NASSAU, Bahamas – Florida's Aliyah Matharu hit a fadeaway three at the buzzer to deny the Columbia women's basketball team the program's first-ever win over an SEC opponent, 83-81, Wednesday afternoon at the Baha Mar Hoops Pink Flamingo Championship. The tournament is being held at the Baha Mar Convention Center at the Baha Mar Resort.
In a game that featured 12 ties and 15 lead changes, Columbia (2-4) trailed by a point with 4.9 seconds left. The Lions called for time to advance the ball and executed to perfection. Fliss Henderson inbounded to Abbey Hsu in the corner. With three Gators converging, Hsu threaded a pass underneath the basket to a wide-open Cecelia Collins, who laid it in to give the Lions the advantage with 1.3 on the clock.
Florida (5-1) called for time to draw up one last play and it connected. Matharu caught the inbounds pass from right in front of the Florida bench, took one dribble to her right and heaved up the shot, which never even touched the rim on its way in as the horn sounded.
"There were some really positive moments in the fourth quarter. We had a four-or-five-point lead but we didn't say. 'Hey, nail in the coffin,'" eighth-year head coach Megan Griffith said afterward. "You can't do that against teams like [Florida] that have talent and skill. I thought today, we made really bad critical mistakes and a lot of critical turnovers."
The Gators outscored Columbia 15-5 over the final seven minutes of the third quarter and used an 8-0 run over the final three minutes to take a 61-54 lead into the fourth. The Lions punched right back to start the final period, as Hsu connected on a trey to start it off before a transition breakaway to bring it right back to a one-possession game. Columbia closed an 11-2 run up, 65-63.
Tied at 70, Columbia got back-to-back buckets from Collins and a 3-pointer by Hsu with 3:30 left to match its largest lead of the day, 77-71. They remained in front by four with the clock under 2:00.
The Lions turned it over on three of their next four possessions. The final one came leading 79-78 with 18 seconds left. Florida capitalized courtesy of Ra Shaya Kyle, who collected an offensive rebound and stuck it back with less than five seconds to go.
"I challenged all of the players to make some real changes to their game," Griffith added. "You have to be a real student of the game and learn from this. Also, at the same time, accept it so that you can grow from it. Sometimes in these games, you get so caught up in the moment, the emotions, but there are tangible things you can fix. There are things we can work on. As long as they commit to doing that – that I'm not going to make the same mistake twice. At this point, this one is going to be hard to sit with."
The buzzer-beater spoiled a season-high 29-point effort by Hsu, 20 of which she scored in the second half with 13 in the fourth quarter. She was 5-for-7 from the field and a perfect 3-for-3 from the outside over the final 10 minutes. Collins, who was held off the scoreboard two days prior against Georgia, netted a season-high 18, including 11 in a fourth quarter in which she was a perfect 5-for-5 from the field.
Kitty Henderson was good for 18 points, a game-high seven assists and and a game-high seven rebounds.
Despite giving up a significant amount in size, the Lions outrebounded Florida by six, including 12-9 on the offensive glass. The game was also even in the paint, 32-32.
Matharu's heroics were part of a team-high 26-point performance. Kyle (18), Leilani Correa (14) and Faith Dut (10) also reached double figures scoring.
Henderson got off to a tremendous start, scoring eight points in the first quarter and making plays all over the floor. She took a charge before Hsu connected for two treys over the final 3:14 to make it a three-point game after the first.
The Lions were 8-of-10 from the foul line in the second quarter, helping them weather a stretch of more than four minutes without a field goal. Weiss's triple at the 2:04 mark snapped the drought from the field and tied the game at 38. The Lions seized momentum with
Paige Lauder following up from long range and led, 43-39, at the half.
Columbia returns to New York City to prepare for a Thanksgiving Weekend clash with Northeastern (4-1). Saturday's tip-off from Schiller Court at Levien Gymnasium is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET.
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