BLACKSBURG, Va. – Competing in its first NCAA Tournament, the Columbia women's basketball team proved that mid-majors belong on the greatest stage in college sports.
Despite trailing by as many as 10 points in the first half and again early in the fourth quarter, No. 12 seed Columbia refused to go down. The Lions repeatedly clawed their way back against No. 12 seed Vanderbilt on Wednesday night in the First Four. The Lions went on a 9-1 run to get within two late in the third. After Vanderbilt rebuilt a 10-point lead again in the fourth, the Lions came right back, again. They cut it to four with 1:46 to go and one more time with 18 seconds left on a 3-point play by
Kitty Henderson.
An offensive rebound off of a missed free throw with under eight seconds left led to a second-chance bucket for
Cecelia Collins. That made it a two-point game, 70-68, with 3.1 ticks on the clock. Columbia (23-7) was forced to foul and Vanderbilt (23-9) made both of its free throws to escape.
"I just want to say thank you to our fan base. I thought we had phenomenal people in the stands today, from our administration to our families, to random people, to the Ivy League administration. I'm really grateful that we have so much support. There was so much blue in this gym and it really made my heart full battling today for you all.
"I don't think we played that well tonight, unfortunately. And I thought Vanderbilt played well. I thought they set the tone early for us and I think Shea did a great job with her team. I told her that before the game – I told her that after the game – and although it wasn't our best, this is definitely not the last time we will be in this tournament – I can tell you all that. It takes time to build something and … I think we've done it the right way. I know the selection committee made the right decision by putting us in this tournament."
Kitty Henderson recorded a team-high 20 points and nine rebounds.
Abbey Hsu added 13 points, including her program single-season record 609th point that came on a free throw with 22 seconds left in the third quarter.
Cecelia Collins matched Hsu with 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting.
"It's tough. Like Coach [Griffith] said, I don't think we played a complete game," said Hsu, who played her final game in a Columbia uniform and finished her career with a program record 2,126 points, good enough for third in Ivy League women's basketball history. "I think something to be proud of is the community that we brought with us. We made it to the tournament and there is no doubt in my mind that the team will be back next year. We'll learn from this and we'll be back."
"Just echoing that. I have a lot of gratitude in me right now, especially playing alongside Abbey, Paige [Lauder] and [Nicole [Stephens]," Henderson followed. "But like Abbey said, I'm feeling a little disappointed in us. I don't think we gave them our best but we'll be back."
For Vanderbilt, Iyana Moore led the way with 22 points and went 4-of-7 from deep. Sacha Washington was a big difference-maker, scoring 16 points (8-9 FG) and grabbing a game-high 15 boards, including seven on the offensive end.
Columbia showed its will and fight from the opening tip. Sophomore forward
Susie Rafiu posted up for her team's first six points to help Columbia off to a 10-6 lead. A trey by Hsu at the 3:04 mark put the Lions up, 13-8. Columbia led for over eight minutes during the first quarter.
Turnovers plagued Columbia in the first half and the Commodores took advantage in the second quarter. After Collins knotted the score at 24 with just over five minutes remaining until halftime, the Lions went cold. They turned it over five times and went 0-for-5 from the field to go into the locker room trailing by its largest margin of the game, 36-26.
"Unfortunately, we had a really bad second quarter and that's what did us in there," Griffith said. "I don't think it was insurmountable … It was just about finishing plays and making those plays [that we needed to make]. In that second quarter … to let Sacha Washington get really comfortable was hard for us. She had a monster game … That was tough and that was a tone-setter. And then we're throwing the ball around the gym early in that game, which also got Vanderbilt to feel really comfortable with their pressure. I think that rattled us."
The Lions needed halftime to regroup and did just that. Collins hit a pretty reverse layup to kick it off and the Lions did what they do best and quickly scored again in transition as
Fliss Henderson bouned the ball inside for Rafiu to cut the lead to six. Vanderbilt head coach Shea Ralph called for time to stop the momentum.
A trey by the elder Henderson kept Vandy from pulling away and it was game on. Unfortunately, time ran out on the Lions' comeback.
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