NEW YORK – They just keep winning.
The Columbia women's basketball team found its offense in the second half and stormed back to defeat visiting Penn, 61-56, in Ivy League action Wednesday night from Schiller Court at Levien Gymnasium.
Columbia (14-3, 5-0 Ivy) had scored just 16 points on a little over 20 percent shooting at the intermission. It all turned around in the second half, as the Lions put up 45 points and shot the lights out in the fourth quarter (9-13). They took their first lead since 2-0 on a 3-ball by Abbey Hsu to open the final frame and didn't give it up the rest of the way.
The win was Columbia's sixth straight, starting Ivy play 5-0 for the first time, and snapped an 18-game series losing streak against the Quakers (7-10, 2-3 Ivy), whom the Lions hadn't defeated since 2011.
"This was a big game for our program," Columbia head coach Megan Griffith said. "Since I've been here, we had not beaten Penn. That's no secret and it's something we talked about pretty openly … It was good to get our first one.
"Defensively, it was really great to see us respond and get stops that we need. That was a huge run that we made in the fourth quarter and a huge credit to [Jaida Patrick] … People make plays on good teams. It was a great day and I'm excited that we can build off of this one and keep going."
It was a 20-6 run that included two separate 9-0 bursts which brought the Lions back. Jaida Patrick, playing in her first season for the Lions after transferring from Duke, was a huge part of it. The junior scored a season-high 13 points, all in the final 11 minutes and 12 seconds. It included a momentum-shifting bucket at the third-quarter buzzer that she got out of her hand with one-tenth of a second on the clock. She later put the Lions up 10 for the first time with a leaping block on the defensive end that she parlayed into a coast-to-coast bucket on the other.
"Culture is really important and we really pride ourselves on being great teammates," said Patrick, who finished the night 4-of-5 from the floor and collected four rebounds in just over 17 minutes. "Even if you're not on the court, it's always all 15 people doing great things. I had to be ready and be a great teammate for my team on and off the court, and be ready when my number was called."
The Lions were led offensively by their leading scorer, Abbey Hsu. The sophomore battled through a tough-shooting first half to hit 5-of-10 from the field and 2-of-4 from the perimeter in the second half. Hsu finished with a game-high 22 points and also dished out a career-high six assists.
Reigning Ivy League Player of the Week Kaitlyn Davis was a force, once again. The 6-foot junior out of Norwalk, Connecticut posted her third consecutive double-double, going for 16 points and 12 rebounds. Davis was an impressive 8-of-12 from the floor and matched her career-high of four blocks.
For Penn, Mia Lakstigala scored a team-high 18 points and hit 4-of-8 from beyond the arc. She was joined in double figures by 14 points from Kayla Padilla (4-17 FG) and 10 from Jordan Obi.
Columbia was generating good looks out of its offense in the first quarter but couldn't knock anything down. They started the night 1-for-12 as Davis snapped a 5:43 scoring drought to cut Penn's lead to 7-4. Their effort on the defensive end was keeping the Lions close, as Penn only managed 12 points in the opening 10 minutes on 17.6 percent shooting, which left Columbia down just six.
Buckets were still hard to come by in the second quarter. Penn took its largest lead of the night, 22-11, thanks to holding Columbia scoreless for a span of 7:11. Hsu snapped the Lions out of it with one of her four threes on the night to help make it an eight-point game at the half.
It all turned around for the Lions in the second half. Abbey Hsu got the fans in attendance on their feet by banking in a three in the first couple of minutes, which seemingly ignited the offense. A three by Carly Rivera near the end of the quarter sparked a 7-0 run that brought Columbia within one.
Hsu's final three of the night jump-started the fourth quarter and it was all Lions from there. Columbia put on a shooting clinic in the final period, hitting 9-of-13 (.692) from the floor and 2-of-3 from the outside. They turned defense into offense on multiple occasions and led by 10 with less than two minutes to go. Penn would hit a three with 19 seconds left to make it a one-possession game, but Patrick finished off her beautiful second half with two big free throws to leave no doubt in the final outcome.
Columbia will now get set to head to Dartmouth (1-16, 0-5 Ivy) to play the Big Green on Saturday. Tip-off from Leede Arena in Hanover, New Hampshire is set for 2 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.
