Turnovers, Poor Post Defense Spell Doom for W. Basketball

Throughout this season, the Columbia women’s basketball team has had two afflictions. They were able to fix one of them this weekend, but it was the manifestation of the other in both games that proved to be their ultimate downfall.

Early this season, the Lions’ Achilles heel was turnovers. In their first three Ivy losses, they averaged nearly 20 turnovers per game, and often coughed up the ball in crucial situations. Ever since Tori Verdi took over as acting head coach on Feb. 4, that number has dropped to just over 17 per game, mostly due to the maturation and improved decision-making of sophomore point guard Megan Griffith. Against Princeton, the Lions committed just 16 turnovers—only two of which were Griffith’s—and handled traps and full court presses with seeming ease.

The second of the Lions’ afflictions has been their inability to contain opponents’ post players. Dartmouth’s Elise Morrison, Brown’s Holly Robertson, Harvard’s Reka Cserny, and Penn’s Jennifer Fleischer have all at one point dominated the Light Blue’s interior defense. In their last game versus Princeton, on Feb. 12 at Levien, Columbia prevailed mainly because they were able to control Tiger center Rebecca Brown, who had four fouls and struggled against the Lion defense for most of the night.

The Lions entered this past Friday night’s game at 11-12, 4-6 Ivy, and with added purpose—wins in three of their remaining four games would have secured the program’s first winning season in its Division I history. This proved ineffectual, however, as Brown tore up the Lions for 19 points on 9-of-12 shooting. With the Lion guards doubling down defensively, Princeton’s outside shooters were left wide open, and they took advantage, shooting 50 percent from the field for the game.

“Coming in, our game plan was to take away the perimeter, kind of shut down Brown, and we never got to it,” Verdi said. “We allowed them to just play their regular inside-outside game—in the first half, they had 24 points in the paint, and they were all easy baskets.”

The following night against Penn, Columbia finally seemed to overcome its woes against opponents’ post players. The Lions stifled the imposing Fleischer, as she scored just 12 points on 3-of-10 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds—a considerable improvement from their Feb. 11 match with the Quakers, when Fleischer torched the Lions for career highs of 25 points and 19 rebounds.

“I think I struggled a bit more this game,” Fleischer said. “Sometimes they fall, sometimes they don’t, but they did a very good job on defense.”

“We did a nice job with their post,” Verdi added. “We wanted Fleischer to shoot over us, and [senior center] Edytte [Key] kind of neutralized her.”

But with the Lions leading 48-41 with 4:08 to go—and having, as Verdi put it, “executed the game plan perfectly”—the Lions’ other season-long affliction emerged. Adia Revell committed two turnovers over the next 1:39, during which time the Quakers cut the lead to four. After a Griffith lay-up and four more Penn points, and the Columbia lead shrinking to 52-51, senior Lisa Copeland turned the ball over for the fourth time of the night, allowing Quaker guard Karen Habrukowich to knock down a jumper and give Penn a one-point lead. On the ensuing possession, with 29 seconds remaining, the Lions turned it over for the fourth time in the final four minutes, effectively ending their hopes of stealing a victory from Penn on Senior Night.

The barrage of turnovers was a result of the menacing Quaker press, which prevented the flustered Lions from inbounding the ball on two occasions and from advancing past halfcourt on others.

“We turned the ball over because we panicked instead of having composure,” Verdi said. “We break the press and don’t turn the ball over, bring it up the floor just one time, and it’s a different outcome. That’s how important each possession is.”

With just two games remaining on the season, the Lions will have to return to square one against Brown and Yale following an emotionally-charged weekend in which they came possessions away from keeping their hopes of a .500 season alive. On Feb. 4 against the Bulldogs, the Lions committed 24 turnovers, and against the Bears the following night, Robertson had a double-double en route to a 24-point Bears victory. This weekend—the final in the careers of seven Columbia seniors—represents the Lions’ last chance to prove they have overcome their two afflictions.