Columbia Set to Meet Kansas Saturday for the WNIT Championship

Saturday, April 1

Lawrence, Kan.

5:30 p.m.

Columbia University

Kansas

Tickets

Photo by: Columbia University Athletics / Josh Wang

Columbia Set to Meet Kansas Saturday for the WNIT Championship

3/31/2023 5:29:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Tickets CBS Sports App Live Stats Gallery: Practice at Allen Fieldhouse Video Preview: Coach Griffith on Dolan Dash WNIT Bracket WNIT Tournament Central Columbia Notes Kansas Notes

Game to air nationally on CBS Sports Network at 5:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 CT from historic Allen Fieldhouse

NEW YORK – The twists and turns of another record Columbia women's basketball season have led to historic Allen Fieldhouse, where the Lions (28-5, 12-2 Ivy) will take on Kansas (24-11, 9-9 Big 12) in the WNIT Championship Game on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. CT.

GAME COVERAGE
Saturday's championship game will air live on national television exclusively on CBS Sports Network. Fans wishing to access the game online or through their mobile devices can do so on the CBS Sports App. A valid cable subscription will need to be authenticated in order to access the game.

Live stats will be available through Stat Broadcast. Fans can also follow @CULionsWBB on Twitter and Instagram for content through the trip, including live in-game updates.

TICKETS
Fans who are planning to make the trip to Kansas can purchase tickets online by clicking here. Fans can also call the KU ticket office at 785-864-3141. Columbia encourages its fans to make their plans and purchase tickets in advance.

WATCH PARTY
Fans and students on campus can join the Columbia Athletics watch party at Levien Gymnasium. Doors will open at 5 p.m., 30 minutes prior to opening tip. There will be free pizza available for all fans in attendance. Columbia Athletics asks any fan planning to attend Saturday's watch party to RSVP ahead by clicking here.

ALUMNI PREGAME GATHERING
Fans and alums planning to attend the game are invited to Columbia's WNIT Championship Pregame Gathering, which will take place from 1:00-3:30 p.m. CT at Johnny's Tavern North Lawrence. Food as well as alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages will be served. Join members of the Columbia community before cheering on the Lions as they take on the Kansas Jayhawks.

Click here to register for the alumni gathering. Registration does not include a ticket to the game.

WHAT TO KNOW:

THE ROAD TO THE WNIT CHAMPIONSHIP
• Columbia is the first team in Ivy League history to reach the WNIT Championship Game. Last season, the Lions were the first Ivy team to reach the national quarterfinals, where they fell to Seton Hall. This year, they surpassed that stage by taking down NEC Regular Season Champion FDU in the First Round, Fordham in the Second Round, Syracuse in the Super 16, Harvard in the Great Eight and Bowling Green on Wednesday in the Fab 4, 77-70.

We're off to see the Wizard 🛫🧙‍♀️ #RoarLionRoar // #EDGE // #OnlyHere 🦁

📸 Joshua Wang pic.twitter.com/MTaaezfFLd
— Columbia Women's Basketball (@CULionsWBB) March 31, 2023

RECORD WATCH
• Abbey Hsu is 21 points from tying and 22 from surpassing Camille Zimmerman '18CC for Columbia's single-season scoring record. Zimmerman scored 608 during her junior 2016-17 campaign.

• Hsu is five threes from tying and six from passing Harvard's Katie Benzan (2016-19) for the most made threes in Ivy League history. Hsu enters with 282 in her career. Benzan had 287 before transferring to Maryland.

• Hsu is four points from becoming the 32nd player in Ivy League history to score 1,500 in a career.

• Kitty Henderson is six assists from tying and seven from passing her head coach, Megan Griffith '07CC, for Columbia's single-season assists record. Griffith had 148 during her junior 2005-06 campaign. Henderson enters the championship game with 142. Senior teammate Carly Rivera had 147 as a junior in 2021-22.

• Head coach Meagan Griffith enters the game with a record of 99-76 (.556) at Columbia. She is already the program's all-time wins leader. With one more win, she would become the 11th coach in Ivy League history to win 100 games at an Ivy League school.

ROAD WARRIORS
• Columbia is 14-2 in true road games this season. Last year, the Lions went 12-1. Going back to the 2019-20 season, the Lions are 30-3 (.909) in their last 33 true road games. With 14 road victories this season, Columbia is tied with Bowling Green (14-2) for the most road wins in the country. Entering the postseason, they were tied with No. 1 South Carolina (13-0), No. 10 Villanova (13-1), Florida Gulf Coast (13-1) and BGSU.

IF THE HSU FITS…
• Abbey Hsu ranks second in the country in 3-pointers made per game (3.30), fourth in total threes (109) and is among the top 50 in 3-point percentage (.383).

• Hsu ranks No. 3 among active Div. I players in career 3-pointers made per game (3.07), trailing only highly decorated All-Americans Taylor Robertson of Oklahoma (3.56) and Caitlin Clark of Iowa (3.41).

• Hsu is second on Columbia's all-time scoring list with 1,496 career points. She will have a full senior season to chase down the all-time record of 1,973, held by Camille Zimmerman '18CC.

• Hsu's 109 triples are a new Ivy League record, one better than the 108 she made a year ago. The junior from Parkland, Florida is the only player in Ivy League history to ever make 100 or more in a season.

1️⃣0️⃣9️⃣ 👟🎯
The most threes in a season in @ivyleague history, and she's done it TWICE! @abigailvhsu #RoarLionRoar // #EDGE // #OnlyHere 🦁🗽 #NCAAWBB #NCAAW #WBB pic.twitter.com/YhqgnFCvyN
— Columbia Women's Basketball (@CULionsWBB) March 30, 2023

TAKING DOWN THE POWER CONFERENCES
• With wins over Syracuse, Seton Hall and Miami this season, Columbia is 10-10 in its last 20 games against power-conference opponents (ACC, Big 10, Big 12, Big East, SEC, Pac 12). The span began in Megan Griffith's first season as head coach in 2016 with an overtime win at home over Providence. The Lions opened the 2017-18 season by defeating the Friars on the road, 73-64. The Lions also earned their first ACC win that year when they defeated Boston College, 68-60, in front of a record 2,372 fans on Education Day.

• Saturday will mark Columbia's fourth all-time matchup against a Big 12 team. The last came earlier this season at then-No. 7/8 Iowa State (L, 76-99). Prior to that, Columbia lost to the Cyclones in 2010, and suffered an 86-42 defeat to Oklahoma State at the 2006 Bank of Hawaii Invitational in Honolulu.

ABOUT THE OPPONENT:
• Kansas reached the WNIT title game with a 61-36 victory over Washington on March 29 in Lawrence. The Jayhawks have also defeated Western Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska and Arkansas on the road to the championship game. KU is outscoring its opponents by an average of 18.0 points per game in the tournament.

• The Jayhawks are now 24-11 on the year after going 7-1 in the month of March. Dating back to Feb. 26, Kansas has won eight of its last nine games, and the 24 wins are the sixth-most in a season in program history. KU has also set a new school record with 18 home wins this season.

• All-Big 12 First Team selection Zakiyah Franklin scored a team-high 14 points against Washington, one game after she became the 14th player in Kansas program history to surpass the 1,500-point career milestone. Franklin, KU's leading scorer at 15.6 points per game, is No. 14 on KU's career scoring list with 1,517 points.

• Saturday's championship game will be the first all-time meeting between Kansas and Columbia in women's basketball.

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