cap an 11-0 run that gave the Lions an 11-point lead.
"Mikayla Markham gave us huge minutes, and being a senior, she sure played like it today," Griffith said. "Mikayla is just somebody that knows our stuff inside and out, offensively especially, and that's what we needed. We needed organization, we needed a calm presence, especially to help out Carly with the ball-handling duties. It was just nice to be able to go to her and know that we can trust her in those moments."
Kaitlyn Davis finished with 11 points, nine rebounds, four blocks, and five steals and two assists. Carly Rivera added a career-high 14 points and eight boards, getting sent to the free throw line multiple times in the final seconds to ice away the victory.
"She's just not afraid of anyone or anything," said Griffith on Rivera. "She had some frustrations early in this game as the rest of our team did, but I told her, 'we don't win this game without you.' I have all the confidence in the world for that kid to make decisions. She just believes so much in this program and where we're heading. And I just trust her wholeheartedly when she's out there on the floor. So it's not surprising when you look down and you know, she's the kid on the free throw line at the end of the game, closing out the game for you."
The Lions played without spectators and will be playing home games without fans until at least until Jan. 18. In turn, home court feels more like closed gym scrimmages than Ivy League games with raucous crowds.
"It's just a testament to everybody on our team, like all 15 players, even if there's no fans, we still feel the energy," Davis said. "A big shout out to our fans who sent us a lot of love, especially as we found out the move [to no fans]. I think that it just makes us want to play even harder. Knowing that they can't be there to support us, but they're watching this from home."
For the sixth-year coach, navigating the virus has become as important as game prep.
"There can't be disappointment when something like this happens like we had to have expected something to happen again. And the main focus for us is that we get to compete, and we just want to make sure we do it the Columbia basketball way," Griffith said. "For us, it's really just we've been locked in every day even since September when we first got to practice together again, on just what we do and not what is around us in our environment. So it's honestly not a change in how we coach, but just addressing the brutal facts of the reality that we will have to answer. "
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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.
