Columbia is in the finals of the NIT, Yes Columbia

[msf22b]

Defeated Bowling Green 77-70

Was a tough out all season and challenged Princeton for the Ivy title.
Together with Harvard, the Ivy League is playing decent, better and better BB

 

[oldude]

Just watched my alma mater take down Bowling Green in front of a hostile crowd on the road. It looks like the Lions will get Kansas at home in Levien Gym for the WNIT championship. The Jayhawks are really BIG, and they’ve beaten some good teams this season.

 

[oldude]

Correction. Columbia will travel to Kansas to play the Jayhawks at Allen Fieldhouse.

 

[visitingcock]

Tough out my . They were one of only 20 teams that had as many Quad One wins as losses. They deserved to be in the NCAA tournament

 

[UcMiami]

Tough out my . They were one of only 20 teams that had as many Quad One wins as losses. They deserved to be in the NCAA tournament

I wonder about some of these teams - I know the 'honor of an NCAA bid' but playing and winning multiple weekends in the WNIT has to feel pretty good for the athletes compared to a one and done NCAA tournament. And I think any tournament experience is good for the growth of a team.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Columbia is my son's alma mater, and their backup PG is Carly Rivera, a friend and former teammate of Azzi's whom I watched when observing Azzi. I'm a Columbia fan.

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

I've been wondering which team's games I'll attend when I move to NYC. Columbia is an easy pick due to family connections.

 

[oldude]

I wonder about some of these teams - I know the 'honor of an NCAA bid' but playing and winning multiple weekends in the WNIT has to feel pretty good for the athletes compared to a one and done NCAA tournament. And I think any tournament experience is good for the growth of a team.

Exactly. Columbia was on track to be in the NCAA tournament, along with Princeton. But a tough loss to Harvard in the conference tournament knocked them out of the Big Dance.

As a result, the Lions were “relegated” to the WNIT where they have now won 5 straight games, the first 4 of which were at home, on campus, in front of raucous crowds of students and fans. Included in that streak was a “revenge” victory over Harvard.

As with all Ivy-League athletes, there are no athletic scholarships. These young ladies are smart, committed and have been a pleasure to watch play all season. I’m really proud of what they have achieved.

 

[visitingcock]

Columbia had a +1 NET Quad One Minus losses with 6 wins over Quad One teams: They are one of less than 20 teams that had a positive Quad One record. Although they had three Quad 2 losses and an Ugly quad three loss, I felt they deserved an NCAA tournament invite despite their Harvard loss. But. as @UcMiami points out, a WNIT championship shot may feel better than a 1(or even 2) and out
............................................................................................................................................................................................. Quad 1............Quad 2..............Quad 3.......

Columbia Ivy League (12-2)

6-1

2-3

9-1

 

[JellyBean]

I wonder about some of these teams - I know the 'honor of an NCAA bid' but playing and winning multiple weekends in the WNIT has to feel pretty good for the athletes compared to a one and done NCAA tournament. And I think any tournament experience is good for the growth of a team.

Oh absolutely. Naturally the goal is to play in the NCAA tournament, but you are always glad to continue playing in any tournament, especially the WNIT. Like you said, just that continued growth of the team. Developing the overall team chemistry and building of the program. Always plus.

 

[visitingcock]

Oh absolutely. Naturally the goal is to play in the NCAA tournament, but you are always glad to continue playing in any tournament, especially the WNIT. Like you said, just that continued growth of the team. Developing the overall team chemistry and building of the program. Always plus.

Well, some teams that are more used to being in the NCAA tournament decline WNIT bids but I generally agree with your stated goals.

 

[Dillon77]

Exactly. Columbia was on track to be in the NCAA tournament, along with Princeton. But a tough loss to Harvard in the conference tournament knocked them out of the Big Dance.

As a result, the Lions were “relegated” to the WNIT where they have now won 5 straight games, the first 4 of which were at home, on campus, in front of raucous crowds of students and fans. Included in that streak was a “revenge” victory over Harvard.

As with all Ivy-League athletes, there are no athletic scholarships. These young ladies are smart, committed and have been a pleasure to watch play all season. I’m really proud of what they have achieved.

oldude: Congrats to you and your alma mater. I'm somewhat with you on this. The female side of my family have/are attending Columbia for their graduate programs, and I've taken a "related interest" in them since their run to the quarterfinals last year. My youngest daughter has been to a few games. Some thoughts:

• Like Princeton, they play confidently and with purpose. In fact, I think the Lions are more upbeat and gifted offensively, but not anywhere as close defensively (they don't really have a paint presence). But, they're a blast to watch.
• Abby Hsu is a player. She can stroke from three (more than 100+ for two straight years) and has a nifty mid-range, pull-up jumper. Calm and collected.
• The surprise player for me is Kaitlyn Davis, the 6' guard/forward who has very long arms, which allows her to play bigger than her listed size. She's got an absolute killer elbow jumper. Apparently she's in the portal, but I want to see how she fares at Kansas before giving a definitive judgement.
• Megan Griffith, the former Lion player turned coach, can indeed coach. She's found a core of players who work really well together. For Columbia's sake, I hope she stays at her alma mater.
• Lastly, while there are no scholarships per se, I'm sure Columbia -- like other Ivies -- utilizes its extensive and liberal grant programs to good effect in the basketball area. As you said of the athletes, the coaching and admin. staff are also smart and committed and will find a way. Right?

Go Lions!

 

[oldude]

oldude: Congrats to you and your alma mater. I'm somewhat with you on this. The female side of my family have/are attending Columbia for their graduate programs, and I've taken a "related interest" in them since their run to the quarterfinals last year. My youngest daughter has been to a few games. Some thoughts:

• Like Princeton, they play confidently and with purpose. In fact, I think the Lions are more upbeat and gifted offensively, but not anywhere as close defensively (they don't really have a paint presence). But, they're a blast to watch.
• Abby Hsu is a player. She can stroke from three (more than 100+ for two straight years) and has a nifty mid-range, pull-up jumper. Calm and collected.
• The surprise player for me is Kaitlyn Davis, the 6' guard/forward who has very long arms, which allows her to play bigger than her listed size. She's got an absolute killer elbow jumper. Apparently she's in the portal, but I want to see how she fares at Kansas before giving a definitive judgement.
• Megan Griffith, the former Lion player turned coach, can indeed coach. She's found a core of players who work really well together. For Columbia's sake, I hope she stays at her alma mater.
• Lastly, while there are no scholarships per se, I'm sure Columbia -- like other Ivies -- utilizes its extensive and liberal grant programs to good effect in the basketball area. As you said of the athletes, the coaching and admin. staff are also smart and committed and will find a way. Right?

Go Lions!

As you note, since the Ivies don’t allow an extra “Covid” year, senior Kaitlyn Davis is in the portal. While she’s just 6’, at Columbia she’s filled a Gabbyesque, point center role, leading the team in both rebounds and assists, while being second in scoring to Hsu. She plays tough defense and has a good handle. Some lucky team (the Irish?) are going to get a really good player who probably projects as a “wing” at the Power 5 level.

 

[Dillon77]

As you note, since the Ivies don’t allow an extra “Covid” year, senior Kaitlyn Davis is in the portal. While she’s just 6’, at Columbia she’s filled a Gabbyesque, point center role, leading the team in both rebounds and assists, while being second in scoring to Hsu. She plays tough defense and has a good handle. Some lucky team (the Irish?) are going to get a really good player who probably projects as a “wing” at the Power 5 level.

Good scouting report!
If my alma mater -- ND -- visits the portal, I think it's for either a post or paint monster to complement Kylee Watson and/or Maddy Westbeld. As much as I like Davis, not sure that's her best place. Like you said, she's a wing, and we've got a big option (Cass Prosper) and a great one (the omnipresent Sonia Citron). But if Coach Ivey, wants to move Soni to off-guard full time, you never know.

If she has a grad program in mind, I could see her looking at schools such as Duke, which could certainly use her offense and rebounding, or Michigan, which needs size and scoring.

But that's after the season. In the meantime, go Lions!

 

[NYCer20]

I live a block from the Columbia football/baseball/softball fields and about 15 minutes from campus so try to get to all the home hoops games as well, for men (oof) and women (fun!).

Definitely feel like they were deserving of NCAA Tourney bid and think they could have made some noise in first round, but as others have said, getting to have this run...it is hard to know which is "better" for programs like Columbia. I'm sure the players would rather have that experience of getting to the Big Show, but then in 20 years when looking back on their careers, a run like this probably sticks in their minds more than a 15-point loss in first or second round of NCAA would.

They probably would have made the tourney if they'd made it to the Ivy finals but Harvard knocked them off in semis. They did get some vengeance then on Harvard two games ago in WNIT.

Griffith took over same time as the men's coach Jim Engles took over. Men were coming off the CBI title (their coach at the time Kyle Smith then left for San Francisco). Griffith has turned Columbia into an Ivy power while the men won a single game in conference last year and two this year and really weren't in a lot of games. Pretty stark difference between the two programs. It will be interesting to see how the women do next year. An OUTSTANDING senior class has really driven the success the past two years, along with underclassman Hsu. But a smaller school doesn't lose a class like that and just reload, I don't think, so will be tough to keep this type of success going, but Griffith has shown so far she seems up to the task of bringing consistent success.

For anyone in NYC, yeah, definitely check out the games. I love living so close to a D1 sports school (well, FCS for football and of course Ivy doesn't allow football into postseason for some dumb reason). If you want to take the 1 train up to 215th Street, Columbia baseball is really successful. Last year won 19 in a row at one point on their way to Ivy title and they have a lot of people back (tix are free). Football team has been fun to watch as well under Al Bagnoli, former Penn coach who came out of retirement to revitalize the Lions. Stadium is set in a pretty area. And during the winter, hoops games are fun and you can just take train to 116th. Hopefully women can keep it going next year and hopefully the men...uh, get better.

Hoping the Lions take it home.

 

[Dillon77]

I wonder about some of these teams - I know the 'honor of an NCAA bid' but playing and winning multiple weekends in the WNIT has to feel pretty good for the athletes compared to a one and done NCAA tournament. And I think any tournament experience is good for the growth of a team.

Griffth looked thrilled to be interviewed post-game in front of a packed Bowling Green audience last night. She thought the packed house and WNIT were great for WBB in general.

Heck, Bowling Green had Orange shirts made up with "Beat Columbia" on them. I guarantee you the LIons have never seen that before!

And now they get to play in one of the citadels of the heartland in Allen Fieldhouse (I've been twice). Good for them. Suck it all up and have a blast, Lions.

 

[NYCer20]

Columbia is my son's alma mater, and their backup PG is Carly Rivera, a friend and former teammate of Azzi's whom I watched when observing Azzi. I'm a Columbia fan.

Funny you mention Carly. Watching their games this year I've called her a poor man's Muhl! She's a solid old-school point guard, good floor general and passer and setting others up, but absolutely no offensive game of her own. Makes Nika look like Clarke! And yet she always seems to make a key play here and there and always does a good job of making sure the scorers on the team are getting the ball in good position. But hoping she gets a little bit of her own shot down the line.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Funny you mention Carly. Watching their games this year I've called her a poor man's Muhl! She's a solid old-school point guard, good floor general and passer and setting others up, but absolutely no offensive game of her own. Makes Nika look like Clarke! And yet she always seems to make a key play here and there and always does a good job of making sure the scorers on the team are getting the ball in good position. But hoping she gets a little bit of her own shot down the line.

In high school, Carly reminded me of Maria Conlon--short, not especially athletic, but a good ball handler and shooter. She was solid. She, Tshitenge, and Azzi made a nice trio.

 

[LoyalFanCT]

Way to go Lions!!!

 

[TheGOAT23]

Let’s GO LIONS!

 

[HuskyNan]

I've been wondering which team's games I'll attend when I move to NYC. Columbia is an easy pick due to family connections.

You’ve got St John’s in Queens, Fordham in the Bronx, Seton Hall in Orange NJ, and Rutgers in lovely Piscataway NJ

 

[Golden Husky]

Just watched my alma mater take down Bowling Green in front of a hostile crowd on the road. It looks like the Lions will get Kansas at home in Levien Gym for the WNIT championship. The Jayhawks are really BIG, and they’ve beaten some good teams this season.

My alma mater, too, dad. Lions have two first team All-Ivy League players and the conference coach of the year. Not too shabby. Go Lions.

 

[LoyalFanCT]

Game I believe will be broadcast on CBS Sports Channel. Starts at 5:30 p.m. today.

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

You’ve got St John’s in Queens, Fordham in the Bronx, Seton Hall in Orange NJ, and Rutgers in lovely Piscataway NJ

Rutgers is my 2nd team for all sports since I grew up a hop, skip and a jump from their campus.

 

[Centerstream]

Columbia lost to the Jayhawks, my late in-laws alma mater, 66-59.