Manhattan comes to town as Columbia looks to maintain momentum

The Columbia women’s basketball team will seek its second consecutive win when it hosts Manhattan on Tuesday night. The Lions (2-1) overtook Long Island by a 64-62 score on Nov. 18 after trailing the Blackbirds by five points at halftime. Junior center Lauren Dwyer finished with a game-high 19 points for Columbia, while junior forward Judie Lomax recorded her third double-double in as many games for the Lions.

Columbia shot a dismal 7-for-20 at the foul line against Long Island, but head coach Paul Nixon is not concerned about the Lions’ free-throw shooting. He noted that the Blackbirds also struggled at the charity stripe and attributed both squads’ troubles to the high tempo at which they played.
“The game this past Wednesday was somewhat of an anomaly, when you have both teams shooting below 40 percent [at the free-throw line],” Nixon said. “We have great confidence in our players’ ability to knock those shots down.”

Columbia will want to capitalize on every scoring opportunity it has against Manhattan (2-1), a squad that has won two games by at least 30 points this season. The Jaspers’ only loss came at the hands of 14th-ranked Virginia. Senior guard Michelle Pacheco leads Manhattan with 18.3 points per game, while sophomore forward Lindsey Loutsenhizer grabs a team-high six rebounds per contest

On Nov. 27 and 28, the Lions will be in Reno, Nev. for the University of Nevada Nugget Classic. Columbia faces Nevada on Nov. 27 and either Iowa or West Virginia the next day. Nevada (3-1 as of press time) opened the year with a 94-52 thrashing of California State-East Bay. Junior guard Johnna Ward paces the Wolf Pack with 15.7 points per game and scored a game-high 21 points in Nevada’s loss to Saint Mary’s (Calif.).

Iowa (3-1) most recently beat Northern Iowa by a score of 81-70. Sophomore guard Kamille Wahlin led all scorers with a career-high 33 points for the Hawkeyes. Meanwhile, West Virginia (2-1) won its first two games of the season before dropping a 92-69 decision to Ohio State. Junior guard Liz Repella, who scored a game-high 23 points against Ohio State, averages a team-high 17.7 points per game for the Mountaineers.

“This weekend, frankly, we’re going to see the highest level of competition that we anticipate seeing all year,” Nixon said. “It’ll be really good for our team. … It’s something that we’re really looking forward to.”