Women's Basketball to Close Season on Road

For the first time in more than 20 years, a winning season is well within Columbia’s grasp. But the women’s basketball team will only get one shot to make such success a reality.

The Lions will take to the road this weekend, facing their first chance at a better-than-.500 season since 1987. To accomplish this, they will need to take down Princeton and Penn. A win at Jadwin Gymnasium on Friday night would guarantee the Light Blue at least a .500 season. A victory at the Palestra on Saturday would push Columbia to eight Ivy League wins—the most in a single season since Columbia joined Division I.

The Lions whiffed on their most recent opportunity to secure a .500-or-better season this past weekend, dropping their last home games of the season to Harvard and Dartmouth. Poor defense was the culprit in both contests, especially against the Big Green, which was down 12 at the break but mounted a huge rally in the second half to pull out a two-point win.

Friday’s contest against Princeton will afford Columbia more than one opportunity to pick up its seventh conference win. Should they upend the Tigers, the Lions would move to third place in the league, a spot they held just one week ago. Claiming that standing won’t be easy, however. The last time the teams met, Princeton held off Columbia by a 69-59 score, thanks to solid shooting down low. Princeton shot 55 percent inside the 3-point line, led by Devona Allgood and Krystal Hill, who each scored 14 points.

The Quakers, meanwhile, have been an easier task for the Light Blue as of late. Columbia has won three of its last four matches against Penn, including a 20-point shellacking earlier this season at home. In that contest, Penn’s Carrie Biemer, the league’s leading scorer at 16.6 points per game, was held to just six points on only two shot attempts. Four Columbia players, meanwhile, scored in double digits—among them, Ivy Player of the Year-candidate Judie Lomax racked up 15 points and 12 rebounds. Lomax has 19 double-doubles on the season and leads the nation in rebounding at 14.1 boards per game.

This weekend will mark not just the end of the season for Columbia, but also the end of the career of one of its most dependable players. Katrina Cragg, who leads the team in 3-pointers made on the season with 44, will graduate after 91 games played. Cragg is averaging a career-best 7.8 points per game in 26 games, 15 of which were starts. This weekend will also hold the last pair of games for Christina Gordon, who has played sparingly in 23 games this season, including three starts.

Tip-off for Friday’s game is set for 7 p.m. at Jadwin Gymnasium. Saturday’s game will start at 8 p.m. at the Palestra.