Michael Zhong

It has become common sight in Columbia women's basketball to see Judie Lomax, Danielle Browne, or any other Lions player dive onto the floor for a steal. This ferocious energy is a key and necessary element of the team's scheme that has anchored Columbia's defense this season. The team runs a pressure-oriented defense, and often relies on half-court traps and the full-court press to disrupt the opponent's offense. This defensive system has paid dividends for the Lions, and has led to Columbia leading the league in steals per game, last year and for most of this season. Points off of turnovers can swing the balance of any game, but this stat is particularly significant for Columbia. In games where Columbia has scored more points off turnovers than its opponent, the team's record is 14-4 (with two of the defeats coming from narrow losses to ACC team North Carolina State and Big Ten team Iowa). Conversely, when the team ties or loses the points off a turnover battle, Columbia is just 2-6. These statistics indicate that the team lives and dies with the defense's ability to generate steals. Fortunately for Columbia, the team has the right players for this system. Kathleen Barry currently ranks fifth in the Ancient Eight with 1.8 steals per game. She is often assigned to the opposition's biggest offensive threat, and her play is vital to the Lions' success. In the three games she missed because of a knee injury, Columbia allowed a season-high 81 points to Yale, 77 points to Princeton, and struggled to beat last-place Penn. These numbers contrast with the team's average 62.0 points allowed per game, and indicate Barry's importance to the squad. Most people associate Lomax's defensive contributions with her rebounding—she leads the nation with 13.5 rebounds per game—but she also leads the Ivy League with 2.6 steals per game, a rarity for a forward. One reason she is able to thrive in steals as a forward is that all the roles in the Lions' full-court press are interchangeable. On some defensive sets, center Lauren Dwyer may be guarding the middle of the court. On other opponent possessions, it may be point guard Sara Yee. By keeping Lomax's position flexible, she can use her knowledge and athleticism to make plays. "Judie really understands the system defensively," head coach Paul Nixon said. "She does a great job of getting her hands on a lot of balls, because she's understanding what her teammates are getting ready to do, and seeing and anticipating what her opponents are going to do, and she can oftentimes beat them to the spot. Her strength and athleticism is only a small component of how good a defensive player she is." Arguably, the team's main catalyst for steals comes from its back-court senior tandem of Browne and Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year Yee. Although Yee's defensive stats seem average, what the scoreboard doesn't capture is her ability to relentlessly pressure her defender. "What Sara does, is she really sets the tone for us defensively with her ball pressure. She's able to pick up the ball in the full court and really pressure it all the way down the court into the half," Nixon said. "That relentless pressure she's able to apply on the ball allows the rest of the players to be more successful defensively because the players that they're guarding have to work really hard to get open so that whoever Sara's guarding can safely deliver the basketball." Browne, the other half of the back-court tandem, is known for her takeaway abilities as well. Her four-year tenure at Columbia has been one of the most prolific of any guard in the school's history, and she is slated to finish fourth all-time in assists and second all-time in steals. "You look at Danielle's overall career and you start looking at some of the numbers. The two most important stats for a guard typically are assists and steals. ... Her entire career she's been one of the top people on the team in the two major guard categories," Nixon said. "For her to end her career in the top four in both categories is not surprising." Throughout her career, one reason she has been so proficient in getting steals is her quickness and energy. She has the speed to tip passes and to get to loose balls faster than her opponents. More importantly though, her style as an unselfish player on the offensive end (she's third in the league with 4.5 assists per game) also carries over to defense. She's willing to hit the floor hard and sacrifice her body to get at loose balls, truly the definition of a team player. "As a player, she really is all about what's best for the team, and I think that's probably the biggest thing that she'll leave as part of her legacy at Columbia," Nixon said. "She's about team first, and not about what's best for Danielle Browne."

The volleyball team coasted through most of the Columbia Classic this weekend, cruising past both Lafayette and Central Connecticut State in 3-0 sets. Columbia never allowed more than 17 points in any set until the third versus Central Connecticut State, which the Lions still won 25-23. The Lions defeated the Leopards easily, winning in straight sets with scores of 25-11, 25-17, and 25-17. The Light Blue had an equally smooth win over the Blue Devils, taking the match in three sets with scores of 25-15, 25-15, and 25-23. In the final match of the tournament, however, Columbia was tested by Iona, when the Light Blue found itself in an unfamiliar position this weekend, trailing 11-5 in the first set. Although the Lions managed to close the gap, the Killians ultimately prevailed 28-26 to make the tournament more interesting. The second set proved to be close as well, with Columbia hanging onto a slim 17-15 edge. From there, led by freshman Madeline Rumer's two kills, the Lions won their second set by a comfortable 25-19 margin. In the third set, the Light Blue found themselves in another tight one with the score tied at 15-all. From there, behind stellar defensive play from freshman libero Katherine Keller and well-placed shots from sophomore Megan Gaughn and junior Cindy Chen, Columbia was able to seize the momentum, taking the third set 25-17. It seemed as if Columbia would run away with the match. However, Iona impressed in the fourth set, routing Columbia 25-14. That set the stage for the final set of the tournament. The set initially appeared as if it would drag on with the score tied 4-4 following an error by Gaughn. However, the Lions eventually won the match and the tournament with a 15-9 fifth-set victory. Gaughn was named tournament MVP, while Rumer and Chen were named to the all-tournament team. The Lions will next host Bucknell, Fairleigh Dickinson, and Fordham in the Columbia Invitational from Sept. 17-18.

It took an overtime thriller, a second-half injury comeback, and 25 prior years of disappointment, but finally—finally—women's basketball secured that elusive fifteenth victory. With a 66-59 win over the reigning champion Dartmouth, Columbia (15-9, 6-4 Ivy) clinched its first ever winning season in program history. The win, which came on Columbia's annual Pink Zone Night, also gave Columbia its first season sweep over Dartmouth since the 1990-1991 season and marked only the second time the past five years that any Ivy League team has swept Dartmouth. Playing in front of a full-capacity crowd, the Lions were full of life right from tip-off. Columbia's all-Ivy forward Judie Lomax set the tone by corralling a loose ball and ripping it from the other Dartmouth defender clinging on. The possession ended positively when guard-forward Kathleen Barry, who missed the previous three games with a knee injury, nailed a corner trey to give Columbia an early 3-2 lead. Columbia continued to pour it on, displaying its grit with a dominant interior defense. Center Lauren Dwyer, who finished the game with a career-high seven blocks, swatted a layup attempt by reigning Ivy Player of the Year Brittney Smith. A minute later, Dwyer stuffed Smith's attempt again, sending the crowd into frenzy. On the next possession, Dwyer completed her series of defensive stuffs with her third block in just two minutes. "Every year we come in and really want to beat them," Dwyer said. " Anything I can do to contribute I want to do, and that was my contribution tonight." Dwyer almost single-handedly smothered the Big Green offense—only one Dartmouth player scored in the first ten minutes of play—but Columbia's own offense was sluggish against the Ivy League's second-ranked defense. That changed when super-sub Melissa Shafer entered the game. Shafer carried the Columbia offense, going on a 9-0 run by herself to give Columbia a 12-4 lead. "She's done a great job of embracing her role on the team of being that offensive sparkplug off the bench," head coach Paul Nixon said of Shafer. " When she comes in like she did tonight and is able to take a game from 3 to 2 and immediately put 12 points on the board, that's tremendous." The Light Blue appeared to be cruising to its milestone victory, but the reigning champs displayed their fortitude, going on an 11-0 run to take a 15-12 lead with six minutes remaining in the half. Still, behind more scoring from Shafer—she scored 12 first-half points and finished with a career-high 15—Columbia looked to be in good shape, taking a 21-17 lead after Shafer converted a three-point play. A minute later though, the crowd became dead silent after Columbia's star forward Lomax fell to the floor with an ankle injury. After several minutes, she was helped to the locker room with a minute left to play. The half ended 26-23 in Columbia's favor after center Caitlin Stachon made a 15-foot jumper at the buzzer. The crowd would erupt at the onset of the second half when Lomax came out of the locker room and jogged onto the court. Lomax played well in the second half, scoring nine points and grabbing many key rebounds. Every contribution from her was necessary, as the game swung back-and-forth with five lead changes in the second half. With a minute left, Dartmouth had the ball and a 53-51 lead. The Big Green got the ball inside, but the Lions' Dwyer blocked Margaret Smith's layup attempt and the two teams scrambled for the loose ball. Dwyer emerged out of the fray with possession and swung an outlet pass to senior guard Danielle Browne who was streaking down the court. In transition, Browne found a way to drive by her defender and forced a foul with 46 seconds left on the game clock. The senior tri-captain displayed her composure, hitting both free throws to tie the game at 53. On the next play, Margaret Smith drove through what appeared to be an opening in the lane, but Lomax appeared out of nowhere to take the crucial charge. The charge gave Columbia the last possession and also gave Margaret Smith her fifth and final foul. The Light Blue had one last chance to secure the win with the score tied at 53 and 20 seconds remaining on the game clock. Senior guard Sara Yee had the ball open in the corner, but she missed the game-winning 3-pointer. Barry had another chance after gathering Yee's miss, but failed to make a contested layup, sending the game to overtime. In overtime, Barry and Yee quickly made up for their misses. Barry hit a free throw to trim the Big Green lead to one, and following a basket by Dartmouth guard Faziah Steen, Yee hit a trey to tie the game 57-57. Columbia would find more offense, with Lomax, Dwyer, and Browne all scoring after Yee's trey. Meanwhile, the Big Green offense fell flat. Dartmouth forward Sasha Dosenko, who finished with a game-high 19 points, missed a jumper and with the game close, Dartmouth's Brittney Smith missed two critical free throws. That was enough for Columbia to escape with the win and the 66-59 overtime victory gave the Lions their first ever winning season and moved them into clear third in the conference. "For them [Dartmouth] to get swept in a season series, is very, very uncommon, and you can see why," Nixon said. "They were so tough in the second half, coming back, making runs, making runs, making runs. And the way that our young women stepped up and answered every run, I'm as proud as I can be of any team I've ever coached." The next day, coming off the emotional win, Columbia hosted the same Harvard team that handed them a 73-55 loss a month ago. Early on, Harvard's Emma Markley controlled the paint with two early blocks in the first five minutes of play. It was reminiscent of last time's loss at Harvard, in which Markley's presence bothered Columbia's offense into a 20-point first half. This time though, the Columbia attack kept pace with Harvard's second-ranked offense, and headed into the half leading 34-33. Lomax paced the way with 10 first-half points, and Shafer provided her usual spark off the bench, scoring seven points in five minutes. The Lions' full-court press was also executed well, forcing the Crimson into 14 first-half turnovers. The next half was close throughout. Harvard looked as if it would pull away, climbing ahead by nine points with six minutes remaining. The Light Blue roared back though, staging a 10-0 run to reclaim the lead. Barry, who finished the game with eight points and 10 rebounds, scored four points in that stretch. That run ended when Harvard guard Brogan Berry spun and sunk an off-balance jumper to take a 65-64 lead. A few plays later Berry would again raise Harvard in the closing moments of the game, hitting both free throws after a questionable foul was called on guard Sara Yee. With those free throws, Harvard took a 69-67 lead. Columbia would have several opportunities to send the game to overtime, but with time winding down on the game clock, could not convert. Yee missed a trey but Columbia retained possession with 5.3 seconds left. The next play, Dwyer missed a baseline jumper, and Lomax's follow-up attempt was blocked to end the game. With the weekend games, Columbia now stands 15-9 overall, and 6-4 in conference play. Next weekend, women's basketball travels to the Philadelphia to play winless Penn (1-22, 0-9 Ivy) before playing in its last away game of the season at undefeated Princeton (21-2, 9-0 Ivy).

Following a 1-2 performance at the St. John's Tournament to begin the year, the Light Blue will host the Columbia Classic from Sept. 10 to Sept. 11 in Levien Gymnasium. Columbia will welcome Lafayette, Central Connecticut, and Iona for the weekend event. Columbia has played all three teams in recent years, defeating Central Connecticut 3-0 and Iona 3-1 in 2009, and narrowly triumphing over Lafayette 3-2 in 2008. Although the Lions won only one match last weekend, the St. John's Tournament can still be described as promising. Columbia has showcased strong play despite recent losses as most of their sets were lost by narrow margins. In the St. John's match, Columbia lost 3-0, but lost the sets 25-21, 28-26, and 25-19. The freshmen also made their mark in the tournament. In Columbia's 3-0 win over St. Francis, freshmen Madeline Rumer and Christina Campbell combined for 23 kills on 43 attempts with just two errors. In addition, setter Colleen Brennan has already notched her first double-double, recording 18 assists and 10 digs in the St. John's match. Having the presence of a second setter in Brennan significantly reduces the burden on sophomore Kelsey Musselman, who was the Lions' sole setter last season. Columbia plays Lafayette at 7 p.m. on Friday, Central Connecticut at 11 a.m. on Saturday, and Iona at 7 p.m. on Saturday.

Volleyball opened its season this past weekend, finishing with a 1-2 record at the St. John's Tournament. Columbia lost its season opener 3-1 to Denver. Despite only winning one set, the contest was tight throughout, with Columbia scoring as many points as Denver. The first set exemplified the tone of the match. The Lions grabbed an early 4-1 lead behind kills from second team all-Ivy sophomore Megan Gaughn and sophomore Heather Braunagel. However, Columbia never secured a greater lead and eventually lost the first set 28-26. Denver won the second set by a wider margin, prevailing 25-20 as a result of eight Columbia errors. Up two sets, the Pioneers faltered, dropping the third set 25-13. In that series, Denver committed more errors (10) than kills (seven). Columbia looked primed to continue its comeback, taking an early lead in the fourth set. That was not enough, though, and Denver finished the match with a 25-20 set win. Gaughn shouldered the load with 43 attempts and recorded a .326 hitting percentage. Freshman setter Colleen Brennan led the team with 25 assists. Against St. John's the same day, Columbia lost 3-0, losing 25-21, 26-24, 25-19. In the loss, Brennan achieved her first collegiate double-double with 18 sets and 10 digs. In the last match of the tournament, the Lions finally notched a win, dispatching the St. Francis Terriers 25-15, 25-17, and 25-7. Columbia committed just eight errors the entire match and had 38 kills. Freshman Christina Campbell had a breakout performance with 15 kills on just 28 attempts. Gaughn and freshman Madeline Rumer also contributed with seven and eight kills, respectively. Columbia (1-2) will play host this weekend from Sept. 10-11 at the Columbia Classic.

How do you stop Judie Lomax? If you've ever attended a women's basketball game, you're probably just as puzzled by that question as is her opposition. Lomax was already first-team All-Ivy coming into this season, but her game has significantly improved this year. In the past, Lomax was a looming post presence and was absolutely dominant off the glass. This year, her rebounding has continued to be stellar, but her offensive repertoire has expanded to greater levels. Among many other things, her post game has improved and she has been shooting much better. Lomax has added a reliable outside jumper and her free-throw shooting rose from 55 percent last year to 68 percent this year. Now, she's a frontrunner for the Ivy League Player of the Year award, and currently leads the conference in points per game (an average of 18.8) and rebounds per game (an average of 13.9). Naturally, when a team has the league's leader in these two vital statistics, that player generates a lot of attention. This has led to teams creating different game plans to try to contain Lomax. In Columbia's early Ivy games—specifically its two-game series against Cornell—the difficulties Lomax usually poses for defense were very visibly displayed. In the Big Red's first attempt at stopping her, it resorted to a zone defense geared to prevent her from exploiting a lone defender guarding her. The zone held her to 17 points and 16 rebounds—a solid performance given what happened in the next game—but the defense also allowed additional opportunities. According to head coach Paul Nixon, when Columbia has cracked the zone defense, the team has "been able to counter that [zone] with very good ball movement. In many of the games, the team has been very consistent hitting the outside shot." This was shown in the Cornell game, in which the Light Blue displayed great ball movement to get open looks. Although the team didn't shoot as well as it normally does—especially from 3-point range, where the team was seven for 26—it still nailed enough outside shots to easily win 68-44. In particular, junior guard-forward Kathleen Barry shot well, accounting for three of the team's seven makes. Part of the reason for the team's success, despite the night's relatively bad shooting, can be attributed to another flaw with the zone defense. "In certain situations this year, the other team has actually found it more difficult to keep her off the boards, out of the zone, than if they have an individual player that they're matching up on her," Nixon said. "I call it the diffusion of responsibility. Anybody could do it, but nobody does it, so it winds up not getting done." This element of the zone was demonstrated by the Cornell game. Of Lomax's 16 rebounds, seven of them were offensive and the team as a whole collected 23 offensive boards. This gave Columbia more chances to initiate the Lomax attack, which helped Columbia control the game despite not shooting at its best. A more recent attempt at using the zone defense occurred in the first half of Columbia's home game against Penn this Saturday. The Quakers utilized a zone defense that was very noticeably focused on stopping Lomax. This showed on the scoreboard, as she only scored four points before the half. Yet, despite that, the Light Blue still led by 11 at the half. This time, the points came from the team hitting more of its outside shots. Junior center Lauren Dwyer, who Nixon says is one of the team's best shooters, stretched the zone by making several outside shots (she finished the game with 14 points on six-of-12 shooting). Senior guard Danielle Browne displayed a soft touch, hitting two of her three 3-pointers for the game. "Lauren Dwyer does a good job of moving and finding the gaps, the openings of the zones, and getting mid-range shots," Nixon said. This usually holds true. However, in the Harvard game, the Crimson zone successfully contained the Lomax attack, in part because Dwyer couldn't convert her looks. The usually dependable shooter finished just two for 14 from the court, and couldn't hit the shots to beat the zone. If not for senior guard Sara Yee (who has a good 3-point percentage of .317) knocking down three first-half treys, the final score of 73-55 could have been even worse. Despite this loss, Columbia usually plays well against the zone because it has great shooters. Barry currently ranks second in the conference in 3-point percentage, and sophomore guard Melissa Shafer, who led the league in this category for a while, is close behind in fourth with a 3-point percentage of 42.5. Although the zone can work against the Lomax attack, it usually fails, thanks to this advantage on the Lions' side. Many teams have also tried the man-to-man defense versus Lomax, but this setup has also been unsuccessful. After Cornell's first game in which it employed zone and got crushed, the Big Red switched to man-to-man defense for its rematch the next week. The problem is that Lomax is so good that most players simply cannot defend her one-on-one. In the past, many teams would send over the double team and force someone else to beat her. However, this year Lomax has gotten better at evading double teams. "The way that Judie has done a good job of counteracting what teams have tried to do in man-to-man this year [is that] she hasn't just stayed block to block. She has expanded her shooting range. ... She's now able to take bigger post players away from the basket, and get the ball in the perimeter, face up, and look for some scoring opportunities, either taking the jump shot or driving to the basket," Nixon said. "It's sometimes more difficult for a team to double-team a player on the perimeter than somebody who's just stationary on the block." In the Cornell rematch, Lomax was able to impose her will on the Big Red's man-to-man defense, scoring 30 points and grabbing 17 boards. In the game, she showed many of the moves Nixon described. She repeatedly drove by her defender to get the layup, nailed several difficult outside shots, and overpowered her defender on the post. This was classic Lomax, and her efforts fueled the Lions to a 68-47 rout. When teams have successfully set the double team, there are two main ways the opposition shows it. "There are teams that are double-teaming her immediately on the catch," Nixon said. "So as soon as she touches it, they're immediately running a defender at her and they're really trying to force the ball back out of her hands to anyone but her." According to Nixon, Lomax has rendered this setup ineffective because "she's done a good job when she's had a chance to face up, of being able to find her open teammates." Another double-team ploy opponents have set up occurs when Lomax "puts the ball on the floor, and as soon as she starts dribbling it, then they're running another defender at her." Unsurprisingly, like all other defenses thrown at Lomax, she has figured out how to crack this one. With the second half of the Ivy season beginning, the Ivy League will get another chance at containing the Lomax attack. The conference's ability to hold Lomax will be one of the more interesting storylines to watch as Columbia vies for the Ivy title.

Danielle Browne, Caitlin Stachon, and Sara Yee, members of the winningest graduating class in Columbia women's basketball history, fittingly ended their collegiate careers with a 54-41 win over Brown. Columbia as a program completes its most successful season ever, finishing clear third in the Ivy League standings and achieving a school record 18 wins. The seniors immediately established themselves early in the game, with Browne and Stachon scoring the team's first seven points to take a 7-3 lead. Forward Judie Lomax carried the load from there. The nation's leading rebounder dominated the first half, scoring 12 in the next ten minutes of play to give the Light Blue a 27-14 advantage over the Bears. Brown responded with an 11-0 run to trim the lead to two. However, Lomax responded again, connecting on a baseline jumper to give Columbia a 29-25 halftime lead. Following intermission, Columbia and Brown both came out swinging. However, at the ten minute mark with the Lions holding onto a 39-31 lead, Browne delivered the knockout blow, going on a 7-0 run by herself to give the Light Blue a 46-31 advantage with eight minutes to play. At the 41 second mark, the Columbia seniors were taken out of the game, receiving strong applause from the boisterous crowd. The seniors all finished the game with solid performances. Danielle Browne scored 15 points and recorded a resounding second-half block on Brown's Aileen Daniels. Caitlin Stachon, as has been the case her entire collegiate career, displayed great hustle and recorded a team-high three steals. Sara Yee, the first-ever Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year, helped hold Brown's three starting guards to just 11 points. In addition, Yee was a key contributor to Columbia limiting Brown to 41 points – setting Columbia's season mark for points allowed. However, the most prominent individual performance came from the Light Blue's Judie Lomax. Lomax finished with her second straight 20-20 performance, recording 20 points and a program record 27 rebounds. With her efforts, she finishes the season as the first ever collegiate woman to lead the nation in rebounding in consecutive years. With the win, women's basketball completes its season with an 18-10 record, 9-5 in conference play.

Women's basketball defeated the reigning champion Dartmouth Big Green in a 66-59 overtime thriller. With the win, Columbia sweeps its series against Dartmouth for the first time since the 1990-1991 season. The Lions' victory, which was their fifteenth of the year, also assures Columbia's first ever winning season with five games still left on its schedule. The defending champs made that sweep difficult, displaying its trademark tenacious defense throughout the game. In the early going, Columbia's offense had a hard time scoring, only notching three points in the first five minutes. However, sophomore guard Melissa Shafer provided a spark off the bench, carrying the Lions in the first half. She scored 12 of Columbia's 26 first-half points and was 2 for 3 from 3-point range. Columbia's defense, after struggling in its past few games, was outstanding, forcing Dartmouth into 13 first-half turnovers. The defense also prevented any Big Green player besides guard Faziah Steen from scoring in the first 10 minutes of play, and held a 12-4 lead halfway through the first period. From there though, Dartmouth went on an 11-0 run and reclaimed the lead. A few minutes later, Columbia's All-Ivy forward Judie Lomax went down with an ankle injury, and had to be helped to the locker room. Still, Caitlin Stachon hit a 15-foot jumper at the buzzer to provide Columbia with a 26-23 halftime lead. The next half began with a surprise when Judie Lomax jogged onto the court and received a huge applause from the crowd. She demonstrated her ankle was fine, contributing nine points in the second half and grabbing many key rebounds. The game swung back and forth, and headed into the Light Blue's first overtime game this season after guard Sara Yee missed a three with time winding down and guard Kathleen Barry failed to convert on her follow-up. In overtime, the Lions displayed their grit, outscoring the reigning champions 13-6 to finally secure the elusive win. Shafer scored a career-high 15 points in the win and center Lauren Dwyer anchored the defense with a career-best seven blocks. Lomax finished the game with 15 points and 17 rebounds. Kathleen Barry returned after missing three games due to a knee injury and finished with eight points and eight rebounds. Dartmouth's Sasha Dosenko scored a game-high 19 points, but reigning Ivy League Player of the Year Brittney Smith was held in check by the Light Blue defense, only scoring eight total points. Columbia hosts Harvard tomorrow in its second game of the weekend doubleheader. Tip off is set for 7 p.m.

Women's basketball completed its best season ever, sweeping its doubleheader against Yale and Brown to place clear third in the Ivy League. In Columbia's matchup with Yale (13-15, 8-6 Ivy) earlier in the year, the Bulldogs overwhelmed the Lions with 47 first-half points, on their way to an 81-74 win over Columbia. This time, with the inside track to third place at stake, the Light Blue defense smothered the Bulldog's offense, holding the team to 47 points for the entire game in a 64-47 win. In the opening minutes, it was immediately clear that the tone of this game was different. The Lions forced eight turnovers in the first 10 minutes of play, which allowed them to jump ahead 28-12 with eight minutes remaining in the half. Senior Sara Yee, the reigning Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year, was the key cog in the Lions' defensive dominance. Yee relentlessly hounded Yale guard Yoyo Greenfield—who went off for 20 points in the two teams' first matchup—for the entire game, limiting her to two points this time around. She finished with a game-high four steals in 34 minutes of play. This wasn't possible in the first game because Kathleen Barry, Columbia's other ace perimeter defender, missed the first meeting with a knee injury. With Barry available to guard Yale freshman Megan Vasquez—who scored 19 for Yale last time—the Light Blue defense was significantly more effective. Offensively, reserve guard Melissa Shafer scored 13 points, including a 7-0 run by herself in the decisive first half. In that first half, senior guard Danielle Browne connected on a contested layup at the buzzer to give Columbia a 33-21 halftime lead. In recent weeks, Browne has been on a scoring barrage. She was no different this week, lighting up the scoreboard with 17 points, most of which came on an array of spectacular drives to the basket. "She's among the Ivy League leaders in assists. As we went through the second round of league play, people have started to play her for the pass and not necessarily respect her as a player capable of scoring," head coach Paul Nixon said. "And I think she's taken advantage of the way teams have been trying to defend her." Her penetration contributed to Columbia outscoring Yale 36-10 for points scored in the paint. Browne also dished out a game-high five assists. The second half was the same story, with a Barry trey 18 minutes into the half expanding Columbia's lead to 18. Columbia never trailed in its 64-47 victory, and convincingly broke its third-place tie with Yale. Vasquez led the Yale team with 13 points. As a team, Yale shot just 34 percent on the court, and committed 24 turnovers. Columbia all-Ivy forward Judie Lomax was spectacular the entire game, posting 21 points and 21 rebounds. The nation's leading rebounder had eight offensive rebounds, which equaled the number of offensive boards the entire Bulldogs team grabbed. The next game versus Brown (8-20, 5-9 Ivy) began by recognizing the team's seniors. On Senior Night, Browne, Yee, and Caitlin Stachon were recognized for their commitment to the team. "It was amazing," Yee said of the attendance. "The energy in the gym—it was just a great way to go out, with friends and family all in the crowd." "I really want to thank every single person that came out tonight to support these seniors. The energy was tremendous from the opening, when we first announced the three seniors," Nixon said. "It was so, so clear how much everyone that was there was really into the game and wanted to see the seniors go out on a high note with the win." Right after tip-off, the seniors immediately established themselves, with Browne and Stachon scoring the team's first seven points to take a 7-3 lead. Lomax carried the load from there, besting her strong performance from the day before. The Ivy League's leading scorer dominated the first half, pouring 12 points over the next 10 minutes of play to give the Light Blue a 27-14 advantage over the Bears. Not to be flustered, the Brown squad responded with an 11-0 run to trim the lead to two. "I'd like to give Brown a lot of credit. They've made tremendous strides with their program," Nixon said. "They withstood our emotional tidal wave from Senior Night that started the game, and made a nice run there in the first half to really make it competitive." However, Lomax responded again, connecting on a baseline jumper to give Columbia a 29-25 halftime lead. Following intermission, Columbia and Brown both came out swinging. But at the 10-minute mark, with the Lions clinging to a 39-31 lead, Browne delivered the knockout blow, going on a 7-0 run by herself, to give the Light Blue a 46-31 advantage with eight minutes to play, and removing any doubt as to the outcome of the game. At the 41-second mark, the Columbia seniors were taken out of the game, receiving strong applause from the boisterous crowd. "We have a lot of good support. A lot of people came out," Stachon said on what made Senior Night so special. "Just a feeling that this was it." The seniors all finished the game with solid performances. Browne scored 15 points and recorded a resounding second-half block on Brown's Aileen Daniels. Stachon, as has been the case her entire collegiate career, displayed great hustle and recorded a team-high three steals. Yee, the first-ever Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year, helped hold Brown's three starting guards to just 11 points. In addition, Yee was a key contributor to Columbia limiting Brown to 41 points, setting Columbia's season mark for points allowed by the opposition. However, Lomax was the story of the night, finishing with her second straight 20-20 performance, recording 20 points and a program-record 27 rebounds. With her efforts, she concludes the season with a nation-best 14.2 rebounds-per-game average. "For Judie Lomax to lead the nation in rebounding for two consecutive seasons is unprecedented in Division I women's basketball. When she did it last year, we didn't win as many games, we didn't play as tough a schedule," Nixon said. "But when you look at what we've done this year in terms of how strong the Ivy League is, in terms of the nonconference teams that we've played You look at the schedule that we've played, and this record for her is legitimate. She has played the highest level of Division I competition." Lomax also broke Columbia's all-time steals mark at the Brown game, finishing the season with a conference-best 72 steals. Browne broke Columbia's record for most games played, despite often playing injured. The Brown game was indicative of her resolve, as she played through a first-half ankle injury to complete her Senior Night. Browne also finishes her career second in Columbia history in steals and fourth in assists. "It's kind of sad because it's the last game possibly of my career," Browne said. "But I was happy about my performance and representing Columbia one last time." With the weekend sweep, women's basketball completes its season with an 18-10 record, 9-5 in conference play. Columbia as a program completes its most successful season ever, ending the year in clear third in the Ivy League standings, which is women's basketball's highest-ever finish. The team also achieved a school-record 18 wins. "Coach Nixon and his staff have done a fabulous job. We had great leadership from our three seniors—we're going to miss them terribly," Director of Intercollegiate Athletics and Physical Education M. Dianne Murphy said. "I'm just really, really, really proud of what this Columbia women's basketball team has accomplished, and our entire University community should be proud as well."