NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Behind a 31-point first quarter and a pair of 20-point outings from Riley Weiss and Cecelia Collins, the Columbia women's basketball team handily defeated Yale, 84-64, Saturday afternoon at Lee Amphitheater.
 
Columbia (12-4, 3-0 Ivy) used the press to make Yale uncomfortable early on and it worked to perfection. The Lions forced the Bulldogs into eight turnovers in the first quarter alone and outscored them 16-0 off those turnovers. Meanwhile, Columbia hit 13-of-19 (.684) from the field over the first 10 minutes, scoring its most first-quarter points in more than two years.
 
"I think our first group is really in sync with each other. It's fun when you have people on the same page that are understanding the greater mission," Columbia head coach Megan Griffith said. "For us, we knew the ways we wanted to attack [Yale] and I think we definitely executed that early on."
 
Senior co-captain Cecelia Collins scored 11 first-quarter points on her way to 21 for the afternoon. She was 8-of-12 from the floor, 2-for-4 from long range, and tacked on three assists, a steal and a block.
 
"I think we were trying to run out and get some easy ones early," said Collins during her postgame interview on ESPN+. "Obviously, we've been working on our presses a lot, our press package. It was good that we were able to get that early. We want to keep that going throughout the rest of the game, but it was a good sign that we got that going early."
 
Sophomore Riley Weiss hit the 20-point mark for the sixth time this season, netting a game-high 22. Like Collins, she was also impressive from the floor, connecting on 8-of-12 attempts, including 3-of-4 from the outside. "Riley has grown a lot, especially from last year to this year," added Collins about her teammate. "As the season has gone on, she's grown in every way. We're trying to get scores from every person on the team but, at the same time, we've got to get it done on the defensive end as well."
 
Kitty Henderson continued her impressive season with 13 points, three rebounds and game-highs of six assists and four steals. She moved into a tie with Megan Griffith for fifth in program history with 151 career steals and is also now within 30 assists of the all-time record of 456 held by Charlene Schuessler (1986-90).
 
After opening the season with a win over Monmouth, Yale (1-15, 0-3 Ivy) has now dropped 15 in a row. The Bulldogs were led by a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds from senior Mackenzie Egger. Columbia's Perri Page matched Egger on the glass with 10 boards of her own.
 
Columbia padded its lead to 21 midway through the second quarter, thanks in part to going 8-for-9 at the foul line in the period. They maintained that cushion, 50-29, at halftime. While Yale did get within 14 during the third quarter, that would be as close as it ever got. Weiss and Collins combined to go a perfect 5-for-5 from the field to pad the lead to 23 entering the fourth. The Lions led by as many as 26.
 
After 47 days without a home game, the Lions will finally play in front of the New York City faithful on Monday when they face off against Princeton (12-4, 3-0 Ivy). The showdown between the pair of two-time reigning Ivy League regular season champions is scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m. The game will be televised in the New York area on SNY.
 
"I think we are all really looking forward to it," Collins mentioned. "We knew we had to take care of business here today but we haven't played in front of our home crowd in like 40 days, so we're looking forward to that."
 
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