NEW YORK – The Columbia women's basketball team (10-4. 1-0 Ivy) hosts two Ivy League games over MLK Weekend, welcoming Cornell (6-7, 0-1 Ivy) on Saturday and Yale (3-11, 0-1 Ivy) on Monday. The opening tip for both games is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET.
MLK DAY CELEBRATION
• The Lions will be celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day during Monday's game against Yale. In support of MLK Day, the team will don special warm-ups during pregame to celebrate Dr. King's legacy. Staff in attendance will also wear those shirts to help spread the same message.
• Additionally, Monday's game will be in support of
Harlem United. Founded in 1988, Harlem United was formed to create a compassionate community for loved ones dying of AIDS. Today, Harlem United provides world-class HIV care. Over the years, they've expanded to provide services for many other healthcare needs. Harlem United advocates for social justice and remains rooted in the community. They will keep at it until we achieve health equality.
• Fans can also take part in a winter drive for Harlem Link Charter School. Donations will be accepted at both Saturday's game against Cornell and Monday's game against Yale. All proceeds will benefit Harlem Link and its school community. The Columbia women's basketball team has been working closely will Harlem Link Charter School this year as part of its season campaign to
Empower the Harlem Youth Community.
TICKETS
• Fans are encouraged to
purchase tickets ahead of time by visiting GoColumbiaLions.com/Tickets. Fans can also purchase tickets on-site at the ticket window, located at the main entrance on the southeast corner of 120th and Broadway.
GAME COVERAGE
• Both games over the holiday weekend will be available to watch on ESPN+. Monday's game will also air live on television in the New York market on SportsNet New York (SNY). As New York's leader in local sports television coverage, SNY delivers the most comprehensive access to all of the Tri-State area's professional and collegiate sports teams through nightly sports and entertainment programs from SNY's state-of-the-art studio located high above the city at 4 World Trade Center in downtown Manhattan. SNY is available to viewers throughout New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, and northeastern Pennsylvania, and nationally through select providers.
• Fans can access
live stats courtesy of GoColumbiaLions.com. In-game updates will also be provided on social media by following
@CULionsWBB on X.
WHAT TO KNOW:
OPENING TIPS
• The Lions are riding a season-long eight-game winning streak. Over that span, Columbia is averaging 80.4 points per game, outscoring opponents by 18.4 points, shooting 45.8 percent from the field and outrebounding opponents by an average 9.5 per contest.
• Entering the weekend, Columbia's eight-game winning streak ties for the 13th-longest active streak in the country, alongside Vanderbilt, UConn and Gonzaga. No. 7 LSU owns the longest active streak (W15).
• Wooden & Naismith Trophy Award Watch List selection
Abbey Hsu averages an Ivy League-leading 21.4 points per game, which ranks No. 13 in the NCAA. She is top 20 in the NCAA in total points (299), top 25 in total field goals (112), as well as top 40 in 3-pointers (39) and threes per game (2.79).
•
Cecelia Collins is averaging 23.5 points, 6.0 assists and 4.0 rebounds over the last two games. She scored a career-high 28 points on New Year's Eve at Pacific and followed with a game-high 19 in her Ivy League debut last Saturday against Penn. She is 14-of-23 (.609) from the field and 5-of-10 from deep over that span.
• Columbia enters the contest leading the Ivy League in 11 NCAA-ranked statistics, which includes scoring offense (76.2), scoring margin (+10.4), rebound margin (+5.4), field goal percentage (.442), 3-pointers made per game (8.3), assists per game (17.7), bench points per game (21.4) and assist/turnover ratio (1.12).
• With two wins this weekend, Columbia would extend its winning streak to 10 games, matching its longest in program history. Last year's team won 10 straight games from Nov. 25 - Jan. 6, culminating with a 58-55 overtime win at Princeton.
LAST TIME OUT
• The Lions opened up their Ivy League title defense with a sound victory, defeating Penn, 79-66, Saturday afternoon at Levien Gymnasium. Columbia opened up a double-digit lead in the second quarter and was never really threatened. The Lions led by 14 at the half and pushed their advantage to 20 midway through the third quarter. Penn chipped away to pull within seven late but the Lions put their foot down, scoring the game's final six points to begin 2024 in the win column.
• On a day where seven Lions scored at least seven points, it was junior
Cecelia Collins leading the way. Fresh off a career-high 28-point performance on New Year's Eve against Pacific, the transfer from Bucknell scored a game-high 19 to go with a season-high seven assists, five rebounds and a steal. She scored Columbia's first 10 points over the opening four minutes of the second half.
•
Abbey Hsu and
Kitty Henderson joined Collins in double figures with 14 and 13 points, respectively. Henderson tallied six rebounds, four assists and a block while Hsu filled the stat sheet with six boards, two assists a steal and a block. First-year
Fliss Henderson grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, matching her best output of the season, while adding four assists and a bucket of her own.
Nicole Stephens and
Noa Comesaña had eight points apiece off the bench. Stephens helped out on the glass with six rebounds.
PENN POSTGAME NOTES
•
Cecelia Collins' 7-of-8 mark at the foul line marked her third such performance of the season.
• Collins registered a season-high seven assists, two off her career-high of nine she achieved at Bucknell.
• Noa Comesaña scored a season-high eight points (4-5 FG).
•
Fliss Henderson tied her season-high of eight rebounds.
•
Perri Page had a season-high three steals.
•
Abbey Hsu passed Lauren Dwyer '11CC for 14th all-time in rebounds (632).
• Hsu passed Penn's Alyssa Baron (2010-14) for 11th on the Ivy League's all-time scoring list.
• Penn's four made free throws and eight attempts the fewest by an opponent this season.
CHASING DOWN THE ALL-TIME GREATS
•
Abbey Hsu is currently No. 2 in scoring in Columbia basketball history (men's or women's) with 1,800 career points. She is 159 points behind the all-time record held by Camille Zimmerman '18CC.
• Hsu is No. 11 on the Ivy League's all-time women's scoring list. She is four points behind Justine Gaziano (Brown, 2016-20) for a top-10 all-time spot.
• Hsu is currently No. 24 among active NCAA Div. I players in career points.
Columbia Basketball All-Time Scoring Leaders
(W) Camille Zimmerman (2014-18) - 1,973
(W) Abbey Hsu (2019-pres.) - 1,814
(M) Buck Jenkins (1989-93) - 1,767
(M) Jim McMillian (1967-70) - 1,758
(M) Maodo Lo (2012-16) - 1,756
NOTES ON NET RANKINGS
• Columbia is No. 73 in the NET rankings (Jan. 11) and is one of three Ivy League teams in the Top 80.
• Columbia's average opponent NET is 139, which ranks 55th-toughest in the NCAA.
• The Lions are an undefeated 8-0 vs. NET 101+. They are 2-2 vs. the NET top 50.
• Columbia ended the 2022-23 season No. 47 in the NET, its highest final ranking in program history.
• Columbia's peak in the NET last year was 23rd, which came on Wednesday, Dec. 14.
• The NET, which stands for the NCAA Evaluation Tool, replaced the RPI after the 2017-18 season and it is used as the primary sorting tool for selection and seeding for the NCAA tournament.
ABOUT THE BIG RED
• Cornell (6-7, 0-1 Ivy) was selected seventh in the Ivy League preseason media poll. Cornell finished 10-17 in the 2022-23 season, ending at seventh in the Ancient Eight. The Big Red tallied a road win over Brown and a sweep over Dartmouth in conference play. This year, they started conference play at Princeton, falling by a score of 79-38.
• Sophomore Emily Pape has scored in double figures in six consecutive games, including matching her career high (27) against Syracuse on Dec. 18. It matches the longest streak of double-digit performances for Pape, as the Park Ridge, Ill. native had two separate stretches of six or more during her freshman campaign. Pape also has shot an impressive 51.2 percent from the field, secured 44 rebounds and has swiped nine steals over that same stretch. Senior captain Kaya Ingram and freshman Rachel Kaus follow, tallying 129 and 110 points respectively this season. Ingram is also trails Pape by one for the team lead in steals (15) and is second in assists (37).
• Columbia trails the all-time series, 42-31, but the Lions have won the last four. The last time they met was the 2023 regular-season finale, which saw the Big Red fight hard to force overtime before Columbia ultimately prevailed, 69-64. The victory secured Columbia's first Ivy League title in program history.
ABOUT THE BULLDOGS
• Yale (3-11, 0-1 Ivy) will host Brown on Saturday before visiting New York City on Monday. Selected fifth in this year's preseason poll, the Bulldogs fell to Harvard 73-54 in the Ivy League opener last Saturday at Lavietes Pavilion. They played close with the Crimson during the final three quarters – they were outscored just 49-45 in those frames – but Harvard's 24-9 lead at the end of the first quarter proved to be too much to overcome.
• Junior forward Grace Thybulle scored a career-high 18 points Saturday at Harvard. Thybulle has scored in double digits five times this season. On Saturday, she shot 53.8 percent on a season-high 13 shot attempts. She added six rebounds and committed only one foul. Senior point guard Jenna Clark is among the top of the NCAA in assists per game (6.2), ranking No. 1 in the Ivies and No. 15 nationally. She is also the team's leading scorer at 13.0 points per game, just ahead of Kiley Capstrow (13.0).
• Yale leads the all-time tile against Columbia, 48-25, but the Lions have rolled off an impressive six in a row dating back to February of 2020. Columbia beat the Bulldogs three times in 2022, including a 67-38 victory in that year's Ivy League Tournament semifinals. Last year, Columbia's two victories against Yale were decided by an average margin of 36.0 points per game, including a 97-53 blowout in New Haven, which went down as the largest victory in series history.
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.
