NEW YORK – The Columbia women's basketball team returns from a 12-day layoff for final exams to face Wagner on Saturday at noon ET. This will be Columbia's first trip to the Spiro Sports Center in Staten Island since 2014.
TICKETS
• Fans making the trip to Staten Island can
click here to purchase tickets ahead of time. Tickets can also be purchased on-site at the venue.
GAME COVERAGE
• Saturday's game will be streamed live on NEC Front Row. Marc Ernay and Ray Martel will have the call. Fans can track live stats through the
Wagner Athletics website and on the
ESPN app. Live updates will also be posted to the Columbia women's basketball team's Twitter account (
@CULionsWBB).
OPENING TIPS
• The Lions are in the midst of a 47-day stretch without a home game, which is the longest span between home games in the country. They play six straight games on the road before returning home to play Princeton on Monday, January 20. UC Irvine (46), Texas A&M Commerce (45), Indiana State (45) and Stephen F. Austin (40) are the only other teams that go 40+ days between home games.
•
Kitty Henderson is three assists from becoming the fourth player in program history to record 400 in their career. She is currently at 397, two behind Danielle Browne (2006-10), who ended her Columbia career with 399. Henderson is 59 shy of the program record (456), held by Hall of Famer Charlene Schuessler (1986-90).
• Henderson ranks among the top 10 in Columbia women's basketball history in three separate categories. The senior point guard is eighth in career points (1,109), fifth in career assists (397) and eighth in career steals (140).She is also 13th in career rebounds (575).
• Columbia is ranked No. 4 in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25. Three Ivy League teams are ranked in the top 12, which includes Harvard at No. 2 and Princeton at No. 12.
• First-year
Mia Broom has been a spark off the bench since playing in her first game back on December 1 at Duke. The 5-9 rookie from Seattle, Washington had 13 points and five blocks in her first home game against San Francisco (Dec. 4). In Columbia's last game at Richmond, she had four assists and four steals, becoming the first Columbia first-year to do so since Mikayla Markham against Houston in November 2018.
• Columbia leads the Ivy League in scoring offense (73.7) and offensive rebounds per game (14.1). They have led the Ivy League in scoring each of the last two seasons.
RANKING THE LIONS
•
Kitty Henderson ranks No. 1 in the Ivy League in total assists (53) and assists per game (4.8). She is top 50 in the NCAA in total assists and 58th in assists per game. The senior from Australia also leads all qualified Ivy League players in field goal percentage (.490), and is 15th in the country in minutes per game (35.94).
•
Cecelia Collins is second in the Ivy League in assists (50) and assists per game (4.5).
•
Riley Weiss leads Columbia and ranks No. 3 in the Ivies in scoring (17.3).
Kitty Henderson (15.6) is fourth. Weiss's 190 total points rank her top 100 in the NCAA.
• Weiss ranks No. 9 nationally in 3-point attempts (89) and No. 19 nationally in 3-point makes (33). She is also 14th in the country in 3-pointers made per game (3.00). All of those marks lead the Ivy League. Her 37.1 percent 3-point percentage is second in the Ivy League.
• Henderson's 2.18 steals per game and 24 total steals each rank No. 2 in the Ivy League.
HSU WINS SILVER WITH USA BASKETBALL
• Columbia women's basketball all-time leading scorer
Abbey Hsu '24CC was selected to the USA Basketball 3x3 Women's AmeriCup Team. She was joined by three current WNBA players in Maddy Siegrist, Azurá Stevens and Brittney Sykes.
• The 2024 FIBA 3x3 AmeriCup took place Dec. 12-15 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Hsu and the American women won the silver medal. The Columbia grad chalked up three points in the gold-medal game against Canada, where USA fell in overtime by a final of 19-18. Hsu scored four points to help the USA coast to a 21-8 victory in the semifinal round.
• Hsu averaged 3.2 points and 2.4 rebounds over the five games. She was 4-for-12 from 2-point range (traditionally 3-point range in 5x5) and a perfect 4-for-4 at the foul line. This was Hsu's second time landing on a USA Basketball roster, winning silver with the USA 5x5 at the 2023 AmeriCup.
RICHMOND POSTGAME NOTES
• The Spiders shot 65.4 percent from the field (34-52), the highest percentage against Columbia since January 29, 2010 when Harvard shot 65.9 percent in a 73-55 win in Cambridge.
• Sophomore transfer
Marija Avlijas had a career-high five assists.
•
Mia Broom had four assists and four steals, becoming the first Columbia first-year to do so since Mikayla Markham against Houston in November of 2018.
SETTING THE STANDARD
• Columbia has evolved into an Ivy League powerhouse, coming off back-to-back regular-season championships, its first two Ivy League championships in program history.
• The Lions earned their first NCAA Tournament appearance last season, receiving a 12 seed as an at-large bid, just the second at-large selection in women's basketball in Ivy League history (2016). They played in the First Four against Vanderbilt, falling in a close contest, 72-68.
• Columbia is coming off three straight 20-win seasons, posting overall records of 25-7 (2021-22), 28-6 (2022-23) and 23-7 (2023-24). The 2021-22 team earned the program's first bid to a postseason tournament in its Division I history. The following year, the Lions advanced all the way to the WNIT Championship Game against Kansas. Last season, they earned their first selection to the Big Dance. Prior to 2021, the Lions had never had a 20-win season in their Division I history (1986-pres.).
THE OPPONENT
• Wagner enters the contest ranked No. 362 out of 362 in the latest
NCAA NET rankings. The Seahawks are 1-8 against NCAA Div. I competition, earning their lone victory over NJIT, 62-50, on December 12. They last competed this past Sunday, Dec. 15, falling to Rutgers in Piscataway, 86-48.
• Julia Fabozzi leads the team and ranks No. 1 in the NEC in scoring at 14.3 points per game. She has also made an NEC-best 37 total free throws and ranks third in the conference in minutes played per game (33.59). A graduate student from Staten Island, the 6-1 guard also averages a team-best 6.1 rebounds. She is the only Seahawk averaging double figures scoring. Wagner ranks 340th in the NCAA in points per game as a whole (51.7).
• This will be the 27th all-time meeting between Columbia and Wagner. The Seahawks dominated the series through the late '80s and early '90s, but it's been all Lions the last two times they've squared off. Columbia took a 29-point win, its largest in series history, last December 10 at Levien Gymnasium. The Lions won by 21 the meeting prior in 2015.
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.
