INDIANAPOLIS — Columbia women's basketball senior Jaida Patrick was named to the NCAA's Starting Five Players of the Week on Wednesday. Each week, the NCAA honors five players across the sport.
 
Patrick is the first Lion to be recognized with the NCAA's Starting Five nod since Camille Zimmerman '18CC back in January of 2017. Patrick led the Lions to the Miami Thanksgiving Tournament title, which included a 78-71 victory over the Hurricanes on Sunday. She was named Ivy League Player of the Week on Monday,
 
For the week, Patrick averaged a tournament-high 20.5 points on 48 percent shooting and was the Lions' leading scorer in each game. In Sunday's championship against Miami, the second-year Columbia transfer out of Duke dropped a career-high 25 points on 7-of-13 shooting. She hit each of her first three 3-point attempts on her way to 14 first-quarter points, which tie for the third-most in a quarter in Columbia history. The Saddle River Day School product went on to net 11 more in the fourth quarter as the Lions erased a five-point deficit for their third straight victory over an ACC opponent. Patrick also scored a game-high 16 in Friday's, 95-57, blowout victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

Joining Patrick on the Starting Five were LSU's Angel Reese, Wichita State's Jane Asinde, Michigan's Emily Kiser and Utah's Alissa Pill.

Introducing this week's 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟓 👏@JaneAsinde | @GoShockersWBB@emilykiser_ | @umichwbball@jaida_patrick | @CULionsWBB @alissa_pili | @UTAHWBB @Reese10Angel | @LSUwbkb#NCAAWBB pic.twitter.com/btih6V1pfz

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessWBB) November 30, 2022

For the year, Patrick now averages 12.0 points, 5.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.9 blocks per game. She is one of five Lions averaging double-figures scoring and one of four shooting over 40 percent from the 3-point line,
 
With Sunday's win over Miami, the Lions are now 2-1 against teams that qualified for the 2022 NCAA Tournament. The Lions also defeated reigning CAA champions Delaware earlier this year on the road, 64-56. Their only such loss came at No. 5 Iowa State.
 
Columbia (5-2) prepares for two home games this week, beginning with Marist (3-3) on Thursday at 7 p.m. The Lions remain home to battle Lafayette (1-6) on Saturday as part of a Columbia basketball doubleheader on Schiller Court at Levien Gymnasium at 1 p.m.
 
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