As Minutes Increase, So Does Fatigue

Saturday’s overtime victory over Brown may prove vital in keeping the Columbia women’s basketball team in the running for a top four Ivy finish, but the extra minutes may also come back to haunt the already short handed-team as fatigue sets in during the grueling Ivy season.

A quick glimpse at the box score shows that Danielle Browne played 44 minutes, Michele Gage played 41, and Sara Yee played 37. While one punishing game with 300 more seconds of play may not seem to be something that would doom a team, it just may be a final blow for the Lions.

First, the injury to Chelsea Frazier, who is listed as day-to-day, has had a profound effect on Columbia’s frontcourt. This forces freshmen Lauren Dwyer and Meghan Harker, who have already struggled with the notorious “freshman wall,” to play more minutes until she returns to action. In the games leading up to Frazier’s injury, Dwyer had failed to score in double figures for four consecutive games.

The Lions’ next problem could be head coach Paul E. Nixon’s preparation for Ivy play—a combination of numerous back-to-back games in the nonconference schedule and nine consecutive games away from Levien Gymnasium.

While one cannot question whether preparing the team with the back-to-backs worked until the end of the season, one can assuredly say that it forced the players to exert more energy. In a game against Army, Nixon himself admitted that his team looked tired in the second half.

A final source of fatigue is the amount of time that Nixon has played his starters this season. Last year, only one starter, Megan Griffith, played more than 30 minutes per game. This year, Browne, Gage and Yee all do. If there is one player Nixon worries most about it is not Gage (who has just gotten back into full game shape after last season’s ACL tear), but Browne.

Browne exploded over the weekend, scoring 23 points in Friday’s loss to Yale and 13 against Brown, but she has been pushed to the limit all year. She leads the team by playing nearly 32 minutes per game, and if the Lions are playing at Nixon’s desired pace—fast—she is the one constantly pushing. Against Brown and Yale combined, Browne grabbed 11 steals and turned the ball over 16 times, a sign of the speed at which she is playing.

Though he labeled her a “warrior,” Nixon admitted that he thinks about the wear and tear on Browne.

“It’s definitely a concern,” Nixon said. “She played a lot of minutes in the pre-conference schedule. It’s a situation where if more bench players step up, we can rest Danielle.”

As a freshman, Browne averaged 23 minutes and nearly 8 points per game, however, she averaged just 18 minutes and 6.4 points over her last five games. A starter for much of the season, Browne did not start down the stretch.

This year, such rest is impossible for the Lions to succeed. Browne has played far more and is the only Lion to score in double figures in every victory.

She is averaging 32 minutes per game this year, and in the Light Blue’s four conference games, Browne has logged nearly 36 minutes per game. Of the 165 minutes Columbia has played in conference, Browne has missed just 23.

Sitting at 2-2 in the league, the Lions have a good chance of securing a .500 record. With six of their next eight match-ups on the road, the Lions will certainly need strong performances from their starters, Browne in particular. The question is: will they have the energy to pull through?