NEW YORK – Columbia went on a 21-0 second-quarter run and never looked back, cruising to their seventh straight victory and a season sweep over Penn, 79-54, Saturday afternoon from Schiller Court at Levien Gymnasium.
 
Columbia (14-4, 5-0 Ivy) has now won seven straight overall and remains alone in first atop the Ivy League standings. The Lions were led by a career-high 25 points from sophomore Riley Weiss, who went a career-best 6-of-9 from three, and a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds from senior Cecelia Collins.
 
"I'm always excited to play at home. Obviously, I didn't shoot as well against Princeton (on Monday) but that's going to happen," said Weiss in her postgame interview with Lance Medow. "I just have to keep shooting. My teammates, they instill that in me, as well as my coaches."
 
Weiss connected on her first two three-point attempts of the afternoon and started the game a scorching 5-for-6 from downtown. She had 15 points at halftime, including six during her team's 21-0 run in the second quarter. "I think we are starting to hit our stride a little bit," head coach Megan Griffith said. "This team has so much potential. I've thought that since the beginning of the year when we put the puzzle pieces together."
 
Collins put together her first double-double of the season, tying a career-high in rebounds and adding five assists to her tally. She is now averaging 18.8 points over her last four games and shooting a combined 28-of-42 (.667) over that stretch.
 
"We acknowledged what happened at The Palestra wasn't good enough," said the senior co-captain, referring to a 15-point win on January 4 in which she netted just five points. "We knew there would be runs in this game, but we wanted to have the runs in our favor and make sure that once they threw a punch, we'd be ready for it."
 
The victory makes it 19 straight home wins in the regular season for the Lions, including a perfect 6-0 mark this season.
 
"We just love it here so much," Collins added, "The community showed out, There is nothing like it. To have them on our back and cheering us on every time we're here… like I said, there's nothing like it."
 
Perri Page and Marija Avlijas were the other two Lions to reach double-digits, each scoring 10. Kitty Henderson had seven assists and eight rebounds, moving to 10th place in program history in career rebounds (626). Her seven assists increased her career total to 440, just 16 away from Charlene Schuessler's (1986-90) program record.
 
After falling behind 16-15 at the end of the first quarter, Columbia held Penn (10-8, 1-4 Ivy) to only two points on 1-of-12 shooting in the second quarter. Tied at 18, Columbia's 21-0 run ensued over the final 7:40 of the half. The Lions were 9-of-18 from the floor in the quarter and sank five threes. That closed the half out at 39-18, with the Lions holding a dominant 26-17 advantage in rebounds.
 
Columbia's lead would reach as many as 33 in the second half. Collins brought the Lions' big run to 24-0 with a three-pointer to open the third quarter, later adding two free throws to make it a 26-0 run between halves. Weiss capped off her career outing and the Lions' dominant win by hitting her sixth three-pointer while being fouled. She sank the free throw to finish the four-point play with 6:58 left in the fourth and the game well in hand. Columbia now prepares for an Ivy League back-to-back next Friday and Saturday at Harvard (15-2, 4-1 Ivy) and Dartmouth (8-10, 2-3 Ivy). The weekend begins against Harvard on Friday night at 7 p.m. That game will be televised nationally on ESPNU.
 
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.