Saturday, November 15
New York, N.Y.
7:00 p.m.
Columbia University
vs
Richmond
Senior co-captains Perri Page (left) and Susie Rafiu (right)
Photo by: Columbia University Athletics / Stockton Photo, Inc.
Women’s Basketball Hosts Richmond in Saturday Night Showdown
11/14/2025 12:29:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Lions to raise 2025 championship banner prior to home opener
NEW YORK – Two women's basketball programs receiving votes in the AP Top 25 and which also earned at-large bids to last year's NCAA Tournament go head-to-head on Saturday, as Columbia (2-0) hosts Richmond (2-1) for its 2025-26 home opener. Opening tip from Schiller Court at Levien Gymnasium is scheduled for 7 p.m.
OPENING TIPS
• Both Richmond and Columbia won their conference's regular-season championship last year, and both were upset in the conference tournament. Richmond then earned a No. 8 seed to the NCAA Tournament, defeating ninth-seeded Georgia Tech, 74-49, before falling to No. 1 seed UCLA in the Second Round, 84-67. Columbia earned an 11 seed and defeated Washington in the First Four, 63-60, before falling to No. 6 seed West Virginia in the First Round, 78-59. Each program's victory was its first NCAA Tournament win.
• Richmond is the first of five opponents on Columbia's non-conference schedule that qualified for last year's NCAA Tournament. Three such opponents await the Lions at the Cancun Challenge (Nov. 27-29), followed by a late December trip to Florida Gulf Coast. Overall, nine of Columbia's 13 non-conference opponents qualified for last year's NCAA Tournament, WBIT or WNIT.
• Riley Weiss was named the Ivy League Player of the Week after averaging 22.5 points in road wins at Butler and Ohio to start the season. She scored nine of the final 14 points in regulation on her way to a game-high 27 in the season-opening overtime win at Butler. Two days later, she netted 18 points in just 24 minutes against the Bobcats. Weiss sat most of the second half with Columbia leading by as many as 30 points.
• The Lions will raise their 2025 Ivy League Championship banner and honor their first NCAA Tournament win prior to the start of Saturday's home opener. Columbia has won on banner-raising night each of the last two years, blowing out Stony Brook last year, 87-47, and beating Seton Hall two years ago, 72-61.
• Riley Weiss (22.5), Perri Page (16.5) and Susie Rafiu (14.5) all rank in the top eight in the Ivy League in scoring through the early going. Weiss leads the league. Page also ranks No. 4 in rebounding (9.5).
RECEIVING VOTES
• Both Columbia and Richmond are receiving votes in this week's AP Top 25. Richmond entered the season at No. 24 in the AP Poll, but fell out this week following an 85-56 loss at No. 4 Texas.
• The Lions received votes in the AP Preseason Poll for the first time. This marks the fourth consecutive season the Lions received votes in one of the two major polls (AP, Coaches). The Lions also earned votes in the Week 14 and Week 15 AP Polls last year. Columbia has never been ranked in the Top 25.
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
• Columbia is a combined 37-4 (.902) at home since the start of the 2022-23 season.
• The Lions won 20 straight regular-season games at home between the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons.
• Columbia went 14-1 (.933) at home during the 2023-24 regular season, followed by 10-1 last season.
BUILDING A MARCH RESUME
• Columbia's non-conference schedule includes nine games against teams that qualified for last year's NCAA Tournament, WBIT or WNIT. Five of those games are against last season's NCAA field, which includes the home opener against Richmond (Nov. 15), all three contests at the Cancun Challenge – Kansas State (Nov. 27), South Dakota State (Nov. 28) and North Carolina (Nov. 29) – as well as a late December trip to Fort Myers to battle Florida Gulf Coast (Dec. 29). The Lions will also host 2025 WBIT competitors Saint Joseph's (Nov. 20) and UTSA (Dec. 20) and travel across the Hudson to renew a rivalry with Seton Hall (Dec. 9). Butler qualified for the 2025 WNIT.
• In total, Columbia's 2025-26 schedule includes eight games against NET Top 50 teams and 12 games against NET Top 100 teams from a year ago.
BIG EAST DOMINANCE
• With a 74-69 overtime win at Butler in the season opener, Columbia is now 10-2 over its last 12 games against BIG EAST opponents. All 12 of those games have come in the Megan Griffith head-coaching era (2016-pres.). That includes a 4-0 record against Providence, 2-0 vs. Georgetown, 1-1 vs. Villanova, 2-1 vs. Seton Hall, and now 1-0 against Butler. The Lions earned their first BIG EAST win in program history when they defeated Providence in overtime, 66-64, on Dec. 7, 2016 in New York. In fact, four of Columbia's BIG EAST wins have now come in overtime, including each of its last two.
HALFTIME WINNING STREAK
• Columbia has won 30 consecutive games when leading at halftime. The Lions have won their first two such games so far this season, all 20 games when leading at the half in 2024-25, and their final eight such games in 2023-24. Columbia's last loss with a halftime lead came at Princeton on January 20, 2024, taking a 37-33 lead into the locker rooms but coming up short, 80-65.
INTERNATIONAL LIONS
• According to research performed by NCAA member institution communication staffs, Columbia is one of just 12 programs in the country with nine or more international players on its roster. Of those schools, only Columbia, Washington State, South Florida and San Francisco have nine or more countries represented on their respective rosters. Columbia has two players from Spain, and one each from Australia, Canada, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Serbia and United Kingdom. Six of Columbia's 15 players are from the United States.
PRESEASON NUGGETS
• Columbia begins its 41st varsity season and 39th competing at the NCAA Div. I level as a member of the Ivy League. The program's first season competing as the Columbia-Barnard Athletic Consortium was 1984-85, followed by its first season competing in both the Ivy League and NCAA Div. I in 1986-87. The 2020-21 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Columbia returns nine of its 12 players from the 2024-25 season, including three of its five starters. The Lions return 62.9 percent of their scoring and 70.1 percent of their rebounding. Eight of the nine returners played in at least 20 of Columbia's 31 games last season.
• Kitty Henderson and Cecelia Collins are Columbia's biggest losses from last season. Both graduated last May. Henderson was a four-year member of the program, while Collins was a two-year member who transferred in as a junior from Bucknell. Last season, the duo combined for 825 points, 357 rebounds and a staggering 288 assists. Both were All-Ivy League selections.
• Columbia's top returning scorer is junior Riley Weiss. Last season, she scored 553 points and averaged 17.8 per game, ranking top 10 in Columbia single-season history in both categories. Weiss also knocked down 96 triples last year, good for third-best in team history, with an 87.5% free throw percentage, which ranked second.
• The Lions have five newcomers to the roster this year, welcoming four first-years and one junior transfer, Hilke Feldrappe, who played her first two collegiate seasons at Missouri.
THE SERIES
• This will be the fourth all-time meeting between Columbia and Richmond. The first series contest came on November 13, 2016, when Megan Griffith earned her first head-coaching victory in a 65-58 Columbia win at Richmond. Camille Zimmerman posted a double-double of 18 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Lions.
• Richmond avenged that loss the following year in New York, 85-69. The two teams did not meet again until last season, down in Glen Allen, Virginia at the Henrico Sports and Events Center in the Holiday Cheer and Gear Classic. The Spiders shot 12-of-18 from three-point range and held off Columbia, 85-76.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
• Click here for Richmond Information
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.
OPENING TIPS
• Both Richmond and Columbia won their conference's regular-season championship last year, and both were upset in the conference tournament. Richmond then earned a No. 8 seed to the NCAA Tournament, defeating ninth-seeded Georgia Tech, 74-49, before falling to No. 1 seed UCLA in the Second Round, 84-67. Columbia earned an 11 seed and defeated Washington in the First Four, 63-60, before falling to No. 6 seed West Virginia in the First Round, 78-59. Each program's victory was its first NCAA Tournament win.
• Richmond is the first of five opponents on Columbia's non-conference schedule that qualified for last year's NCAA Tournament. Three such opponents await the Lions at the Cancun Challenge (Nov. 27-29), followed by a late December trip to Florida Gulf Coast. Overall, nine of Columbia's 13 non-conference opponents qualified for last year's NCAA Tournament, WBIT or WNIT.
• Riley Weiss was named the Ivy League Player of the Week after averaging 22.5 points in road wins at Butler and Ohio to start the season. She scored nine of the final 14 points in regulation on her way to a game-high 27 in the season-opening overtime win at Butler. Two days later, she netted 18 points in just 24 minutes against the Bobcats. Weiss sat most of the second half with Columbia leading by as many as 30 points.
• The Lions will raise their 2025 Ivy League Championship banner and honor their first NCAA Tournament win prior to the start of Saturday's home opener. Columbia has won on banner-raising night each of the last two years, blowing out Stony Brook last year, 87-47, and beating Seton Hall two years ago, 72-61.
• Riley Weiss (22.5), Perri Page (16.5) and Susie Rafiu (14.5) all rank in the top eight in the Ivy League in scoring through the early going. Weiss leads the league. Page also ranks No. 4 in rebounding (9.5).
RECEIVING VOTES
• Both Columbia and Richmond are receiving votes in this week's AP Top 25. Richmond entered the season at No. 24 in the AP Poll, but fell out this week following an 85-56 loss at No. 4 Texas.
• The Lions received votes in the AP Preseason Poll for the first time. This marks the fourth consecutive season the Lions received votes in one of the two major polls (AP, Coaches). The Lions also earned votes in the Week 14 and Week 15 AP Polls last year. Columbia has never been ranked in the Top 25.
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
• Columbia is a combined 37-4 (.902) at home since the start of the 2022-23 season.
• The Lions won 20 straight regular-season games at home between the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons.
• Columbia went 14-1 (.933) at home during the 2023-24 regular season, followed by 10-1 last season.
BUILDING A MARCH RESUME
• Columbia's non-conference schedule includes nine games against teams that qualified for last year's NCAA Tournament, WBIT or WNIT. Five of those games are against last season's NCAA field, which includes the home opener against Richmond (Nov. 15), all three contests at the Cancun Challenge – Kansas State (Nov. 27), South Dakota State (Nov. 28) and North Carolina (Nov. 29) – as well as a late December trip to Fort Myers to battle Florida Gulf Coast (Dec. 29). The Lions will also host 2025 WBIT competitors Saint Joseph's (Nov. 20) and UTSA (Dec. 20) and travel across the Hudson to renew a rivalry with Seton Hall (Dec. 9). Butler qualified for the 2025 WNIT.
• In total, Columbia's 2025-26 schedule includes eight games against NET Top 50 teams and 12 games against NET Top 100 teams from a year ago.
BIG EAST DOMINANCE
• With a 74-69 overtime win at Butler in the season opener, Columbia is now 10-2 over its last 12 games against BIG EAST opponents. All 12 of those games have come in the Megan Griffith head-coaching era (2016-pres.). That includes a 4-0 record against Providence, 2-0 vs. Georgetown, 1-1 vs. Villanova, 2-1 vs. Seton Hall, and now 1-0 against Butler. The Lions earned their first BIG EAST win in program history when they defeated Providence in overtime, 66-64, on Dec. 7, 2016 in New York. In fact, four of Columbia's BIG EAST wins have now come in overtime, including each of its last two.
HALFTIME WINNING STREAK
• Columbia has won 30 consecutive games when leading at halftime. The Lions have won their first two such games so far this season, all 20 games when leading at the half in 2024-25, and their final eight such games in 2023-24. Columbia's last loss with a halftime lead came at Princeton on January 20, 2024, taking a 37-33 lead into the locker rooms but coming up short, 80-65.
INTERNATIONAL LIONS
• According to research performed by NCAA member institution communication staffs, Columbia is one of just 12 programs in the country with nine or more international players on its roster. Of those schools, only Columbia, Washington State, South Florida and San Francisco have nine or more countries represented on their respective rosters. Columbia has two players from Spain, and one each from Australia, Canada, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Serbia and United Kingdom. Six of Columbia's 15 players are from the United States.
PRESEASON NUGGETS
• Columbia begins its 41st varsity season and 39th competing at the NCAA Div. I level as a member of the Ivy League. The program's first season competing as the Columbia-Barnard Athletic Consortium was 1984-85, followed by its first season competing in both the Ivy League and NCAA Div. I in 1986-87. The 2020-21 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Columbia returns nine of its 12 players from the 2024-25 season, including three of its five starters. The Lions return 62.9 percent of their scoring and 70.1 percent of their rebounding. Eight of the nine returners played in at least 20 of Columbia's 31 games last season.
• Kitty Henderson and Cecelia Collins are Columbia's biggest losses from last season. Both graduated last May. Henderson was a four-year member of the program, while Collins was a two-year member who transferred in as a junior from Bucknell. Last season, the duo combined for 825 points, 357 rebounds and a staggering 288 assists. Both were All-Ivy League selections.
• Columbia's top returning scorer is junior Riley Weiss. Last season, she scored 553 points and averaged 17.8 per game, ranking top 10 in Columbia single-season history in both categories. Weiss also knocked down 96 triples last year, good for third-best in team history, with an 87.5% free throw percentage, which ranked second.
• The Lions have five newcomers to the roster this year, welcoming four first-years and one junior transfer, Hilke Feldrappe, who played her first two collegiate seasons at Missouri.
THE SERIES
• This will be the fourth all-time meeting between Columbia and Richmond. The first series contest came on November 13, 2016, when Megan Griffith earned her first head-coaching victory in a 65-58 Columbia win at Richmond. Camille Zimmerman posted a double-double of 18 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Lions.
• Richmond avenged that loss the following year in New York, 85-69. The two teams did not meet again until last season, down in Glen Allen, Virginia at the Henrico Sports and Events Center in the Holiday Cheer and Gear Classic. The Spiders shot 12-of-18 from three-point range and held off Columbia, 85-76.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
• Click here for Richmond Information
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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/ Women's BasketballPostgame: WBB | Coach Griffith, Riley Weiss, and Susie Rafiu after Richmond
Saturday, November 15
Highlights: WBK | Columbia 67, Richmond 77
Saturday, November 15
Highlights: WBK | Columbia 92, Ohio 74
Sunday, November 09
Postgame: WBK | Page on Victory at Ohio
Sunday, November 09
