Columbia clinches first outright Ivy League regular season title with dominant win

At a stoppage of play with less than three minutes remaining Saturday, seniors Kitty Henderson and Cecelia Collins turned to the Levien Gymnasium crowd and waved. This was it.Their final bow in front of their home crowd.  Their last time playing at Columbia was nearly in the books.

Another program first was in the queue. The seniors hugged one another and a few teammates as they made their way to the bench, checking out of the game for the final time.Columbia had spent the past two hours bullying Cornell, making the Big Red look small. Collins had 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Henderson added 14 points and nine assists to lead the Lions to an easy 91-58 win that clinched Columbia its first outright Ivy League regular season title. The game’s final horn was met with the sound of confetti cannons, which sprayed blue-and-white paper onto the court. Friends, family members and students stormed the court to join the team’s celebration as “All I Do Is Win” blasted from the gym’s speakers. Moments like this were what coach Megan Griffith had hoped to bring to her alma mater when she took over the program back in 2016. “I don’t know if it all hit me yet,” Griffith said, “but I have gratitude.” For the first nearly 30 years of its existence, the Columbia women’s basketball program took up residency as a bottom-tier team.The Lions had more single-digit win seasons than 10-plus victory campaigns. The early days of Griffith’s tenure were tough.

But the recent successes have made it all worth it. Columbia is in the midst of its best four-year stretch in program history.The Lions have won at least 22 games each season during this span. “Sometimes, you just gotta look up and be like, ‘Wow.

These people, they really believe in what we’re doing,’” Griffith said, “and to me, that’s what’s so special.We’re not just winning basketball games, we’re creating community here.”The Lions closed out their season with a 14-1 run a...