NEW YORK – The Columbia Lions are the outright Ivy League Women's Basketball Regular Season champions. The Lions defeated Cornell, 91-58, on Saturday at Levien Gymnasium, claiming their first outright league title in program history. It's their third straight regular-season title overall.
"I just have so much gratitude for this place," Columbia head coach
Megan Griffith '07CC told Jaida Patrick '23CC in her
postgame interview on ESPN+. "Columbia gave me my first head-coaching opportunity and what we've been able to here – it took everybody. I'm just so proud that I get to coach this amazing group of young women. We've got a lot to work on but it feels pretty good right now."
Unlike two years ago, when Cornell forced overtime to make the Lions earn a share of the title, Saturday's game was decided very early on. Columbia scored 29 first-quarter points, led by 21 at halftime and ballooned that lead to as many as 37 before all was said and done.
Leading the way, as they've done throughout their respective careers, were seniors
Kitty Henderson and
Cecelia Collins. The senior duo was honored before the start of the game and each senior knocked down a triple to score the first six Columbia points. Collins finished with a game-high 21 and completed a double-double with 10 rebounds and five assists. Henderson went for 14 points, a game-high nine assists, game-high three steals and also collected three rebounds.
"I just came in to such a good program," Henderson said postgame. "My teammates, the staff, credit to everyone. I love this place so much."
"Our culture, we come in every day and demand the best from each other," Collins added. "That comes from our coaching staff and alums."
Five Lions would score in double figures on the day. Sophomore
Riley Weiss netted 16 and was 4-of-9 from beyond the arc. Junior
Susie Rafiu had 10 points, seven boards and seven assists. First-year Maria Arrebola scored a dozen off the bench.
Columbia shot over 50 percent on the afternoon and was 14-of-28 from 3-point range. The Big Red were decimated by turnovers, committing 25 turnovers that led to 35 Columbia points.
For Cornell (7-20, 3-11 Ivy), Emily Pape and Rachel Kaus scored 17 points apiece.
Columbia (22-5, 13-1 Ivy) is the No. 1 seed for next weekend's Ivy League Tournament. The Lions will face either fourth-seeded Penn or Brown in the semifinals next Friday at 4:30 p.m. The Quakers (6-7) and Bears (6-7) finished the regular season with identical league records. The tiebreak is going to come down to each team's
NET ranking on Sunday.
The 2025 version of Ivy Madness is being held at the Pizzitola Sports Center in Providence, Rhode Island.
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