Four Columbia Lions Score in Double Figures in 74 – 59 Victory at the Palestra
PHILADELPHIA, PA 1/4/2025 –
The curtain raiser for the University of Pennsylvania results in a loss to the Ivy League defending co-champion Columbia Lions 74 – 59. Columbia showed offensive balance in their inside and outside game. Although the Quakers held a third quarter lead, a 19 – 5 Lions run into the fourth quarter turned the game in their direction, and won going away.
“Defending home court is really important,” said Penn guard Simone Sawyer. ” We have a lot of young players and our team’s been working on the importance of protecting The Palestra. Obviously, it didn’t go our way. The good thing about the Ivy League is you play everybody twice so you can go back and beat them on their home court.”
Columbia is on a four-game winning streak against Penn. And winning against an Ivy rival has a nig impact.
“It’s important. We talk about making a statement regardless of who it is especially when one you’re playing against a really good team and two a really good coach,” said Columbia Coach Megan Griffith. “This was a good one. I’m happy with the effort we were able to put out tonight.”
Offensive Balance a Key for Columbia
The Lions had four players score in double figures led by Perri Page who scored a game-high 17 points and a contest-tying best 9 rebounds. She represented the inside game. From Outside of the paint Riley Weiss scored 16 points fueled by 3 made three-point baskets. Columbia had 9 baskets from beyond the arc and 17 inside helped by 18 assists. The visitors shared the ball, kept it moving to create problems for the home team defense.
“It’s great when we have distributed scoring, not just outside looks,” Weiss said. “It was our game plan heading into it. I think we did a pretty good job of that.”
On the offensive glass Columbia took down 17 of their 43 rebounds. Penn had 11 offensive of 32 rebounds. The disparity in numbers was not high, but the Lions created shots from the boards both in the paint and by kicking the ball back outside.
“Offensive rebounds hurt especially a team that is willing to kick it back out there,” said Penn Coach Mike McLaughlin. “You got people going to the glass and now they’re getting open, spot up three’s. Riley got open a few times on kick outs in live play. I thought we did a good job on her, but once transition happened, and rebounding happened, it was just too much for us.”
“Second chance points are something we try to work on, allowing ourselves to get the outside looks that Riley (Weiss ) talked about,” Page said. “It keeps the defense in a scramble.”
Slow Start But Recovery for the Red and Blue
It took Penn awhile to get going as they surrendered the first 9 points of the game, finally getting on the scoreboard at the 5:10 mark. The Quakers got it going in the second quarter winning the stanza 16 – 6 and did not allow a made three-pointer. Penn took a 36 – 32 lead in the third quarter behind 10 consecutive points by Mataya Gayle. Columbia responded by getting four consecutive three-pointers by Page, Marija Avlijas, Mia Broom, and Weiss to retake the lead and never trail again.
“They were playing a soft 1-2-2 and we lost our rhythm a little,” McLaughlin said. “We have to do a better job of advancing the ball and making them pay for that.”
What the Numbers Say
Sawyer drained a game-high 4 three-pointers, a season-high, and grabbed 6 rebounds. Katie Collins was just board short of a double-double with 10 points and 9 rebounds. She also had 4 assists. Gayle totaled 11 points. Stina Almqvist had her streak of 10 consecutive games scoring in double-figures snapped scoring one-point shy of the mark. The senior guard did contribute 7 rebounds and 4 assists.
Avlijas and Kitty Henderson contributed 11 points each for the Lions. Henderson added 8 rebounds and 6 assists for the Lions. Cecilia Collins recorded 5 assists while Weiss handed out four, a career-high. Avlijas tied her career-high in scoring and in made three-point field goals with two. Page tied her season-high in swipes getting three.
Up Next
It’s Ivy League games for the remainder of the season for each team. Penn will host Dartmouth next week.
Columbia continues on its road journey going to Cornell. The Lions last played a home game on December 4 when they hosted San Francisco.
Written By: Glenn Papazian
Contact: Glenn@PhillyCollegeSports.com
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