Lions basketball defeats reigning champs

After beating Cornell twice to start Ivy League competition, the Columbia women’s basketball team faced perennial powerhouses Harvard and Dartmouth on the road. The Lions (12-6, 3-1 Ivy) fell to the Crimson by 18 points on Friday night but regrouped to overtake Dartmouth by 13 points on Saturday evening. With the weekend split, Columbia is off to its best start ever in conference play under head coach Paul Nixon.

“Obviously, we didn’t go up there with the intention of splitting,” Nixon said. “But after you lose a game on Friday night like we did, in a really tough game, the best you could hope for is to come back and put together a solid performance on Saturday night. And I was very, very pleased with the way that our team responded.”

Harvard (11-6, 2-1 Ivy) scored the first six points of Friday’s contest and never trailed in what became a 73-55 victory for the Crimson. Columbia kept the game close early in the first half, regrouping after Harvard’s 6-0 run to pull within one point of the Crimson. Junior guard Kathleen Barry put the Lions on the scoreboard with a 3-pointer after four minutes of play, while junior forward Judie Lomax sank a jumper on Columbia’s next possession.

Even when Harvard took a 15-5 lead midway through the half, Columbia did not back down. Barry made two free throws, and senior point guard Sara Yee hit a trey to cut the Lions’ deficit to five points. But Columbia never gained enough momentum to turn the tide of the game. The Lions trailed the Crimson by 13 points at halftime and fell behind by as many as 20 in the second half.
Columbia got within 11 points of Harvard with just under three minutes left in the second half, when sophomore guard Mary Beato made three of four free throws in a 30-second stretch. But Harvard responded with two 3-pointers that secured the victory for the Crimson.

Harvard did what most teams have been unable to do this season: limit Lomax on the glass. The Crimson did so by converting 29 of their 44 field goal attempts, thus giving Lomax few chances to grab defensive rebounds. On the offensive end, Lomax was constantly guarded by more than one Harvard player. Lomax entered the game leading the nation with 14.9 rebounds per game, but she managed only six boards on the night.

“Frankly, they [Harvard] just made every shot,” Nixon said. “When the other team only misses 15 shots in 40 minutes, there’s not a lot of rebounds to be had.”

Columbia often took forced shots, and, as a result, struggled to score. Lomax finished with a game-high 20 points but missed 11 of her 19 field goal attempts, while junior center Lauren Dwyer went a mere 2-for-14 from the field. Overall, the Lions connected on only 29 percent of their field goal attempts.

Columbia was aggressive with its full-court pressure, leading Harvard to commit 30 turnovers. But the Lions’ defensive intensity could not make up for their dismal shooting.

The Lions were more successful on Saturday, using their full-court pressure and a dominant performance from Lomax to achieve a 72-59 victory over Dartmouth. The Big Green (7-10, 2-1 Ivy)—the reigning Ivy League champions—committed 18 turnovers while Lomax finished with 26 points and 16 rebounds, both game highs.

“We did a better job against Dartmouth of mixing our presses,” Nixon said. “At Harvard, we were a little bit one-dimensional with our pressure, and with Dartmouth, we were able to mix our presses a little bit better. And I think that that really helped us be more effective.”

Dartmouth scored the first four points of the matchup, but Columbia responded with three points of its own in what began as a back and forth affair. After five minutes of play, the Lions achieved their first lead of the night when Lomax scored a layup. Barry then extended Columbia’s lead with a 3-pointer, and senior center Caitlin Stachon added a layup to give the Lions a six-point cushion. Columbia held a 19-9 advantage midway through the first half and led the game 41-26 at the intermission.

The Lions extended that lead, scoring the first four points of the second half, but the Big Green did not fold. Dartmouth answered with a 5-0 run and continued to make runs throughout the period. Columbia stretched its lead to as many as 20 points in the second half, but Dartmouth pulled within 11 of the Lions with 1:24 to play. Still, the Big Green’s efforts were not enough to overcome a subpar first-half showing.

Barry and sophomore guard Melissa Shafer powered Columbia’s outside shooting, combining for five 3-pointers on the night. Barry finished with 17 points, and Dwyer added 11. Junior forward Brittney Smith—last season’s Ivy League Player of the Year—led Dartmouth with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Nixon was especially pleased with Lomax’s showing in light of such competition.

“She [Lomax] took on the challenge of playing against the Player of the Year, and then she really stepped up,” Nixon said. “I thought she really outplayed Brittney Smith.”

The Lions resume Ivy competition when they travel to Brown on Feb. 5 and to Yale on Feb. 6.