Historic success for women's basketball puts spotlight on pursuit of a long-awaited championship

Upper West Side NY

12 January, 2022

3:06 PM

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Columbia Daily Spectator BY TALYA LERNER • JANUARY 11, 2022, 12:57 AM The starting five smiled as they saw their family's faces illuminated on the large screens of the empty Levien Gymnasium. While the stands were empty on this early January Sunday, the cheers of the women's basketball team reverberated throughout the arena as the players' names were announced. Gathering together in a huddle, they screamed and clapped into an energized frenzy, a tradition before games. While the Omicron-imposed empty arena was eerily reminiscent of spring 2020—when their Ivy League tournament hopes were quashed at the cancellation of the contest—the teammates encouraged each other, filling the arena with their own cheers. The game to come, against Yale (8-6, 1-1 Ivy), would not be easy. The Lions (10-3, 1-0 Ivy) had to fight back from a 12-point deficit in the second half of the game, and went on to beat Yale by 10 points, starting their Ivy season with a win. They currently sit second in the conference table. However, the Lions' resilience throughout their first Ivy League game of the season is not the beginning of the story of their success. After a season hiatus due to the pandemic, the Lions' hunger to play was evident from the outset of the season in November. They began the season with a five-game winning streak for the first time in program history, taking down formidable teams like Georgetown University (6-4) and Clemson University (6-9) in the process. The Lions' fourth-quarter comeback win against Clemson was the team's first win over an ACC opponent since 2017 and only the second ACC victory in program history. This type of success is unfamiliar terrain for Columbia's women's basketball team. Most of the program's history has been a story of defeat. The Lions have never won the Ivy League title and are the only team in the Ancient Eight without a championship. The team has ended its season nine times with a losing record in the past decade. Since joining Ivy League competition in 1986, the Light Blue has only had two seasons with a winning record: the 2009-2010 and 2019-2020 seasons. The Lions' overall win percentage since 1986 is 41.5 percent, and that number drops steeply to 26.4 percent in Ivy League play. The story of the Light Blue's burgeoning success begins with the hiring of head coach Megan Griffith, CC '07, at the end of the 2016 basketball season. After finishing that season with an abysmal 1-13 Ivy record and at the bottom of the Ivy standings, the Lions hired the Columbia Hall of Fame inductee. Griffith first got to know the program as a star player and sophomore captain, ranking No. 8 on the Lions' all-time scoring list, before facing off against the Light Blue as an assistant coach for Princeton. While Griffith has always been championship-focused, success was not immediate. The Lions' first three seasons under Griffith were defined by a lackluster offense, which routinely relied on Camille Zimmerman, CC '18. In the 2017-2018 season, Zimmerman averaged almost 20 points per game, while the rest of the team's scorers put up 10 points or less per game. The discrepancy between Zimmerman's offensive power and that of the remainder of the team served as a testament to the team's lack of depth. It was not until the 2019-2020 season that Griffith began to see the success that she hoped to achieve. Buoyed by talented young players, the Lions finished the season with a 17-10, 8-6 record, granting them eligibility to compete for the Ivy League championship title. However, the cancellation of the tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic, cut short their trophy dreams, devastating the team and leaving its players hungry for success this year. This season, Columbia has dominated due to its formidable offensive power and the depth of its lineup. From the start of the season, it was clear Columbia's greatest asset was its ability to generate scoring—the Light Blue currently ranks at the top of the Ivy League in points, averaging 74.3 per game. Central to their offensive power is sophomore guard Abbey Hsu, a serial three-point shooter. Hsu is second in the league in scoring—averaging 17.4 points per game— and leads the league in three point shots, with nine more than her nearest competitor. She is also tied for fourth in three-point field goals made among Division I women's athletes. Unlike years past, where electrifying starters like Zimmerman were the playmakers, this year the Light Blue has a remarkable depth to its lineup. In the first Ivy League game against Yale, even as Hsu and other typical top scorers, like junior forward Sienna Durr, struggled, junior guard Carly Rivera stepped up with a team-high 14 points. After Hsu, junior forward Kaitlyn Davis' 13.4 points per game is the second highest on the team, followed by first-year guard Kitty Henderson with 9.5 points per game. The Light Blue's depth enables its flexibility in generating offense, evidenced by ranking first in assists per game in the league. As much as their success has been built on strong offensive teamwork and the depth of their shooters, the Lions' losses this season have all come from struggles with their defense. The team is seventh in th in the Ivy League when it comes to pollowed, averaging 67.5 points; only Harvard allows more. The Light Blue could improve its poor rebounding, like in games against Stony Brook and UMass; its teamwork; and taking chances on steals in tense situations––all of which may have contributed to the Lions' three losses of the season. As it is, the team has gained national recognition for its success. The Light Blue was recently ranked seventh on Collegeinsider's Women's Mid-Major Top 25, only behind Princeton, and prior to the postponement of its game against Princeton due to COVID-19 concerns, the Light Blue was slated to appear on the national stage on ESPNU. "We have been working a lot toward building a championship program," Griffith said. "And I think this is, just like I said, one of the rewards of that success that we've built so far." The Lions' success has been long awaited. While the team is packed with explosive star power, the evolution of its strength over Griffith's tenure has come from the ability to no longer rely on one star performer, and instead put forth a multifaceted offensive force. After a pandemic-imposed hiatus, the team has matured, and the Light Blue is prepared to continue their unfinished business from 2020. Although spectators are still barred from Levien Gymnasium, fans can follow along through the team's Twitter or watch their games broadcasted on ESPN+. After earning their first postseason berth in 2020, these women are well on their way to making their mark in the 2021-2022 Ivy League standings. Still, a larger goal looms: bringing a trophy back to Morningside Heights. Founded in 1877, the Columbia Daily Spectator is the independent undergraduate newspaper of Columbia University, serving thousands of readers in Morningside Heights, West Harlem, and beyond. Read more at columbiaspectator.com and donate here.