By: Matt Sugam, contributions from GoColumbiaLions.com
NEW YORK — Abbey Hsu had no idea she was about to pass her head coach on Columbia's all-time scoring list but the Lions sharp-shooter had no problem reveling in it afterward.
Hsu scored a team-high 25 points and entered the top 10 in career points, as Columbia crushed Lafayette, 91-43, Saturday afternoon on Schiller Court in Levien Gymnasium.
Hsu moved from 11th to eighth place with 1,063 points, passing three former Lions on the day. That included head coach Megan Griffith '07CC (1,062 points) on a 3-pointer with 4:29 to go in the third quarter.
"I respect Coach G so much, so for my name to be near her on that list is a huge honor," Hsu said before turning to her coach and giving her a pat on the back in the postgame press conferences. "Sorry."
Griffith laughed it off, telling Hsu, "You better be at the top of that list."
Already Columbia's all-time three-point scorer, the junior now sits just few back of Hall of Famer Ellen Bossert '86CC and her 1,068 points. Camille Zimmerman '18CC, who played for Griffith, is the Lions' all-time leader at 1,973.
"If you know anything about me, I'm extremely competitive, but also, I love these kids like they're my own," Griffith said. "So anything they do like breaking a record of mine — she's going to shatter many more after this — it's just something I couldn't be more proud of because they put the work in and they put the time in. I'm just proud that I get to coach a young woman like Abbey Hsu."
Jaida Patrick added 17 points, three steals and three assists. First-year Perri Page put together her second-consecutive 10-point outing.
"She's stepped into a role where we need her and she's been ready," Griffith said of Page. "She's been ready for the call."
With some suffocating defense and crisp passing in the fast break, the Lions jumped out to a 25-3 lead at the end of the first quarter in the wire-to-wire victory. Columbia shot 58.8 percent from the field over the first 10 minutes and finished the game with 14 steals and 33 points in transition.
"These are lessons for us to learn. Last year, one thing that we really struggled with was putting teams away when we had maybe a 10- or 15-point lead. Now we're able to extend those leads, keep our foot on the gas pedal and just really be locked into details when the game is out of reach for another program. That's something that's going to help us come Ivy League play."
By halftime, Columbia (7-2) held a commanding 43-8 lead.
Lafayette (2-6) did not break double digits until 7:28 in the third quarter. The Lions led by as many as 54, taking a 69-17 after 30 minutes.
"Our team was really locked in and focused on the game plan to start the game," Griffith said. "I really felt that the first three quarters. It is hard to maintain your focus but that's what championship programs do."
While it's a long way until March, Columbia already appears to be rounding into its Ivy League Championship-pursuit form. The Lions beat an ACC foe on its home court for a Thanksgiving Championship at Miami and ripped off a couple of dominating home wins, building an impressive resume a month into the season.
"There's not one star player on this team. Any given night – like you have Page [Lauder scoring 24 points] the other night. So just having that depth in our bench and being able to go at each other every day, there's no ceiling for our potential," Hsu said. "It's exciting."
Now, Columbia is back on the road for a Wednesday night tip against Stony Brook at Island Federal Arena. The game will air on SNY.
Matt Sugam '23 SPS has been covering sports in the NYC Metropolitan area for over a decade. He has spent the last eight years covering college and professional sports as a stringer for the Associated Press and contributing to The New York Times, USA Today Network, NJ.com, and SNY.tv. He's been covering Lions Athletics for gocolumbialions.com while pursuing an M.S. in Strategic Communication at Columbia's School of Professional Studies. Follow him on Twitter @MattSugam or visit his website at www.mattsugam.com
