HOPEWELL, N.J. – Columbia women's basketball head coach Megan Griffith has been named a finalist for the 2025 Kathy Delaney-Smith Mid-Major Coach of the Year Award presented by Her Hoop Stats. The five finalists were announced on Thursday.
 
Joining Griffith on the list of finalists are Fairfield's Carly Thibault-Dudonis, George Mason's Vanessa Blair-Lewis, Harvard's Carrie Moore and Richmond's Aaron Roussell. Her Hoops Stats will announce the winner on April 3.
 
Griffith has guided the Lions to a 21-5 overall record and sole possession of first place in the Ivy League standings (12-1). The Lions have secured at least a share of their third-straight Ivy League Regular Season Championship – they can earn their first outright title with a win over Cornell on Saturday.
 
The Lions enter their final regular-season game ranked No. 42 in the NET, which is 14 spots better than where they ended last season. They own notable non-conference wins over Atlantic Sun favorite FGCU and MAC favorite Ball State, as well as a combined 3-1 Ivy League record against Harvard and Princeton, the best of the bunch. Griffith's Lions ended Princeton's 30-game home winning streak and earned their first regular-season season sweep of the Tigers since 2008 with a 64-60 victory back on Feb. 22 at Jadwin Gym. Earlier this season, Columbia matched the program's longest winning streak with 11 straight (Dec. 21 – Feb. 14). The Lions have earned votes in the AP Poll multiple weeks this season, marking their third-straight season receiving votes.
 
Griffith has coached Columbia to an Ivy League-best 37-4 (.902) record in league games since the start of the 2022-23 season. She owns a combined 97-25 (.795) overall record spanning the last four seasons.

Award Eligibility & Schedule
To be eligible for the award, coaches must compete in one of the 26 conferences deemed to be "mid-major." The following conferences are considered high-major for the purposes of this award and thus ineligible: ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, and SEC. Additionally, Oregon State and Washington State are ineligible this year as membership in the Pac-12 Conference evolves. Interim head coaches are eligible, although total games coached will be taken into consideration.
 
The 20-person preseason watch list was announced in October. The 10 members of the midseason watch list were announced in January. The winner is scheduled to be announced on April 3. Coaches will be assessed throughout the entire season, including postseason play. Beyond on-court success, other factors such as recruiting, preseason expectations, injuries, and tactical coaching will also be weighed when assessing each candidate. Inclusion on previous watch lists is not a requirement to be considered for future watch lists.
 
FOLLOW THE LIONS
For the latest on Columbia women's basketball, follow @CULionsWBB on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and the web at GoColumbiaLions.com.