Women's basketball dominates Yale, clinches spot in program's first-ever Ivy title game

Upper West Side NY

12 March, 2022

4:05 PM

Description

Columbia Daily Spectator BY REBECCA WACHEN MARCH 12, 2022 For the first time in program history, the women's basketball team will compete for an Ivy League championship this Saturday. The Ivy League Women's Basketball Tournament is underway for the first time in three years. After the tournament was canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19, followed by a canceled Ivy League basketball season in 2021, every team has some unfinished business that they hope to take care of this weekend. Friday's game against No. 3 Yale marked the first time in 36 years that Columbia played in a postseason game and the first time the Lions did so as a Division I program. Their last postseason game was played in 1986, when Columbia was still home to a Division III program. The teams that finish in the top four of the regular season have a chance to compete for the Ancient Eight trophy. After obtaining a perfect record in conference play, Princeton (23-4, 14-0 Ivy) earned the No. 1 seed and battled out No. 4 Harvard (13-14, 7-7 Ivy) in the first semifinal round in a tight matchup in which the Tigers came on top 72-67. In the second semifinal of the day, No. 2 Columbia (22-5, 12-2 Ivy) blew out No. 3 Yale (16-11, 9-5 Ivy) to gain a spot in the finals, marking the third time this season that the Lions beat Yale after a commanding 67-38 victory Unlike the close games that Columbia had played against Yale in the regular season, the Lions had a strong early showing on Friday night that the Bulldogs failed to catch up to. After Columbia started the game on a 8-0 run, Yale head coach Allison Guth had to call timeout to strategize with her team. Though Yale was eventually able to get some points on the board, the Light Blue offense was unstoppable. Right after Yale guard Robin Gallagher made a jumper to make it a single-digit game, sophomore guard Abbey Hsu responded with back-to-back threes. "We always practice [the] first 10 minutes, and we just want to make sure we threw the first punch," Hsu said. "And I'm very proud of my team because I felt like we did." The Lions' offense continued to cruise with Hsu's momentum, putting them ahead at 22-5 after the first quarter. Even with the large lead, the Lions showed no signs of slowing down, forcing the Bulldogs to fight for traction. In the second quarter, Columbia's made-shot total nearly doubled that of Yale's, which would not be enough to catch up to the red-hot Lions. Though only outscoring the Bulldogs by seven in the second quarter, the Lions still maintained a 39-15 lead heading into halftime. Columbia sailed through the second half, leading by up to 30 points. Typically a strong rebounding team led by forward Camilla Emsbo, Yale could not get the boards necessary to force the comeback it was looking for. Additionally, with Emsbo only scoring nine points compared to her season average of 14.1, the Bulldogs failed to find the spark needed to make the second half competitive. As a testament to the Lions' depth as a team, all 15 Lions got into the game to close out their 67-38 victory. Friday night's win marks the first postseason win for the Lions since 1986, allowing them to go for an Ivy League championship for the first time in program history. "I told a lot of people we didn't come here to play one game. We came here to win," Columbia head coach Megan Griffith said. "We're going to be ready for Princeton tomorrow." Two players led the way for the Lions on Friday night. Junior guard Jaida Patrick had one of the best games of her Columbia career, finishing the night with a career-high 23 points after going 11-13 from the field, including 5-5 in the second half. Hsu finished the night with 18 of her own, with four from behind the arc, to put her just four short of tying the Ivy League record of 99 in a season. Hsu will have the chance to tie, and potentially break, the record in tomorrow's final. After losing twice to the Tigers in the regular season, the Lions will have one more chance to go against an undefeated Princeton team for the Ivy League crown tomorrow, March 12, at 5 p.m. Fans who can't make it to Lavietes Pavilion in-person can watch the game on ESPNews and stream the game on ESPN+. "We're at the point of the season, we're just getting started," Griffith said. "It feels kind of weird you're saying that in March, but we're very young. And we're very hungry." Staff writer Rebecca Wachen can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @rebecca_wachen. 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.