Points off Turnovers Spark Lions’ Offense

As head coach Paul Nixon stood outside the visitors’ locker room holding a Columbia stuffed animal monkey after having just watched the Columbia women’s basketball team get dismantled by Yale 76-59, his disgust was evident. He called it the most disappointing loss of his short career at Columbia.

The problem, Nixon said, was a lack of aggressiveness.

“They do a good job on defense taking a team out of where they stand offensively,” Nixon said of Yale. “We did not have the right mind-set of pushing the ball and dictating what we could.”

What Nixon means is that his team needs to be more aggressive on offense.
“Regardless of the opponent, we need to get the ball in transition,” Nixon said.
Since conference play started, the problem for the Lions has not been an inability to force turnovers. They have forced 18.6 per game, the third most in the Ivy League.

At times this season, they have made Ivy veterans, such as Harvard’s junior-senior backcourt of Emily Tay and Lindsay Hallion, look like freshmen—they combined for 11 turnovers.

At Brown this weekend, the Lions outscored the Bears 30-12 on points off turnovers. With 15:29 left in the first half, Columbia led by just one. A steal by Katrina Cragg led to a Michele Gage three-pointer. That triple ignited a 15-3 run, and the game was never close again.

“Our guards did a great job at the beginning of making the kick-ahead pass,” Nixon said.

Nixon has seen his team go on similar runs all season. Down 23 at the half to Harvard and down 20 with 17:15 remaining, turnovers by Tay and Hallion led to back-to-back scores as the Crimson lead shrunk to 12. Down 18, the Lions rallied to tie with 10 points coming off turnovers.

These displays have contributed to the Lions’ 6-3 Ivy record. By most accounts the Lions, picked to finish seventh in the league, have exceeded expectations.

At the same time, getting the ball in transition on offense is something Columbia has not done consistently. When Yale came to Levien Gymnasium, they committed 16 turnovers, but the Light Blue managed to capitalize on them for only nine points.

This past weekend, Columbia again tried to come back against Yale with its transition game. Lauren Dwyer rebounded a Jamie Van Horne miss, and pushing the ball up resulted in a Brittney Carfora three-pointer. A turnover by Yale’s freshman center Mady Gobrecht led to a Danielle Browne lay-up that brought the Lions within nine. However, Yale was able to consistently stop the Lions’ runs, as Columbia never got closer than seven.

With four league games remaining, it is clear that the indicator of success for Columbia has been whether they take advantage of the turnovers they force.

When the Light Blue scores more points off turnovers than its opponents, it is 5-1. When they does not, it is 2-2. When the Lions score 60 points, they are 4-1. When they do not, they are 2-3.

With Harvard and Dartmouth on tap for this weekend, the Lions have a chance to try and frustrate Tay again and get back in the Ivy race.