WNIT Game Preview: Columbia vs. Old Dominion

Sunday, March 20

Norfolk, Va.

2:00 PM

Columbia University

Old Dominion

Photo by: Columbia University Athletics/Mike McLaughlin

3/19/2022 4:05:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Watch (ESPN3)Live Stats Tickets WNIT Bracket WNIT Tournament Central Game Notes

Lions and Monarchs meet up in the Second Round Sunday at 2 p.m. ET

NEW YORK – The Columbia women's basketball team (23-6, 12-2 Ivy) will play its first all-time game against Old Dominion (24-9, 12-6 C-USA) on Sunday in the Second Round of the Women's National Invitational Tournament. Tip-off from Chartway Arena in Norfolk, Virginia is slated for 2 p.m. ET.

TICKET INFORMATION:
Fans who are making the trip to Norfolk can purchase tickets by clicking here.

GAME COVERAGE:
Sunday's game will air live on ESPN3. Fans can access the stream online at ESPN.com or through their mobile devices on the ESPN app.

Live stats will be provided by ODUsports.com. Live updates will be posted to the women's basketball team's Twitter page (@CULionsWBB).

5 THINGS TO KNOW:
1. POSTSEASON RUN
• Columbia's historic 2021-22 season continues in the Women's National Invitational Tournament. The Lions earned the Ivy League's automatic qualifying spot into the tournament. This year's 64-team field is comprised of 30 automatic-qualifying spots, which go to the best available team in each conference. The other 34 teams are at-large selections, chosen after consideration of a mix of criteria by WNIT officials.

• The Lions defeated Holy Cross, 80-69, on Wednesday in Round 1 of the WNIT. The game was Columbia's program debut in the tournament. Holy Cross, the Patriot League regular season champion, used a 9-0 run to close the margin to three, 55-52, early in the fourth quarter, but the Lions answered back with the next seven and never looked back. Columbia went 12-of-14 at the foul line in the fourth quarter to put the game away.

Abbey Hsu led the Lions with a game-high 24 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the outside. She also racked up six rebounds and a career-high seven assists. Jaida Patrick scored 18 (6-13 FG) and Kaitlyn Davis added 15.

Round 2 @WomensNIT ➡️ Sunday#RoarLionRoar #EDGE

Round 1 ✔️ pic.twitter.com/pPSC46FK4s
— Columbia Women's Basketball (@CULionsWBB) March 19, 2022

2. A LOOK AT THE BRACKET
• Eight teams are left in Columbia's region of the bracket. Sunday's winner between the Lions and Monarchs will advance to the regional semifinals, where they will take on the victor of Monday's game between Boston College and Quinnipiac. BC advanced to the Second Round with a 69-44 thrashing of Maine on Thursday. Quinnipiac got by Rhode Island, 61-50.

Click here for a complete look at the 2022 WNIT Bracket.

3. HSU-TING INTO THE RECORD BOOKS
• Abbey Hsu enters the game with 167 made 3-pointers in her career, which ranks No. 1 in Columbia women's basketball history. Hsu broke Melissa Shafer's (2008-12) record of 166 in Wednesday's win over Holy Cross.
            Career Record: Made 3-Pointers (Columbia History)
            1.         Abbey Hsu (2019-pres.) - 167
            2.         Melissa Shafer (2008-12) - 166
            3.         Emily Roller (1995-99) - 161
            4.         Alexa Giuliano (2014-17) - 146
            5.         Taylor Ward (2010-14) - 123

• Hsu now has 102 threes on the season entering Sunday's game, which is also No. 1 in Ivy League women's basketball history. The previous record belonged to Katie Benzan, who sank 99 at Harvard during the 2017-18 season. Benzan is a two-time AP All-America Honorable Mention and is now a graduate player at Maryland.
            Single-Season Record: Made 3-Pointers (Ivy League History)
            1.         Abbey Hsu (Columbia) (102, 2021-22)
            2.         Katie Benzan (Harvard) (99, 1991-92)
            3.         Courtney Banghart (Dartmouth) (97, 1998-99)
            4.         Courtney Banghart (Dartmouth) (91, 1999-00)
            5.         Sandi Bittler (Princeton) (89, 1989-90)

Last night was quite the night for @abigailvhsu, setting the @IvyLeague single-season 3-point record and our program's career record in the same game! Congratulations Abbey! #RoarLionRoar #EDGE @WomensNIT pic.twitter.com/cmd184tqFy
— Columbia Women's Basketball (@CULionsWBB) March 17, 2022

4. A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING
• The 2021-22 season has seen Columbia set many firsts and numerous school records, beginning at the very start of the season when they started 5-0 in the first time. Columbia's other notable season accomplishments include:
- Defeating an ACC team on the road (Clemson, Nov. 13)
- Starting Ivy League play 7-0 (previous best was 2-0)
- Winning a program record eight consecutive games (Dec. 13 - Feb. 4)
- Winning the most Ivy League games in program history (12)
- Winning the most games overall in program history (23)
- Defeating Penn for the first time since 2011
- Sweeping Penn for the first time since 2010
- Sweeping Cornell for the first time since 2010
- Sweeping Yale for the first time since 2011
- Playing in their first postseason game and winning their first postseason game in 36 years
- Advancing to their first Ivy League Tournament Championship Game
- Advancing to their first Women's National Invitational Tournament
- Winning their first WNIT game

5. THE OPPONENT
• Old Dominion earned one of the 34 at-large bids into the WNIT. The Monarchs went 22-8 during the regular season with a 12-2 mark in Conference USA competition.

Old Dominion advanced to the WNIT Second Round with a 72-66 win at Towson on Friday night. Iggy Allen led all with 25 points, shooting 4-of-8 from deep. As a team, the Monarchs made seven 3-pointers, shooting 46.7 percent from deep. On the other side of the ball, ODU limited Towson's potent offense to 37.1-percent shooting and a 4-of-19 mark from 3-point range.

The Monarchs are making their ninth appearance in the WNIT and are 8-8 in the tournament. Old Dominion won the then-National Women's Invitational Tournament in 1978 as a warm-up to back-to-back AIAW national championships in 1979 and 1980. ODU has been a part of the WNIT six times since its rebirth in 1998. The Monarchs have never advanced past the second round of the modern WNIT.

The Monarchs are one of the tightest defensive units in the country this year. ODU entered the weekend ranked 23rd nationally and first in C-USA in scoring defense (55.6). ODU is turning teams over 20.15 times per game (17th in DI, 1st in C-USA) while averaging the 22nd-most steals per game (10.6) in the country. Additionally, ODU is second in the conference with 3.8 blocks per game.

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MORNINGSIDE HOOPS
The newly branded Morningside Hoops podcast is back for a fourth season. Formerly known as Inside Columbia Basketball, the podcast features weekly interviews with coaches and members of the men's and women's basketball programs. New episodes are available weekly on SoundCloud, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

To listen to this week's episode, click here.

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For the latest on the Columbia women's basketball, follow @CULionsWBB on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, or on the web at GoColumbiaLions.com.