Saturday, November 16
Villanova, Pa.
2:00 p.m.
Columbia
at
Villanova
Kitty Henderson drives by Providence's Grace Efosa in a 77-69 overtime victory (Nov. 8).
Photo by: Columbia University Athletics / Brian Foley
Women's Basketball Travels to Face Villanova Saturday
11/15/2024 12:41:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Lions look to extend BIG EAST winning streak
NEW YORK – The Columbia women's basketball team (3-0) hopes to keep its perfect start to the season going on Saturday when it travels to Finneran Pavilion for the first time in over 30 years to take on Villanova (1-1). The game's opening tip is scheduled for 2 p.m.
TICKETS
• Fans traveling to Villanova can click here for ticket information and to purchase tickets.
GAME COVERAGE
• Saturday's game will be available for streaming on FloCollege.com. A subscription to FloCollege is required to access the stream. Fans can also access live statistics by clicking here and the ESPN app. Live updates will also be posted to the Columbia women's basketball team's Twitter account (@CULionsWBB).
WHAT TO KNOW:
OPENING TIPS
• Senior point guard Kitty Henderson is 19 points away from becoming the 15th 1,000-point scorer in program history. She also has 362 career assists, 11 behind head coach Megan Griffith for fifth in program history. Cecelia Collins also has over 1,000 career points between Bucknell and Columbia.
• On Monday, Henderson was named Ivy League Player of the Week for the first time in her career, averaging 17.5 points, 6.5 assists, 6.0 rebounds and 3.0 steals to lead the Lions over Stony Brook and Providence. On Tuesday, she was spotlighted as an Associated Press Honorable Mention Player of the Week, one of only five players from around the country highlighted by the AP. • Columbia is receiving votes in this week's USA Today Coaches Poll. It marks the third consecutive season the Lions have received votes in one of the two major polls. The Lions have never been ranked in the Top 25.
• Dating back to last season, Columbia has won 13 straight regular-season contests. The Lions tied a program record with 10 consecutive wins to conclude the 2023-24 regular season and have won the first three of this season.
• Dating back to the 2021-22 season, Columbia is a combined 35-6 (.854) in true road contests. That stretch includes road wins over Clemson, Georgetown, Memphis, Seton Hall, Miami and Princeton.
• Columbia is looking to start 4-0 for the first time since the 2021-22 season, when it posted its first 5-0 start.
BIG EAST DOMINANCE
• Columbia has won five straight against BIG EAST opponents and is 9-1 in its last 10 against the conference. All of those wins have come in the Megan Griffith head-coaching era (2016-pres.). The span includes a 4-0 record against Providence, 2-0 vs. Georgetown, 1-0 vs. Villanova and 2-1 vs. Seton Hall. The Lions earned their latest BIG EAST win on November 8 in Providence, taking down the Friars in overtime, 77-69. Coincidentally, the Lions have scored exactly 77 points in each of their last three wins against the BIG EAST. FGCU POSTGAME NOTES
• Cecelia Collins (22) and Perri Page (21) each had 20+ points. It marked the first time two Lions outside of Abbey Hsu each scored 20 in a game since March 1, 2019, when Riley Casey (23), Sienna Durr (22) and Janiya Clemmons (20) did so in a 93-62 win against Brown.
• Columbia's 62 points were its fewest in a win since a 58-55 overtime victory at Princeton on Jan. 6, 2023.
• Columbia won the second quarter by a score of 12-2. FGCU's two points are the fewest Columbia has ever allowed in a quarter against a Division I opponent – the Lions also allowed just two points in the first quarter of a 102-18 victory over Central Penn of the NCCAA on Jan. 3, 2016.
• Perri Page tallied several career-highs, including points (21), field goals made (7), field goal percentage (.700), 3-pointers made (2), free throws made (5) and attempted (8), steals (4) and minutes (38).
• Cecelia Collins tallied her 10th career 20-point game. Six of them have come at Columbia. POSTSEASON PREP
• Ten of Columbia's 13 non-conference games will come against teams that competed in last year's NCAA Tournament, WBIT or WNIT.
• Each of Columbia's first nine opponents competed in a 2024 postseason tournament.
• Guaranteed 2024 NCAA Tournament teams on Columbia's schedule include Florida Gulf Coast (Nov. 11), Indiana (Nov. 23), Duke (Dec. 1) and Richmond (Dec. 8).
• Two more potential NCAA Tournament teams await Columbia at the Battle4Atlantis, where they could potentially square off against Baylor, UNC or Texas A&M in the next two rounds.
• The non-conference schedule also includes three guaranteed games against NET Top 50 teams from last season (Indiana, Duke, Villanova).
• Columbia could face more NET Top 50 teams at the Battle4Atlantis.
• The non-conference schedule also includes at least seven games against teams inside last year's NET Top 100.
THE OPPONENT
• Villanova is 1-1 to start the season defeating Wake Forest in the opener, 64-56, and falling to Princeton on Wednesday, 70-61. Jasmine Bascoe (18.5) and Maddie Webber (16.5) are the team's leading scorers, with Webber coming off a 23-point performance at Princeton. The Wildcats are effective at the free throw line, going a combined 32-for-38 (.842) so far this season, which ranks No. 13 in the NCAA. Six-foot junior forward Denae Carter ranks ninth in the country in blocks (4.0).
• This will be the third meeting between Columbia and Villanova, and the first at Villanova since 2003. The Wildcats won that matchup, 70-40, but the Lions came out on top last year in New York, 77-75. Abbey Hsu connected on a game-winning three-point play with 8.7 seconds remaining. Returners to this year's team, Kitty Henderson scored 18, Riley Weiss scored 17 and Cecelia Collins had 11.
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.
TICKETS
• Fans traveling to Villanova can click here for ticket information and to purchase tickets.
GAME COVERAGE
• Saturday's game will be available for streaming on FloCollege.com. A subscription to FloCollege is required to access the stream. Fans can also access live statistics by clicking here and the ESPN app. Live updates will also be posted to the Columbia women's basketball team's Twitter account (@CULionsWBB).
WHAT TO KNOW:
OPENING TIPS
• Senior point guard Kitty Henderson is 19 points away from becoming the 15th 1,000-point scorer in program history. She also has 362 career assists, 11 behind head coach Megan Griffith for fifth in program history. Cecelia Collins also has over 1,000 career points between Bucknell and Columbia.
• On Monday, Henderson was named Ivy League Player of the Week for the first time in her career, averaging 17.5 points, 6.5 assists, 6.0 rebounds and 3.0 steals to lead the Lions over Stony Brook and Providence. On Tuesday, she was spotlighted as an Associated Press Honorable Mention Player of the Week, one of only five players from around the country highlighted by the AP. • Columbia is receiving votes in this week's USA Today Coaches Poll. It marks the third consecutive season the Lions have received votes in one of the two major polls. The Lions have never been ranked in the Top 25.
• Dating back to last season, Columbia has won 13 straight regular-season contests. The Lions tied a program record with 10 consecutive wins to conclude the 2023-24 regular season and have won the first three of this season.
• Dating back to the 2021-22 season, Columbia is a combined 35-6 (.854) in true road contests. That stretch includes road wins over Clemson, Georgetown, Memphis, Seton Hall, Miami and Princeton.
• Columbia is looking to start 4-0 for the first time since the 2021-22 season, when it posted its first 5-0 start.
BIG EAST DOMINANCE
• Columbia has won five straight against BIG EAST opponents and is 9-1 in its last 10 against the conference. All of those wins have come in the Megan Griffith head-coaching era (2016-pres.). The span includes a 4-0 record against Providence, 2-0 vs. Georgetown, 1-0 vs. Villanova and 2-1 vs. Seton Hall. The Lions earned their latest BIG EAST win on November 8 in Providence, taking down the Friars in overtime, 77-69. Coincidentally, the Lions have scored exactly 77 points in each of their last three wins against the BIG EAST. FGCU POSTGAME NOTES
• Cecelia Collins (22) and Perri Page (21) each had 20+ points. It marked the first time two Lions outside of Abbey Hsu each scored 20 in a game since March 1, 2019, when Riley Casey (23), Sienna Durr (22) and Janiya Clemmons (20) did so in a 93-62 win against Brown.
• Columbia's 62 points were its fewest in a win since a 58-55 overtime victory at Princeton on Jan. 6, 2023.
• Columbia won the second quarter by a score of 12-2. FGCU's two points are the fewest Columbia has ever allowed in a quarter against a Division I opponent – the Lions also allowed just two points in the first quarter of a 102-18 victory over Central Penn of the NCCAA on Jan. 3, 2016.
• Perri Page tallied several career-highs, including points (21), field goals made (7), field goal percentage (.700), 3-pointers made (2), free throws made (5) and attempted (8), steals (4) and minutes (38).
• Cecelia Collins tallied her 10th career 20-point game. Six of them have come at Columbia. POSTSEASON PREP
• Ten of Columbia's 13 non-conference games will come against teams that competed in last year's NCAA Tournament, WBIT or WNIT.
• Each of Columbia's first nine opponents competed in a 2024 postseason tournament.
• Guaranteed 2024 NCAA Tournament teams on Columbia's schedule include Florida Gulf Coast (Nov. 11), Indiana (Nov. 23), Duke (Dec. 1) and Richmond (Dec. 8).
• Two more potential NCAA Tournament teams await Columbia at the Battle4Atlantis, where they could potentially square off against Baylor, UNC or Texas A&M in the next two rounds.
• The non-conference schedule also includes three guaranteed games against NET Top 50 teams from last season (Indiana, Duke, Villanova).
• Columbia could face more NET Top 50 teams at the Battle4Atlantis.
• The non-conference schedule also includes at least seven games against teams inside last year's NET Top 100.
THE OPPONENT
• Villanova is 1-1 to start the season defeating Wake Forest in the opener, 64-56, and falling to Princeton on Wednesday, 70-61. Jasmine Bascoe (18.5) and Maddie Webber (16.5) are the team's leading scorers, with Webber coming off a 23-point performance at Princeton. The Wildcats are effective at the free throw line, going a combined 32-for-38 (.842) so far this season, which ranks No. 13 in the NCAA. Six-foot junior forward Denae Carter ranks ninth in the country in blocks (4.0).
• This will be the third meeting between Columbia and Villanova, and the first at Villanova since 2003. The Wildcats won that matchup, 70-40, but the Lions came out on top last year in New York, 77-75. Abbey Hsu connected on a game-winning three-point play with 8.7 seconds remaining. Returners to this year's team, Kitty Henderson scored 18, Riley Weiss scored 17 and Cecelia Collins had 11.
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.
Players Mentioned
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