PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Juniors Hannah Pratt and Kaitlyn Davis were dominant inside all afternoon, leading the Columbia women's basketball team to its fifth straight win and a 4-0 Ivy League start, 60-52, over Brown Saturday afternoon at the Pizzitola Sports Center.
With the win, Columbia improved to 13-3 overall, marking its best record through 16 games in the history of the program. The start of the program dates back to its first season playing under the Columbia-Barnard Athletic Consortium in 1984. The Lions also improved to 4-0 in the Ivy League for the first time -- they joined in 1987.
Pratt and Davis were the driving force behind Saturday's win. The junior duo combined for 33 points and 36 of Columbia's 64 rebounds. Pratt led all players with a career-high-tying 17 points and career-high 19 boards, while Davis netted 16 points and posted a career-high of her own with 17 rebounds. Ten of Davis' boards came on the offensive glass. She also added a career-high five assists and totaled three blocks.
"I think, as a team, we are confident in our skills, each other and our defense," said Davis. "Our goal is always to stop [the other team] and score. If we stick to that, we know we'll have the outcome we want."
Pratt echoed Davis' remarks and talked about the importance of the Lions using their size advantage against the Bears.
"Coach G talked about it early on in the game, that we have to be tough and get boards, and that's what I was doing tonight," Pratt said. "This game was really important with posting up. That's what we wanted to do and that's what we did."
The Lions weren't as efficient on offense as they would have liked, hitting just 30 percent from the field, but Pratt and Davis helped make up for it with a combined 17 of Columbia's 23 offensive rebounds. Columbia finished the game a season-best plus-25 on the glass, 64-39, and recorded the team's most total rebounds in a game since 1990.
"Hannah has become a different animal since Ivy League play started," said Griffith. "She's just dominating on the glass completely. I think when you get that buy in from them you can be a real force because of our athleticism, our versatility and our ability to lead the break at multiple positions. It was huge to have them both show up tonight. I'm really proud of them."
Rebounding wasn't the only statistic the Lions dominated. Columbia also finished the day with 11 blocks, its most against a Div. I opponent since a 61-54 victory over Cornell in 2011. Sophomore Abbey Hsu led all players with four rejections. Pratt and Davis combined for five.
The Lions missed their first six attempts from the field before Pratt hit from near the free throw line midway through the opening quarter. Both teams suffered from cold shooting at the start and the Lions faced a 10-9 deficit after 10 minutes.
The Lions continued to battle through their tough shooting day plugging up Brown defensively. After doing a good job of creating open looks through the majority of the first half, the Lions were finally rewarded with an 8-0 run to take a 17-12 lead. Pratt and Hsu combined for all eight points. A Hsu triple with 2:18 left before halftime gave the Lions their first double-digit lead.
Brown made a run the with seven straight points over the final 2:12 of the third quarter. Isabella Mauricio and Kyla Jones combined for all seven points. Jones finished the game with a team-high 19 off the bench.
Brown's third-quarter run made it a one-point game entering the fourth, but Columbia never surrendered the lead. Pratt used an old-fashioned 3-pont play on her way to netting the first five points of the period. Some athletic buckets inside by Davis and clutch 3-ball from Kitty Henderson helped keep Columbia on top and put the game away.
Columbia returns home to prepare for a midweek Ivy League contest on Wednesday against Penn (7-9, 2-2 Ivy). Tip-off from Schiller Court at Levien Gymnasium is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET.
For the latest on Columbia women's basketball, follow @CULionsWBB on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, or on the web at GoColumbiaLions.com.
