PRINCETON, N.J. – Riley Weiss scored a career-high 34 points and
Kitty Henderson hit a clutch 3-pointer in the final seconds, as Columbia outdueled Princeton in a battle for first place, 64-60, Saturday evening at Jadwin Gymnasium.
After leading for most of the first half, Columbia entered the fourth trailing by six. A game-changing 13-0 run ensued, including 10 straight points from Weiss to give the Lions a 51-44 lead. Princeton whittled the margin down to two but Henderson hit the shot of the night, draining a triple from the wing that increased the lead back to five with 18 seconds to go.
"It's just two great teams battling," Columbia head coach
Megan Griffith said. "We've developed a really strong rivalry with Princeton over the last few years … This is a really hard place to play – it always has been, even when I played in the league. It's a different gym.
"I'm proud of our team because we kept the main thing, the main thing. We focused on our game plan and we didn't lose our heads."
With the win, Columbia (19-5, 10-1 Ivy) regains a one-game lead in the
Ivy League standings. The Lions have swept the regular season series from the Tigers for the first time since 2008. They also ended Princeton's 30-game home winning streak, which was the longest active streak in the NCAA heading into the day. The Lions were the last team to defeat the Tigers at Jadwin, when they did so in overtime in January of 2023.
Weiss' 34 points came on 11-of-21 shooting, including 5-for-11 from deep. She was also a perfect 7-for-7 at the foul line.
"Riley is just scratching the surface of how good she is going to be," Griffith went on to say. "It's really fun when you get to see two young players like her and Ashley Chea developing and blossoming in this league … I think Riley is understanding her potential and capacity to give to this program right now, in ways that aren't just scoring. We're seeing her dive for loose balls and trap and steal in the press … She made big plays and she capitalized."
Henderson ended the night with 14 points, four steals and three assists. She surpassed Charlene Schuessler (1986-90) for the program's all-time assists record with her 457th early in the second quarter. Her four steals also passed Schuessler for third in the program record book (173).
"We just kept talking about keeping a 'blue' head – meaning being relaxed, being calm no matter what happens on their end that we're still controlling our fate," Henderson told reporters postgame. "This game was about execution and we started executing our stuff, getting good looks and they were falling."
One of the most important things Columbia did on Saturday night was make its free throws. Entering the game at just 59.8 percent on the season, the Lions went 14-for-17 (.824) at the stripe. That included a perfect 11-for-11 in the fourth quarter to finish off the Tigers.
Columbia led for more than 17 minutes of the first half. They started the game hot, hitting four of their first six attempts and jumping ahead 10-2 before Princeton called for time. The Tigers answered with the next seven points and turned the Lions over a few times to cool them down. Still, after four lead changes in the second quarter, it was the Lions that took a three-point lead, 27-24, into halftime. Princeton had not shot a free throw the entire half.
"How we started the game was actually the tone-setter," said Griffith postgame. "[Princeton] is a team that needs to throw the first punch to feel really good … I was just proud of us for throwing that first punch because it allowed us to throw [the final punch] when we needed it in the fourth quarter."
The third quarter belonged to Princeton, outscoring Columbia 20-11. Henderson picked up her fourth foul at the 4:14 mark and had to go to the bench. However,
Megan Griffith trusted her senior in the fourth, where Henderson played all 10 minutes without fouling and ultimately, led her team to a statement victory.
The Lions now have an opportunity to play for their first outright Ivy League Regular Season Championship. They play each of their final three games at home, starting next Friday and Saturday with a back-to-back against Brown and Yale.
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