The Columbia women ended their seven-game road stretch with their second preseason tournament victory in three attempts. The Lions defeated Austin Peay in the championship game of the Lady Eagle Classic yesterday afternoon, after first downing tournament favorite Southern Mississippi.
“I’m very proud of our team. Everyone was focused and played hard,”
head coach Traci Waites said. “There wasn’t a time we really relaxed, except for a couple of minutes. I was very happy with everyone’s attention to detail and willingness to learn.”
After starting the season with two wins and a tournament title at the Iona Tip-Off Classic, the Lions entered this weekend’s tournament on a three-game losing skid. Combining a solid defense and a positive turnover margin for the first two times this season, the Light Blue was able to pull out a tight 48-41 victory over young, talented tournament host Southern Mississippi, then lead wire-to-wire in a 62-42 win against the Governors.
“We cut down on our turnovers and that’s one thing that concerned me coming into this weekend,” Waites said.
With home court advantage, two high-scoring first-years, and an unblemished record except for a loss to the number-one team in the nation, the Eagles were expected to win the whole tournament.
Early on in their first game of the tournament, Southern Mississippi compiled a slight lead over the Lions, but was unable to pull away by a decisive margin. By the end of the first half, the Eagles led just 24-22.
Though they trailed for much of the second half, the Lions pulled off the upset as senior forward Erin Jaschik put the Light Blue ahead for good on a lay-up with just over five minutes to play.
The Light Blue had an astounding 17 steals and forced a season-high 27 turnovers, while holding Southern Mississippi’s first-year stars Shannon Steuber and Elizabeth Biland to a combined 12 points and five-of-24 shooting from the field.
In their three previous collegiate games, Biland had made over 58 percent of her field-goal attempts, and Steuber had averaged a team-best 20 points per game.
“We just played solid zone defense,” Waites said after the opening-round victory. “I was very happy that our defense was able to force so many turnovers.”
Co-captain Lisa Copeland led the Lions offensively against the Eagles. The senior guard grabbed two key offensive rebounds down the stretch. She also led the Light Blue in both points and rebounds, with 14 and 13, respectively.
Both totals were more than seven above her season average. Copeland’s greatest contribution, however, may have been from the charity stripe, where she made eight out of nine attempts, including five within the final two minutes of the game.
“I’m really proud of Lisa,” Waites said. “She did a great job coming off the bench and hit some big free throws down the stretch.”
Unlike the semifinal, the outcome of the championship game was never in doubt for the Lions. Columbia led Austin Peay from the first basket of the meeting and pulled out to an early 22-7 lead en route to their 20-point win.
The victory was the Lions’ most cleanly played and offensively balanced game of the year. They committed a season-low 16 turnovers and had seven players who scored at least six points, led by 10 from senior center Edytte Key.
Copeland also played another solid game off the bench and came within one point of recording her second career double-double on back-to-back nights. Senior guard Nicole Lesko and classmate forward Adia Revell each tallied nine points for the Light Blue; Jaschik added eight points and was named to her third straight preseason all-tournament team along with Copeland,
who also received tournament MVP honors.
“Lisa had a good tournament, and a big first game [against Southern Mississippi],” Waites said. “Erin made all-tournament again and Nicole really played well and hit some big threes. I am very happy with our balanced scoring and how every game, someone different steps up.”
The victory over the Governors marked the end of Columbia’s unusually long seven-game road start that included three preseason tournaments.
The Lions started and finished the stretch with back-to-back wins but had some inconsistent play in between.
The Light Blue opens its home season on Wednesday night against Sacred Heart with two tournament championships already to its credit.
“In the games we lost, we didn’t come out with the same freshness and intensity, but we were focused and played very well [this weekend] on both ends of the floor,” Waites said. “I am very excited about coming home.”
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