CORAL GABLES, Fla. — The Columbia women's basketball team came to Miami in search of a signature win to prepare for March and build an NCAA Tournament resume.
They got it.
In a game that featured five ties and 14 lead changes, Columbia erased a five-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the Miami Hurricanes, 78-71, Sunday afternoon at the Watsco Center. The contest served as the championship game of the Miami Thanksgiving Tournament after both teams were victorious in their openers on Friday.
Trailing 59-54 in the first minute of the fourth quarter, Columbia (5-2) scored the next eight points and put together a 12-2 run that saw it take a 66-61 lead with 6:00 remaining. Miami (6-2), which earned an at-large bid to the 2022 NCAA Tournament, never led again. The Lions finished it off at the free throw line, going 11-for-14 over the final 10 minutes to pull out its third consecutive ACC win.
"I was just really happy we could come in here, execute over 40, and then make sure that when [Miami] went on runs … we could get back into it," head coach
Megan Griffith '07CC said. "We stayed composed and Kitty [Henderson] ran our offense really well. I was super proud of her and we battled."
Four Lions scored in double figures, led by a career-high 25 points by senior
Jaida Patrick. The West Haverstraw, New York native and transfer from fellow-ACC program Duke was on fire to start, knocking down her first three attempts from long range on her way to 14 first-quarter points. After going quiet in the second and third, she came back to life with 11 in the fourth quarter, which included hitting all seven of her attempts at the free throw line.
"We're really just locked into the little details … everything that our coaches prepared us for we were just more locked in," said Patrick, who also had five rebounds, an assist and a block to earn Tournament MVP honors. "My teammates do a great job finding me off the ball and getting us the post touches that we need. We got a lot of in-out looks, we all played hard and it all goes back to my teammates."
Abbey Hsu,
Kaitlyn Davis and
Hannah Pratt all added 12 points apiece. Davis added 10 rebounds, six assists, three steals and two blocks. She and Patrick combined for 17 of Columbia's first 18 points and had 20 of the Lions' 24 at the end of the first quarter. A 3-pointer by Hsu in the final seconds gave the Lions a two-point lead.
Miami took advantage of five Columbia turnovers in the first five minutes of the second quarter to lead by as many as six. The Lions bounced back by hitting seven of their last eight shots before the half, heading into the locker rooms on a 7-1 run with a 42-37 lead.
A back-and-forth third quarter saw five lead changes but the Lions struggled from the field, scoring just 12 points on four made field goals. Meanwhile, the Hurricanes went 9-for-17 to take a three-point lead to the fourth.
Miami scored the first bucket of the final quarter but Columbia's 12-2 run followed. A 3-pointer by Pratt sparked the run, as well as an old-fashioned 3-point play by
Jaida Patrick to give the Lions a lead they never relinquished.
"It was absolutely awesome to play down here. Abbey and I talked about this -- we're both from South Florida," said Pratt, who was also named to the All-Tournament Team. "It's just great to be in the Florida air. It was nice to have all of our family and friends here, and great to be in this atmosphere."
After playing five of its first six games away from home, Columbia will begin the month of December in front of its New York City fans on Thursday against Marist. Tip-off from Schiller Court at Levien Gymnasium is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.
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