NEW YORK – Senior point guard Kitty Henderson recorded the second triple-double in program history and Columbia women's basketball earned its 20th win, handling Brown, 70-44, Friday evening at Levien Gymnasium.
 
Henderson went for 19 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists and four steals, leading all players in all four categories. It's the first triple-double by a Lion since Kaitlyn Davis '23CC posted the same exact tally (19 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists) against Dartmouth on January 28, 2023. In fact, according to Stats Perform, Henderson and Davis are the only two Division I women's basketball players this century to have exactly 19 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists, four steals and one turnover in a game.
 
"I looked up at one point and saw I was close," Henderson told Lance Medow in her postgame interview. "As we all know, Diana Taurasi retired. She means a lot to one of my coaches and so she challenged me this week, [saying] 'I want you to get that for me.' It was just crazy that it happened today. Shoutout to my teammates, I wouldn't be able to do it without them." Columbia (20-5, 11-1 Ivy) overcame shooting struggles by overwhelming Brown (10-15, 4-8 Ivy) on the defensive end and by playing at a faster pace on the other. They outrebounded the Bears, 54-26, including 29-4 on the offensive end, which led to a 21-2 advantage in second-chance points. The Lions also took 78 shots to Brown's 45.
 
"We just need to keep not being outcome oriented," said Henderson when asked about it. "When our shots aren't falling, sometimes we let that dictate how we are playing. I think in the second half, we came out and were like, 'we're good.' It doesn't matter if our shots aren't falling. We go in for offensive rebounds … just staying with the game plan and believing in our work."
 
Head coach Megan Griffith was similar in her comments. "It was good to see a great response coming out of halftime with a 25-point third quarter," she said. "I really thought Kitty was a great leader and momentum-shifter in that time. She was literally just doing everything for us, shooting with confidence too … It was just good to see us respond after a slow first half and I'm happy with what we put together in the second half."
 
Susie Rafiu tied her career-high with 16 points and added six rebounds. First-year Mia Broom recorded 11 points and five rebounds. Senior Cecelia Collins was all over the stat sheet with six points, seven rebounds, six assists, and four steals.
 
Columbia pressed Brown early on and put up 25 shots to the Bears' nine in the first quarter. However, both teams struggled percentage-wise. The Lions started the game 0-for-11 from the field but trailed just 2-0. They later found some momentum by going on 11-2 run over just two minutes to take a seven-point lead. The Lions led the rest of the way and entered halftime up 26-17 on the Bears.
 
It was smooth sailing the rest of the way. Late in the third, Columbia took a 50-26 lead off an 18-2 run. Nine of those 18 points came from Henderson's corner threes, all assisted by Collins. On one of those threes, Collins wowed the crowd with a no-look pass to her teammate. Columbia will wrap up the back-to-back and play their penultimate game of the regular season when they host Yale (4-21, 3-9 Ivy) on Saturday at 2 p.m. With a win, the Lions clinch the No. 1 seed at this year's Ivy League Tournament. Saturday's game can be watched on ESPN+.
 
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