Sunday, December 29
Towson, Md.
1:00 p.m.
Columbia University
at
Towson
Photo by: Columbia University Athletics / Stockton Photo, Inc.
Columbia Visits Towson in Non-Conference Finale on Sunday
12/28/2024 2:21:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Lions make their first series trip to Towson
NEW YORK – The Columbia women's basketball team (8-4) closes out the 2024 calendar year with its first-ever trip to Towson (2-8). Sunday's opening tip from TU Arena in Towson, Maryland is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET.
TICKETS
• Fans making the trip to Towson can click here to purchase tickets ahead of time. Tickets can also be purchased on-site at the venue.
GAME COVERAGE
• Sunday game will be streamed live on FloCollege with Ben Rosenbaum and former Towson women's basketball head coach Joe Mathews on the call. Fans can track live stats through Stat Broadcast and on the ESPN app. Live updates will also be posted to the Columbia women's basketball team's Twitter account (@CULionsWBB).
OPENING TIPS
• Kitty Henderson recorded a season-high nine assists last weekend in a 77-53 win at Wagner. In doing so, she became the fourth player in program history to record 400 career assists. Henderson now has 406 assists and is 50 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 five separate categories. The senior point guard is eighth in career points (1,124), fourth in assists (406), eighth in steals (140), tied for fifth in games started (97) and tied for 10th in games played (108). 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. 1 and Princeton at No. 12.
• Columbia is coming off a 77-53 victory last Saturday, Dec. 21, at Wagner. The Lions used a 19-2 run over the first six minutes of the fourth quarter to pull away. Sunday's game will be just Columbia's second since breaking for final exams on December 9.
• Columbia leads the Ivy League in scoring offense (74.0), offensive rebounds/game (14.4), assists/game (17.3) and free throw attempts/game (16.17). They have led the Ivy League in scoring each of the last two seasons.
• 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 ranks No. 1 in the Ivy League in total assists (62) and assists per game (5.2). She is top 40 in the NCAA in total assists and top 50 in assists per game. The senior from Australia ranks No.2 among qualified Ivy League players in field goal percentage (.497), and is 32nd in the country in minutes per game (35.33).
• Cecelia Collins is second in the Ivy League in assists (54) and assists per game (4.5). Both of those marks rank top 100 in the NCAA. Collins is also the Ivy League leader in field goal percentage (.504).
• Riley Weiss leads Columbia and ranks No. 3 in the Ivies in scoring (16.7). Kitty Henderson (15.6) is fourth. Weiss's 200 total points rank her top 100 in the NCAA.
• Weiss ranks No. 13 nationally in 3-point attempts (99) and No. 22 nationally in 3-point makes (34). She is also 21st in the country in 3-pointers made per game (2.83). All of those marks lead the Ivy League. Her 34.3 percent 3-point percentage is third in the Ivy League.
WAGNER POSTGAME NOTES
• Perri Page tied her career-high with 12 rebounds and is the first Lions with 10+ rebounds off the bench since Paige Lauder had 11 in an 88-45 win over Northeastern on Nov. 25, 2023.
• Columbia's 26 assists tied its season-high from a 84-50 win over Pacific (Nov. 20).
• The Lions were a season-best +28 on the glass, their largest margin since March 9, 2024 at Cornell (+34).
• Marija Avlijas tied her career-high in scoring (11) and posted season-highs in field goals made (4), attempts (9) and rebounds (6). She also played a career-high 29 minutes.
• Nasi Simmons scored a season-high nine points.
• Kitty Henderson (9) and Mia Broom (6) tallied season-highs in assists.
• Henderson became the fourth Lion in program history to amass 400 career assists. She also moved into a tie for 10th in games played (107).
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
• Towson started the year 0-7, which included facing two top-25 opponents. They have bounced back to win two of their last three heading into Sunday's contest. The Tigers last played 22 days ago on December 7 and defeated American, 89-62, at TU Arena. Freshman forward Khady Leye recorded her second double-double of the season, totaling 18 points with 10 rebounds. Aminata Diakite registered her first career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
• This will be just the second meeting between Towson and Columbia in a series that began last year in New York. The Lions dominated the first meeting, 80-57, behind what was then a career-high 23 points for Kitty Henderson – she topped that mark earlier this season with 24 against Ball State in the Bahamas.
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 making the trip to Towson can click here to purchase tickets ahead of time. Tickets can also be purchased on-site at the venue.
GAME COVERAGE
• Sunday game will be streamed live on FloCollege with Ben Rosenbaum and former Towson women's basketball head coach Joe Mathews on the call. Fans can track live stats through Stat Broadcast and on the ESPN app. Live updates will also be posted to the Columbia women's basketball team's Twitter account (@CULionsWBB).
OPENING TIPS
• Kitty Henderson recorded a season-high nine assists last weekend in a 77-53 win at Wagner. In doing so, she became the fourth player in program history to record 400 career assists. Henderson now has 406 assists and is 50 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 five separate categories. The senior point guard is eighth in career points (1,124), fourth in assists (406), eighth in steals (140), tied for fifth in games started (97) and tied for 10th in games played (108). 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. 1 and Princeton at No. 12.
• Columbia is coming off a 77-53 victory last Saturday, Dec. 21, at Wagner. The Lions used a 19-2 run over the first six minutes of the fourth quarter to pull away. Sunday's game will be just Columbia's second since breaking for final exams on December 9.
• Columbia leads the Ivy League in scoring offense (74.0), offensive rebounds/game (14.4), assists/game (17.3) and free throw attempts/game (16.17). They have led the Ivy League in scoring each of the last two seasons.
• 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.
RANKING THE LIONSCongratulations to Kitty Henderson on becoming the 4th player in program history with 4️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ career assists!#EDGE | #RoarLionRoar | #OnlyHere 🦁🗽#NCAAWBB pic.twitter.com/jIF9y8AKLn
— Columbia Women's Basketball (@CULionsWBB) December 21, 2024
• Kitty Henderson ranks No. 1 in the Ivy League in total assists (62) and assists per game (5.2). She is top 40 in the NCAA in total assists and top 50 in assists per game. The senior from Australia ranks No.2 among qualified Ivy League players in field goal percentage (.497), and is 32nd in the country in minutes per game (35.33).
• Cecelia Collins is second in the Ivy League in assists (54) and assists per game (4.5). Both of those marks rank top 100 in the NCAA. Collins is also the Ivy League leader in field goal percentage (.504).
• Riley Weiss leads Columbia and ranks No. 3 in the Ivies in scoring (16.7). Kitty Henderson (15.6) is fourth. Weiss's 200 total points rank her top 100 in the NCAA.
• Weiss ranks No. 13 nationally in 3-point attempts (99) and No. 22 nationally in 3-point makes (34). She is also 21st in the country in 3-pointers made per game (2.83). All of those marks lead the Ivy League. Her 34.3 percent 3-point percentage is third in the Ivy League.
WAGNER POSTGAME NOTES
• Perri Page tied her career-high with 12 rebounds and is the first Lions with 10+ rebounds off the bench since Paige Lauder had 11 in an 88-45 win over Northeastern on Nov. 25, 2023.
• Columbia's 26 assists tied its season-high from a 84-50 win over Pacific (Nov. 20).
• The Lions were a season-best +28 on the glass, their largest margin since March 9, 2024 at Cornell (+34).
• Marija Avlijas tied her career-high in scoring (11) and posted season-highs in field goals made (4), attempts (9) and rebounds (6). She also played a career-high 29 minutes.
• Nasi Simmons scored a season-high nine points.
• Kitty Henderson (9) and Mia Broom (6) tallied season-highs in assists.
• Henderson became the fourth Lion in program history to amass 400 career assists. She also moved into a tie for 10th in games played (107).
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
• Towson started the year 0-7, which included facing two top-25 opponents. They have bounced back to win two of their last three heading into Sunday's contest. The Tigers last played 22 days ago on December 7 and defeated American, 89-62, at TU Arena. Freshman forward Khady Leye recorded her second double-double of the season, totaling 18 points with 10 rebounds. Aminata Diakite registered her first career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
• This will be just the second meeting between Towson and Columbia in a series that began last year in New York. The Lions dominated the first meeting, 80-57, behind what was then a career-high 23 points for Kitty Henderson – she topped that mark earlier this season with 24 against Ball State in the Bahamas.
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.
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