Columbia rallies past Washington in First Four to score its first-ever March Madness win
The Columbia women’s basketball team that took the floor in the second half wasn’t the same as the one in the first two quarters.The second-half Lions looked like the team they had been all season.They were gritty, diving for loose balls, forcing turnovers and making shots.Columbia, led by sophomore Riley Weiss, overcame a 13-point halftime deficit to beat Washington 63-60 on Thursday night in Chapel Hill, N.C., and advance to the first round.It wasn’t pretty, but it didn’t have to be.This is the month of survive and advance, and that’s what Columbia managed to do after falling short in last year’s First Four, which was their first NCAA Tournament appearance.Thursday’s thriller was the Lions’ first NCAA Tournament win and sets the stage for Columbia to play sixth-seeded West Virginia on Saturday.Huskies guard Elle Ladine drilled a 3-pointer with 14 seconds left to trim the Lions’ lead to one point.Weiss then made two free throws for the win.The Huskies’ last attempt was no good.Columbia coach Megan Griffith’s message to her team before the game was to “dominate” everything they did.That message, though, didn’t seem to set in for her team until the second half.Weiss scored 19 of her game-high 24 points in the final two quarters to help the Lions pull ahead for good.
Senior Kitty Henderson added 11 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and four steals.Washington settled into the game well at the start while the Lions struggled.Columbia missed its first nine 3-pointers before Weiss drained the team’s first trey in the second quarter.The Huskies regularly broke the press, feeding the ball ahead of Dalayah Daniels, whose size and strength presented some challenges for Columbia.Daniels scored 11 of her 17 points in the first half, helping the Huskies to a 34-21 lead.Out of the locker room, the Lions’ strong defensive effort helped them slowly chip away at the deficit.Weiss hit back-to-back 3s in the fourth quarter to give the Lions their f...