NEW YORK – Led by a game-high 24 points from senior
Abbey Hsu, the Columbia women's basketball team dominated from start to finish against Yale, 88-52, on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day at Levien Gymnasium.
The victory makes it 10 in a row for Columbia (12-4, 3-0 Ivy), which matches the program record the Lions set just last season. They took the lead at the 8:21 mark of the first quarter and never looked back, holding Yale (3-13, 0-3 Ivy) to just six first-quarter points. A 10-0 run early in the second quarter kept the momentum going before a triple by
Susie Rafiu made it a 32-12 ball game.
"I think, recently, I've just been gaining more confidence and it's coming from practice and my teammates," said Rafiu, who posted a career-high of 10 points for the third time this season. "They're always encouraging me and telling me what to do and think things through … They encourage me – they motivate me – and things have been going well for us recently all around."
Rafiu and Hsu were two of four Lions in double figures scoring. Hsu went for six boards, tied her season-high of six assists and came away with a steal on an 8-of-20 shooting day. Rafiu went for four boards and matched more career-highs with two assists and two steals. Meanwhile,
Cecelia Collins had 13 points, four assists and four boards. First-year
Riley Weiss scored 14 off the bench and was 2-for-4 from downtown. Columbia's bench, which averages an Ivy League-leading 21.6 points per game, outscored Yale's 33-17.
"It all comes down to discipline and what is Columbia basketball," said Hsu, who climbed to ninth on the Ivy League's all-time scoring list. "Just because we are up by a certain amount of points, we can't divert from what our principles are. That happened a little bit tonight but I'm proud of us for locking back in and focusing."
The Lions finished plus-10 on the glass, assisted 18 of their 32 baskets and came away with 10 steals to help force 22 Yale turnovers. The also blitzed the Bulldogs, 21-4, in transition.
Yale got on the board first but Columbia quickly answered with a 6-0 run sparked by an offensive rebound and putback by
Fliss Henderson. The Lions went on another 6-0 run capped by a steal and fast-break score from
Nicole Stephens. This steal was one of three for the Lions in the quarter, forcing five Yale turnovers and taking a 16-6 lead after 10 minutes.
After a pair of free throws from Hsu early,
Kitty Henderson knocked down the Lions' first triple of the contest to extend the lead to 21-8 and force the Bulldogs to call a timeout. The stoppage did nothing to stop Columbia's momentum, as the Lions forced two more Yale turnovers on the following two possessions, leading to a 3-pointer by
Riley Weiss and a layup by
Perri Page.
Yale managed to pause the Lions' run with a layup from Mackenzie Egger but Columbia kept its foot on the gas. Hsu and Rafiu knocked down back-to-back triples to extend the Lions' lead to 32-12 with 4:17 left in the half. The Bulldogs closed the second quarter by scoring 11 of the last 17 but Columbia still took a 38-23 lead into the locker room.
The Lions picked up right where they left off in the third quarter, opening the period on a 7-2 run highlighted by an and-one finish by Cecilia Collins set up by a beautiful pass from Hsu. Collins later scored four points on back-to-back layups to extend Columbia's lead to 51-25.
With 3:30 left to play in the third, Hsu had the play of the night. The national watch list selection pulled up from near the top of the arc and was run through by a Yale defender. Her shot swished through and the referee blew the whistle, leading to a four-point play which put the game away. Columbia led 55-25 after the Hsu free throw.
After opening league play with three home games, the Lions will play their first road game of the league season next Saturday against Princeton (13-3, 3-0 Ivy). The game will air live nationally on ESPNEWS.
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