Columbia approached final month’s sport towards Princeton because it did most video games.
The Lions didn’t put any pointless strain on themselves to keep up their good Ivy League report.
However this time round?
The feelings and stakes have been too excessive to disregard.
“This is a big one,” Columbia coach Megan Griffith advised reporters after observe this week. “We know what the standings are.”
First place within the Ivy League — and probably the convention’s regular-season title — was on the road Saturday when Columbia traveled to Princeton.
There was a second when it felt like Columbia (19-5, 10-1 Ivy) was doomed.
The momentum swung closely towards Princeton (18-6, 9-2) as the house crowd acquired increasingly into the sport within the third quarter.
The sport was slipping away as Princeton took its largest lead of six factors into the ultimate quarter.
However Riley Weiss’ heroic 16-point fourth quarter modified the sport’s trajectory and resulted in Columbia’s 64-60 thrilling win, which snapped Princeton’s 30-game house successful streak.
Weiss began the sport much like how she ended it. Weiss made two fast 3-pointers within the first quarter and helped give Columbia an early 10-2 lead.
Within the fourth quarter, she drained the game-tying 3-pointer from the left wing — and he or she didn’t let up till the ultimate horn sounded.
Weiss picked the pocket of Parker Hill and took it to the basket for what become a three-point play that gave Columbia a 49-44 lead.
Princeton tried to shoot its method again into the sport.
However it appeared Weiss and Columbia all the time had a solution.
Weiss completed with a career-high 34 factors, together with 5 3-pointers.
Kitty Henderson added 14 factors, three rebounds, three assists and 4 steals.
Give Princeton credit score, because the Tigers took Lions ahead Susie Rafiu out of the sport offensively with double groups.
The Tigers, who outsized the Lions, additionally regarded like orange-and-white site visitors cones blocking entry to Columbia’s basket.
However the pace of Weiss and Henderson was typically too exhausting to match.
Saturday was precisely how Griffith needed her workforce to reply after struggling a troublesome loss to Harvard final Sunday.
Griffith attributed poor end-of-game execution as one of many causes Columbia didn’t get the job accomplished towards Harvard.
However when the sport was within the steadiness late Saturday and after Princeton took a timeout, Weiss fed Henderson, who drilled a 3-pointer to present Columbia the 60-55 lead with 18 seconds left within the sport.
Rafiu and Henderson embraced and a “Let’s go Lions” chant broke out from the part that housed about 100 Lions followers behind the customer’s bench.
Princeton made it fascinating. Cecelia Collins fouled Fadima Tall on her made 3-point subject purpose, which minimize Columbia’s result in two with 4 seconds remaining.
However Tall missed the free throw and Columbia secured the ball and Weiss made two free throws to ice the sport with one second left.
Columbia is now in sole possession of first place within the Ivy League and, with three of the 4 backside convention foes left on the Lions’ schedule, Saturday’s triumph might very effectively have secured Columbia the No. 1 seed within the convention event.
The Lions host Brown on Friday and Yale on March 1 earlier than their season finale towards Cornell on March 8.
