Weiss Scores 26 to Lead Women's Basketball to Victory at Yale, 68-47

Friday, February 27

New Haven, Conn.

6:00 p.m.

Columbia

19-6,10-2Ivy League

Yale

6-19,2-10Ivy League

Columbia

Yale

Photo by: Columbia University Athletics / Josh Wang

Weiss Scores 26 to Lead Women's Basketball to Victory at Yale, 68-47

2/27/2026 10:06:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Highlights Postgame Interview Game Book Photo Gallery

Lions use big third quarter to win fifth straight

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Columbia opened the second half on a 15-0 run to pull away from Yale, 68-47, in Ivy League women's basketball action on Friday night at Lee Amphitheater.

Junior guard Riley Weiss led all scorers with 26 points. She scored the first 11 points out of the locker room to start the third-quarter run, which ultimately turned a 30-27 game into a rout. Weiss netted 15 in the quarter on 6-of-7 shooting. She ended the night 10-of-18 from the floor, including 4-for-9 from deep.

"We knew that [the first half] wasn't nearly our best basketball. We weren't executing how we wanted to," Weiss told Jacob Munch in her postgame interview on ESPN+. "We weren't defending like how we talked about all week, so we needed to ramp up the pressure and execute our stuff. We did that to start the third."

The Lions (19-6, 10-2 Ivy) outscored Yale (6-19, 2-10 Ivy) by a margin of 26-8 in the third period. It was almost identical to what happened the last time the two teams met back on January 17 in New York, when Columbia outscored the Bulldogs 26-6 in the third quarter.

Weiss has now scored 20+ points in six consecutive games. The five-time Ivy League Player of the Week is averaging north of 25 points over that span and shooting a blistering 47.4 percent (27-57) from 3-point land.

"My teammates really get me the ball, get me open and set good screens for me," said Weiss when asked about her recent run. "They just find me. Trusting as well, trusting our offense, not forcing shots, and just trying to make the right play."

Senior Susie Rafiu filled up the box score with 14 points, six rebounds, a game-high three steals, game-high two blocks and an assist. The 6-1 forward's presence down low helped lead to 42 points in the paint.

Yale was led by Cinaya Moore's team-high 15 points. Moore struggled from the floor against Columbia's pressure, shooting just 4-of-16, but was effective at the foul line, where she hit 7-of-8. Kiley Capstraw and Mary Meng combined for 20 points and 16 rebounds.

The Lions scored right off the opening tip as Fliss Henderson found Rafiu. However, the rest of the first quarter was mostly a struggle. Yale ripped off a 12-0 run to take a 14-4 lead, and held the Lions scoreless over a span of more than six-and-a-half minutes. Weiss broke the drought with a trey and hit another to pull the score to 16-12 at the end of the quarter.

Things turned around for the Lions in the second, where they started 5-for-9 from the field after hitting just 5-of-20 in the opening period. They retook the lead thanks to an 11-0 run that saw back-to-back threes from Mia Broom and Weiss. Broom hit another to cap the run and put the Lions ahead, 27-20.

Rafiu hit a buzzer-beating layup to send the Lions into the locker room, but Yale hung tough and was down by just three, 30-27.

Columbia made sure the result would not remain in question. The Lions shot 11-of-13 in the third quarter and absolutely blitzed the Bulldogs the entire period. They led by 21 heading to the fourth, and head coach Megan Griffith pulled her starters for nearly the entire final 10 minutes.

The Lions complete the weekend back-to-back at Brown (16-8, 8-4 Ivy) on Saturday. The Bears clinched their spot at Ivy Madness by defeating Cornell on Friday night. Saturday's opening tip from the Pizzitola Sports Center is scheduled for 5 p.m.

FOLLOW THE LIONS
For the latest on Columbia women's basketball, follow @CULionsWBB on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, or on the web at GoColumbiaLions.com.