Columbia University
4-3,0-0Ivy League
South Dakota State
5-2,0-0Summit League
Weiss Ignites in the 4th Quarter to Lead Columbia Past South Dakota State, 80-67
11/28/2025 7:37:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Junior scores a program-record 19 fourth-quarter points
PUERTO AVENTURAS, Mexico – Riley Weiss scored a season-high 31 points, including a program-record 19 in the fourth quarter, to lead the Columbia women's basketball team to an 80-67 victory over South Dakota State on Friday. The game was Columbia's second of three at the 2025 Cancun Challenge, which is being hosted at the Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya.
With Columbia clinging to a one-point lead entering the fourth quarter, Weiss caught fire. The junior from Hewlett, New York, proceeded to go 7-of-10 from the field, 2-for-2 from 3-point range and a perfect 3-for-3 at the foul line over the final 10 minutes. She scored three and-one baskets, the biggest of which was a four-point play she shot from well outside the top of the 3-point arc. It was the dagger that put the Lions (4-3) up seven with just over 1:30 remaining.
"We knew we needed to play together and string together 40 minutes," said Weiss, who just came off a 30-point game less than 24 hours ago in a narrow 95-92 defeat to Kansas State. "We didn't do that yesterday, so we knew we had to get that back today. I think we did a really good job of that.
"Credit to South Dakota State – they are a very good team. Credit to all of the teams here. We get to play some really good competition."
Weiss's 19 fourth-quarter points tied the program record for points in a quarter, previously accomplished by Abbey Hsu against UMass in December of 2021. Hsu's came in the third quarter of that game.
The game also saw Columbia head coach Megan Griffith earn her 150th career victory. Griffith is in her 10th year back at her alma mater. She is the program's all-time winningest coach (150-94).
Friday's back-and-forth affair featured six ties and 15 lead changes. Neither side led by more than six until Weiss's four-point play sent Columbia over the top.
Weiss's 31 points were three off her career high. She ended Friday's game 11-of-19 from the floor, 3-of-6 from deep and 6-of-7 at the foul line. Senior Perri Page added 13 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals. Fliss Henderson scored a season-high dozen, and Marija Avlijas rounded out the double-figure scorers with 10. The Lions were a season-best 50 percent (8-16) from long range.
For South Dakota State (5-2), Brooklyn Meyer scored a team-high 28, going 10-of-16 from the floor and 8-of-14 at the foul line. Madison Mathiowetz netted 19, while Maggie Hartwig posted a game-high 10 rebounds.
There were seven lead changes in the first quarter alone. The Lions shot better and turned the Jackrabbits over five times. However, SDSU outrebounded Columbia 14-5 to keep things even on the scoreboard, 18-18.
Mathiowetz got to 10 points early in the second quarter, while Hartwig and Meyer combined for 11 of South Dakota State's 19 first-half rebounds. The Lions were better on the glass in the second with a 10-5 advantage. They led by one, 33-32, at the intermission, thanks in part to their good free throw shooting, going 7-of-8 (.875) to South Dakota State's 9-of-14 (.643).
The sides traded leads six more times in the third quarter. Susie Rafiu and Perri Page were in foul trouble early in the half, as Page picked up her third and Rafiu had to go to the bench with four. South Dakota State took advantage and shot 62 percent in the period, but Columbia hung in there, hitting at 50 percent. A 6-0 run late in the quarter brought the Lions back from five down, their largest deficit of the game.
A one-point game heading to the fourth quarter turned into a Riley Weiss display. She opened the scoring 38 seconds in and had Columbia's first 10 points of the period, outscoring South Dakota State by herself, 10-7, at the midway point. Three free throws by Fliss Henderson were a brief interlude in Weiss's scoring, before she cashed in an and-one at the 2:53 mark, followed by the dagger four-point play with 1:37 remaining. A baseline drive that just barely beat the shot clock with 35 seconds left made it a nine-point game as Weiss capped off her 19-point frame.
The Lions conclude the Cancun Challenge on Saturday against No. 12 North Carolina (7-1). Opening tip is slated for 1:30 p.m.
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