By: Matt Sugam (contributions from GoColumbiaLions.com)
NEW YORK — Columbia grabbed as many rebounds as Harvard scored points, dominating the glass and, in turn, the game.
The Lions outrebounded the Crimson by 36 and scored 21 second-chance points, running away in the second half for an 82-56 bounce-back win.
Carly Rivera dribbled out the clock in front of 1,127 fans on Schiller Court at Levien Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon. The Lions faithful rose to their feet for one final standing ovation after watching their team bounce back in dominant fashion.
"Huge thank you to our fans and community. I thought that was great," seventh-year coach
Megan Griffith '07CC said. "School is not even back in session and I thought we had just a great amount of support today."
The Lions (14-3, 3-1 Ivy) were coming off an up-and-down weekend. They opened league play last week by defeating the only team to beat them last season, Princeton, for the first time since 2008. Less than 24 hours later, they fell in a heartbreaker to Penn at the Palestra.
There would be no second letdown.
Jaida Patrick had 15 points six rebounds and three assists,
Abbey Hsu added 15 points four rebounds and three assists, while
Kitty Henderson chipped in with 12 points, nine rebounds and three assists.
Hannah Pratt rounded out a quartet of double-figure scorers with 11.
On a day she was honored pregame for reaching 500 career rebounds,
Kaitlyn Davis led the way with 11 boards to go along with her eight points. Ten different Lions found the scoring column.
"It's just bully ball at that point," Griffith said. "Literally, it's just we want it more than you and will eliminate every shot you take. They only had six offensive boards. That's not a lot of second chances. That was a big goal of ours. We have to dominate the glass. Harvard is a very good rebounding team as well. They're flying in from the perimeter, so we harped on it quite a lot throughout this week. That wins you the game when the ball is not going into the basket, so it's great to see."
Henderson had a nifty old-fashioned 3-point play on a drive to put the Lions up five midway through the first quarter. Columbia led 18-13 after an opening 10 minutes that saw them go 7-of-10 from the floor but turn it over nine times.
Harvard (9-7, 1-2 Ivy) would quickly tie it up at 18 early in the second quarter before Columbia took control. Hsu banked a 3-pointer off the glass to put the home team up 11 with just over three minutes to play before the break, where the Lions went in with a 38-29 lead.
The Lions shot 58 percent from the field, including 43 percent from beyond the arc, and held the Crimson to 36 percent shooting in the first half.
"It's all about momentum and adjusting throughout the game. I think we did that throughout the half," Hsu said. "We talked about it at halftime, knew what we had to change and I feel like we did a good job."
Hsu would pass the ball to herself on an inbound play to open up the scoring for Columbia in the second half. That was the start of a 10-minute clinic. Rivera fired a no-look pass into Hsu's shooting pocket, and she drilled a 3-pointer, prompting Harvard to call timeout as a raucous Columbia bench met its teammates at midcourt to celebrate with a 51-34 lead.
Perri Page found Davis for a layup after an offensive rebound in the final seconds of the dominating quarter in which the Lions outscored Harvard 26-9. Entering the fourth quarter, Harvard trailed 64-38. Columbia would lead by as many as 28.
The Lions complete their weekend slate on the road on Martin Luther King Day, traveling up to Ithaca to take on Cornell (8-8, 1-2 Ivy) Opening tip from Newman Arena is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET.
"One game at a time. One day at a time. No opponent is less than the next," Griffith said. "We will treat Cornell like they're the defending champions on Monday."
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Matt Sugam '23 SPS has been covering sports in the NY metropolitan area for over a decade. He has spent the last nine 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 covering Lions Athletics for gocolumbialions.com while pursuing an M.S. in Strategic Communication at Columbia SPS. Follow him on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Visit his website at www.mattsugam.com
