Thursday, March 20
Chapel Hill, N.C.
7:00 P.M.
Columbia University
vs
(11) Washington
Photo by: Columbia University Athletics / Lem Photography
Women’s Basketball Returns to NCAA First Four Thursday Night vs. Washington
3/19/2025 6:22:00 PM | Women's Basketball
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(11) Columbia sets sights on first NCAA Tournament win
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – No. 11 seed Columbia (23-6, 13-1 Ivy) makes its second straight trip to the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament and second straight appearance in the First Four, where it begins play against fellow No. 11 seed Washington (19-13, 9-9 Big Ten) on Thursday. Opening tip from Carmichael Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2
TICKETS
• Tickets to all NCAA Tournament games in Chapel Hill, North Carolina can be purchased online by clicking here.
GAME COVERAGE
• Angel Gray and Aja Ellison will be calling every game in Chapel Hill on the ESPN family of networks. Thursday's First Four game will be televised nationally on ESPN2. Click here to view the complete broadcast schedule for the 2024 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament.
• An online audio broadcast of the game will be available through the Columbia Lions Radio Network. Fans can click here for a direct link to listen. Lance Medow will be on the call with Mike Kowalsky. Columbia's student radio station, WKCR, will also carry the game. Students and fans can listen on 89.9FM NY or online at WKCR.org.
WATCH PARTY
• Columbia Athletics will be hosting a watch party at Amity Hall Uptown in New York City. Cheer on the Lions with fellow fans and students! Beginning at 6:30 p.m., fans can enjoy limited complimentary appetizers and buy one, get one free drinks during the game.
Located at 982 Amsterdam Avenue, Amity Hall Uptown is the premier sports destination on the Upper West Side. It is best known for its lively atmosphere, handcrafted cocktails, and delicious food. Open seven days a week, AHU offers lunch, dinner, weekend brunch, daily promotions, and so much more located just 951 steps from campus.
OPENING TIPS
• The Lions earned their way into the field of 68 as an at-large selection for the second year in a row. Last season, they made their NCAA Tournament debut, falling in a close game against Vanderbilt in the First Four down in Blacksburg, Virginia, 72-68. Columbia is seeking its first NCAA Tournament victory.
• Columbia is the outright Ivy League Regular Season Champion. The Lions went 13-1 in league play to claim their first outright title. They have won three straight regular season titles, sharing it in both 2023 and 2024.
• Prior to 2023, Columbia had never won an Ivy League title. Columbia became a Div. I program and an official member of the Ivy League in 1986-87. This is their 38th season competing in the Ivy League.
• Head coach Megan Griffith is the winningest coach in Columbia women's basketball history, entering the NCAA Tournament with a record of 145-90 (.617). She is 11-7 (.611) in her career in postseason play. Griffith has been named the Ivy League Coach of the Year each of the last three seasons.
• Columbia is led by senior captains Kitty Henderson and Cecelia Collins. Both are 1,000-point scorers in their collegiate careers. Henderson was named the 2024-25 Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year and was a unanimous First Team selection. The point guard ranks No. 1 in program history in career assists (484), No. 2 in steals (187), No. 5 in points (1,326) and No. 7 in rebounds (687). Henderson is the winningest player in program history, entering the NCAA Tournament with a record of 99-26 (.792).
• Riley Weiss is Columbia's leading scorer. The sophomore shooter is a First Team All-Ivy League selection who averages 17.8 points on the season. She scored a career-high 34 points in a 60-54 win at Princeton (Feb. 22).
• Columbia will meet a Big Ten team for just the fourth time in program history. They are 0-3 all-time against the conference, narrowly falling by three points against Iowa in 2009, falling by seven at Illinois in 2018 and falling to Indiana earlier this season in the Battle for Atlantis, 72-62.
• Riley Weiss is the fifth different player in program history to record 500 points in a season. She eclipsed the mark during the Ivy League Tournament Championship Game.
• Kitty Henderson is second at Columbia in single-season steals (68). She is one steal from the record of 72, held by Judie Lomax (2009-10).
• Henderson (1,326) ranks fifth in career points. She passed Kathy Gilbert (1987-91) in the semifinals.
• Henderson is ninth in Ivy League history in career assists (484). She is within seven of the two spots. Harvard's Jessica Gelman (1993-97) is eighth with 485. Penn's Anna Ross (2014-18) is seventh with 491. Only six players in league history have reached 500 career assists.
PLETHORA OF POSTSEASON HONORS
• Senior Kitty Henderson was named Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year. She is the first Lion to win that award since Sara Yee, who won it twice in 2008-09 and 2009-10.
• Henderson was a unanimous First Team All-Ivy League selection, earning first-team honors for the first time.
• Head coach Megan Griffith and Columbia were named the Ivy League Coaching Staff of the Year. It marks the third straight season Griffith and her staff have won the award.
• Sophomore Riley Weiss was named First Team All-Ivy League. She is the first player in program history to earn a First Team selection as a sophomore or younger.
• Senior Cecelia Collins was named Second Team All-Ivy League. Collins, who played her freshman and sophomore seasons at Bucknell, has now been named all-conference each of her four collegiate seasons.
• Henderson was Columbia's Academic All-Ivy League selection. She has a 3.65 GPA majoring in economics.
IVY LEAGUE TOURNAMENT POSTGAME NOTES (March 14-15)
• Riley Weiss was named to the All-Tournament Team. She averaged 14.5 points across the two games, including 21 against Harvard in the championship game.
• Kitty Henderson played in her 124th game, the most in program history.
• Susie Rafiu recorded her second career double-double in the semifinal win against Penn. She matched her career-high of 16 points and added 10 rebounds, shooting 6-of-10 from the floor.
• Columbia went 20-for-29 at the foul line against Penn, its most makes and attempts of the season.
• The championship game was the closest in Ivy League Tournament history (2017-pres.).
SENIOR SENDOFF
• Seniors Kitty Henderson and Cecelia Collins were honored as part of Senior Day in the home finale at Levien Gymnasium (Mar. 8). Over their last two years playing together, the two senior captains have gone a combined 45-12 (.789) overall with a 26-2 (.929) Ivy League record. In her four-year career, Henderson is 98-25 (.797) overall with a 50-6 (.893) league mark. With 98 wins, Henderson is the winningest player in program history.
• Across Henderson's four-year Columbia career and Collins' two-year Columbia career, the duo have combined for 2,068 points, 961 rebounds, 717 assists and 229 steals.
TRIPLE-DOUBLE TROUBLE
• Seniors Kitty Henderson and Cecelia Collins made NCAA history in Columbia's wins over Brown (Feb. 28) and Yale (Mar. 1) at Levien Gymnasium. Henderson posted a triple-double of 19 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists in Friday's win against Brown. The very next day, Collins posted a triple-double of 16 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists against Yale. It marked just the second time in NCAA Division I women's basketball history that two different teammates recorded a triple-double in consecutive games. The last such occasion came in 2003, when Jackson State's Latesha Lee (Dec. 3) and Arnie Williams (Dec. 6) accomplished the rare feat.
• The triple-doubles were just the second and third in Columbia women's basketball history. The first came on January 28, 2023, when Kaitlyn Davis had 19 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists in a 79-50 win over Dartmouth. Coincidentally, in both Davis' and Henderson's triple-doubles, each player had exactly 19 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists, four steals and just one turnover. According to research from Stats Perform, Henderson and Davis are the only two players this century to post those exact stat lines in Division I women's basketball game.
NATIONAL COACH OF THE YEAR FINALIST
• Head coach Megan Griffith was named a finalist for the Kathy Delaney-Smith Mid-Major Coach of the Year Award presented by Her Hoops Stats. The five finalists are Griffith, Carly Thibault-Dudonis (Fairfield), Vanessa Blair-Lewis (George Mason), Carrie Moore (Harvard) and Aaron Roussell (Richmond). Griffith has guided the Lions to their third straight regular-season title and first outright.
• The Lions enter the NCAA Tournament No. 42 in the NET, which is 15 spots better than where they ended last season. They own notable non-conference wins over Atlantic Sun champion FGCU and MAC champion Ball State, as well as a combined 3-1 Ivy League record against Harvard and Princeton, the best of the bunch. Earlier this season, Columbia matched the program's longest winning streak with 11 straight. The Lions have earned votes in the AP Poll multiple weeks this season, marking their third-straight season receiving votes.
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.
TICKETS
• Tickets to all NCAA Tournament games in Chapel Hill, North Carolina can be purchased online by clicking here.
GAME COVERAGE
• Angel Gray and Aja Ellison will be calling every game in Chapel Hill on the ESPN family of networks. Thursday's First Four game will be televised nationally on ESPN2. Click here to view the complete broadcast schedule for the 2024 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament.
• An online audio broadcast of the game will be available through the Columbia Lions Radio Network. Fans can click here for a direct link to listen. Lance Medow will be on the call with Mike Kowalsky. Columbia's student radio station, WKCR, will also carry the game. Students and fans can listen on 89.9FM NY or online at WKCR.org.
WATCH PARTY
• Columbia Athletics will be hosting a watch party at Amity Hall Uptown in New York City. Cheer on the Lions with fellow fans and students! Beginning at 6:30 p.m., fans can enjoy limited complimentary appetizers and buy one, get one free drinks during the game.
Located at 982 Amsterdam Avenue, Amity Hall Uptown is the premier sports destination on the Upper West Side. It is best known for its lively atmosphere, handcrafted cocktails, and delicious food. Open seven days a week, AHU offers lunch, dinner, weekend brunch, daily promotions, and so much more located just 951 steps from campus.
OPENING TIPS
• The Lions earned their way into the field of 68 as an at-large selection for the second year in a row. Last season, they made their NCAA Tournament debut, falling in a close game against Vanderbilt in the First Four down in Blacksburg, Virginia, 72-68. Columbia is seeking its first NCAA Tournament victory.
• Columbia is the outright Ivy League Regular Season Champion. The Lions went 13-1 in league play to claim their first outright title. They have won three straight regular season titles, sharing it in both 2023 and 2024.
• Prior to 2023, Columbia had never won an Ivy League title. Columbia became a Div. I program and an official member of the Ivy League in 1986-87. This is their 38th season competing in the Ivy League.
• Head coach Megan Griffith is the winningest coach in Columbia women's basketball history, entering the NCAA Tournament with a record of 145-90 (.617). She is 11-7 (.611) in her career in postseason play. Griffith has been named the Ivy League Coach of the Year each of the last three seasons.
• Columbia is led by senior captains Kitty Henderson and Cecelia Collins. Both are 1,000-point scorers in their collegiate careers. Henderson was named the 2024-25 Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year and was a unanimous First Team selection. The point guard ranks No. 1 in program history in career assists (484), No. 2 in steals (187), No. 5 in points (1,326) and No. 7 in rebounds (687). Henderson is the winningest player in program history, entering the NCAA Tournament with a record of 99-26 (.792).
• Riley Weiss is Columbia's leading scorer. The sophomore shooter is a First Team All-Ivy League selection who averages 17.8 points on the season. She scored a career-high 34 points in a 60-54 win at Princeton (Feb. 22).
• Columbia will meet a Big Ten team for just the fourth time in program history. They are 0-3 all-time against the conference, narrowly falling by three points against Iowa in 2009, falling by seven at Illinois in 2018 and falling to Indiana earlier this season in the Battle for Atlantis, 72-62.
RECORD WATCHReady. To. Go. 😤
— Columbia Women's Basketball (@CULionsWBB) March 19, 2025
Full Players Press Conference:https://t.co/MLOLQsIgwm#MarchMadness 🏀#EDGE // #RoarLionRoar // #OnlyHere 🦁🗽 pic.twitter.com/qRYRNFzhRm
• Riley Weiss is the fifth different player in program history to record 500 points in a season. She eclipsed the mark during the Ivy League Tournament Championship Game.
• Kitty Henderson is second at Columbia in single-season steals (68). She is one steal from the record of 72, held by Judie Lomax (2009-10).
• Henderson (1,326) ranks fifth in career points. She passed Kathy Gilbert (1987-91) in the semifinals.
• Henderson is ninth in Ivy League history in career assists (484). She is within seven of the two spots. Harvard's Jessica Gelman (1993-97) is eighth with 485. Penn's Anna Ross (2014-18) is seventh with 491. Only six players in league history have reached 500 career assists.
PLETHORA OF POSTSEASON HONORS
• Senior Kitty Henderson was named Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year. She is the first Lion to win that award since Sara Yee, who won it twice in 2008-09 and 2009-10.
• Henderson was a unanimous First Team All-Ivy League selection, earning first-team honors for the first time.
• Head coach Megan Griffith and Columbia were named the Ivy League Coaching Staff of the Year. It marks the third straight season Griffith and her staff have won the award.
• Sophomore Riley Weiss was named First Team All-Ivy League. She is the first player in program history to earn a First Team selection as a sophomore or younger.
• Senior Cecelia Collins was named Second Team All-Ivy League. Collins, who played her freshman and sophomore seasons at Bucknell, has now been named all-conference each of her four collegiate seasons.
• Henderson was Columbia's Academic All-Ivy League selection. She has a 3.65 GPA majoring in economics.
IVY LEAGUE TOURNAMENT POSTGAME NOTES (March 14-15)
• Riley Weiss was named to the All-Tournament Team. She averaged 14.5 points across the two games, including 21 against Harvard in the championship game.
• Kitty Henderson played in her 124th game, the most in program history.
• Susie Rafiu recorded her second career double-double in the semifinal win against Penn. She matched her career-high of 16 points and added 10 rebounds, shooting 6-of-10 from the floor.
• Columbia went 20-for-29 at the foul line against Penn, its most makes and attempts of the season.
• The championship game was the closest in Ivy League Tournament history (2017-pres.).
SENIOR SENDOFF
• Seniors Kitty Henderson and Cecelia Collins were honored as part of Senior Day in the home finale at Levien Gymnasium (Mar. 8). Over their last two years playing together, the two senior captains have gone a combined 45-12 (.789) overall with a 26-2 (.929) Ivy League record. In her four-year career, Henderson is 98-25 (.797) overall with a 50-6 (.893) league mark. With 98 wins, Henderson is the winningest player in program history.
• Across Henderson's four-year Columbia career and Collins' two-year Columbia career, the duo have combined for 2,068 points, 961 rebounds, 717 assists and 229 steals.
TRIPLE-DOUBLE TROUBLE
• Seniors Kitty Henderson and Cecelia Collins made NCAA history in Columbia's wins over Brown (Feb. 28) and Yale (Mar. 1) at Levien Gymnasium. Henderson posted a triple-double of 19 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists in Friday's win against Brown. The very next day, Collins posted a triple-double of 16 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists against Yale. It marked just the second time in NCAA Division I women's basketball history that two different teammates recorded a triple-double in consecutive games. The last such occasion came in 2003, when Jackson State's Latesha Lee (Dec. 3) and Arnie Williams (Dec. 6) accomplished the rare feat.
• The triple-doubles were just the second and third in Columbia women's basketball history. The first came on January 28, 2023, when Kaitlyn Davis had 19 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists in a 79-50 win over Dartmouth. Coincidentally, in both Davis' and Henderson's triple-doubles, each player had exactly 19 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists, four steals and just one turnover. According to research from Stats Perform, Henderson and Davis are the only two players this century to post those exact stat lines in Division I women's basketball game.
NATIONAL COACH OF THE YEAR FINALIST
• Head coach Megan Griffith was named a finalist for the Kathy Delaney-Smith Mid-Major Coach of the Year Award presented by Her Hoops Stats. The five finalists are Griffith, Carly Thibault-Dudonis (Fairfield), Vanessa Blair-Lewis (George Mason), Carrie Moore (Harvard) and Aaron Roussell (Richmond). Griffith has guided the Lions to their third straight regular-season title and first outright.
• The Lions enter the NCAA Tournament No. 42 in the NET, which is 15 spots better than where they ended last season. They own notable non-conference wins over Atlantic Sun champion FGCU and MAC champion Ball State, as well as a combined 3-1 Ivy League record against Harvard and Princeton, the best of the bunch. Earlier this season, Columbia matched the program's longest winning streak with 11 straight. The Lions have earned votes in the AP Poll multiple weeks this season, marking their third-straight season receiving votes.
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.
Players Mentioned
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