The Columbia women’s basketball team will seek its fourth win of the year when it hosts Delaware on Wednesday night. After winning three of their first four matchups, the Lions (3-3) accrued two losses in as many games at the University of Nevada Nugget Classic over the weekend.
On Nov. 27, Columbia dropped a 64-47 decision to Nevada. While the Lions built an early 10-2 lead against the Wolf Pack, Nevada proved to be the superior squad with a dominant second-half performance. Columbia played a closer game against Iowa on Nov. 28, but the Lions ultimately lost to the Hawkeyes 72-69. Iowa drilled a 3-pointer with 16 seconds to play that Columbia could not answer.
“Against Nevada, we were able to kind of hang with them for a half,” Columbia head coach Paul Nixon said. “We talked [after the game] about the adjustments that we needed to make in order to be competitive for two halves, and we were able to do that [against Iowa]. … We took a Big Ten team, and we played with them for the full forty minutes.”
The Lions will try to maintain their competitiveness on Wednesday, when they look to avenge last season’s loss to Delaware. In that game, the Blue Hens built a double-digit advantage late in the second period and eventually overtook Columbia by 14 points. No one scored in double figures for the Lions in the 62-48 loss.
To be successful this year, Nixon believes that the Lions must improve their team rebounding. While junior forward Judie Lomax was the nation’s top rebounder last year and currently leads Columbia with 12.8 boards per game, no one else averages more than 5.8 boards for the Lions. Nixon wants Columbia’s rebounding to be more balanced.
“I thought we’d taken some strides in the rebounding department, but that’s definitely an area that was exposed this weekend,” he said. “We have to really step up our rebounding effort as a team.”
Delaware (2-2) most recently split a pair of games at the Coors Rocky Mountain Invitational at Colorado State. The Blue Hens achieved a 72-43 win over Houston on Nov. 27 but suffered a 67-44 defeat by Colorado State the following night.
This season, Delaware boasts one of the nation’s most talented players in redshirt, freshman Elena Delle Donne. As a high school senior, Delle Donne earned 2007-08 National Player of the Year honors from the Naismith, McDonald’s, and Gatorade foundations. The forward/guard is averaging 25 points and nine boards per contest after only three games for Delaware.
Delle Donne leads the Blue Hens in scoring and rebounding, but she did not play against Colorado State due to an ankle injury sustained late in Delaware’s victory over Houston. According to an e-mail from a Sports Information Intern at Delaware, “her return date is uncertain and will be determined on a day-to-day basis.”
Regardless of Delle Donne’s status, Nixon expects the Blue Hens to pose a challenge.
“They beat us [last year], and she [Delle Donne] wasn’t on the roster,” he said. “So we’re going to have to come out and really be ready to play, whether she suits up or not.”
Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
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