HANOVER, N.H. – Kaitlyn Davis and Abbey Hsu did the heavy lifting and the Columbia women's basketball team exploded for 27 points in the third quarter to pull away from Dartmouth, 65-46, Saturday afternoon at Leede Arena.
Despite never having a lead, Dartmouth (1-17, 0-6 Ivy) hung around and was down by just six at the half. It didn't last though, as Columbia (15-3, 6-0 Ivy) came out of the locker rooms on fire. The Lions hit three treys in the opening three minutes on their way to shooting 10-for-18 (.556) from the floor in the quarter. Hsu scored 11 of her 17 points during the period and knocked down three of her six attempts from beyond the arc.
The Lions outscored the Big Green 14-3 over the final 5:00 of the third quarter to take a 23-point lead into the fourth. The final 10 minutes was academic, highlighted by junior Madison Hardy knocking down a three for her first points of the season as the bench celebrated in jubilation.
The victory improved Columbia's winning streak to seven consecutive games, tying the program's longest winning streak since becoming a Div. I program in 1986.
"I'm just really proud of the team. We're doing something we've never done before here and that's really hard," Columbia head coach Megan Griffith said. "We're just learning as we go and I think we're going to be ready to go for the second half of the league."
Davis started the day 7-for-7 from the floor on her way to a game-high 20 points. The reigning Ivy League Player of the Week was all but unstoppable in the opening 20 minutes, scoring 15 by the half before going on to fill the stat sheet with seven rebounds, two steals, two blocks and an assist.
"Kaitlyn has been absolutely phenomenal, just a terror on both ends and wrapping up possessions for us," Griffith added. "Abbey and Kaitlyn are finding their groove a little bit with how they are being defended and what they are seeing every night. They're also comfortable because they've been here before – they've played these teams and been in these gyms before. It's nice to see them step up and have some consistency for us.
Jaida Patrick added to the totals, scoring a season-high 13 points for the second time in as many games. She was an efficient 5-of-7 from the field and also contributed with two assists and two steals. She found Hsu for a three in transition during the 14-3 third-quarter run, and later delivered a nice back-door pass to Noa Comesaña to give Columbia its first 20-point lead.
The Lions led 12-6 after the opening six minutes with Kaitlyn Davis accounting for eight of those points on 4-of-4 shooting. Patrick contributed to a 12-1 run and scored Columbia final eight points of the quarter to extend the margin to 20-7.
Dartmouth made a run to start the second and closed the gap to 24-20 by the 5:48 media timeout. Hsu scored the next five and hit her first triple of the day to give the Lions a little breathing room, but the game hung in the balance, 32-26, at the half.
Once again, the Lions showed their second-half prowess and put the game away. Hsu nailed a deep three on the very first possession and knocked down another less than two minutes later. Carly Rivera followed by snapping an 0-for-5 start with a 3-ball from the top of the arc, as the Lions started the quarter 3-for-4 from long distance and found their groove, extending their record start to the season to 15-3 overall and 6-0 in the Ivy League.
But make no mistake, the Lions know they have much more to accomplish.
"We're not satisfied. We're just staying hungry for the next game," said Hsu. "We talked at halftime and we just cleaned up the small things. We want to play a complete game and we're still striving to get there. We need to keep working on the small things."
Columbia will get a break from its recent midweek games and prepare for a road trip to Penn and Princeton next Friday and Saturday. The Lions will head to Philadelphia first, taking on the Quakers Friday night at the Palestra at 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.
