Columbia women’s basketball erased a 13-point deficit and stormed back to defeat No. 11 seed Washington in a First Four thriller, 63-60, at Carmichael Arena on Thursday evening.
Columbia (24-6, 13-1 Ivy) advances to the First Round to take on No. 6 seed West Virginia on Saturday. Tip-off from Carmichael Arena is set for 2 p.m., and the game will air live on ESPN News.
Riley Weiss posted a game-high 24 points, with 14 coming in the fourth quarter. Cecilia Collins had 12 points, while Kitty Henderson added 11. The Lions outscored Washington, 42-26, in the second half.
“I’m really proud of our team for responding,” said head coach Megan Griffith. “Halftime was a big turning point for us, just in the trajectory of the game obviously, but also us understanding we were beating ourselves a little bit there too.”
Columbia trailed 34-21 at the break before making adjustments out of the locker room. Henderson led the charge in the third quarter, converting on a layup to cut the deficit to six with 5:43 left in the third quarter. The Lions still trailed 45-40 heading into the final frame before making their final charge.
Weiss opened the fourth quarter by draining a triple on the right wing and was fouled on the play to bring the Lions within one. On Columbia’s next trip down, she knocked another trey to give the Lions their first lead of the day, 47-45, with 7:47 on the clock.
A 7-2 spurt gave Columbia a 54-49 advantage before Savyia Sellers scored on back-to-back possessions to bring the Huskies back within one with 4:44 remaining. Washington eventually knotted things up just over a minute later before Susie Rafiu gave the Lions the lead back for good with a putback at the 3:04 mark.
Maria Avlijas drilled a wide-open look from beyond the arc to bring the cushion back up, and both teams struggled to convert on the offensive end down the stretch. Weiss buried a pair of free throws with 18 seconds left, giving the Lions a 61-57 lead, but Elle Ladine hit a deep 3-pointer a few seconds later to make it a one-point game.
Weiss knocked down two more from the charity stripe and forced Ladine into a tough shot on the defensive end that was well off the mark to effectively seal the game.
The Huskies dominated in the paint, led by Dalayah Daniels’ first-half double-double. Washington scored 30 points in the paint and held the Lions to just 2-of-15 shooting from beyond the arc in the first half to build their early lead.
“In the first half, honestly, we were really trying to close off the exits and let (Daniels) go to work, and she went to work,” Griffith said. “So at halftime, we said we’ve got to be better in the gaps. We’re going to send doubles in the post to make her think. She’s a nice passer, but let’s speed her up. We didn’t want to do it right away. We wanted to do it on the dribble, and I thought we executed that well. Then, our press was just way more in sync. (Sellers) is a really special player, but to make other people have to pass through the press and make decisions was the main goal. I thought those adjustments our team executed really well in the second half.”
Sellers posted 21 points and six assists to lead the Huskies. Daniels finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
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