The Columbia women’s basketball team is set for its final road trip of the regular season, facing Yale on Friday and Brown on Saturday. The Lions, currently 18-6 overall and 9-2 in Ivy League play, are tied for first place in the conference standings and hold a head-to-head tiebreaker over Princeton. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+ and the ESPN app.
Columbia’s recent performance has been strong, with the team winning nine of its last ten games. During this stretch, they have averaged 72.8 points per game while shooting over 45 percent from the field. The Lions have also outscored opponents by an average of 19.1 points per game, outrebounded them by nearly ten per contest, and maintained a positive turnover margin.
Riley Weiss leads both the Ivy League and ranks among the top 25 nationally in scoring (19.7 points per game) and three-pointers made per game (2.83). She also tops the league in total points, three-point percentage, total threes made, and field goals made. Perri Page is one of only three players nationwide to average at least 14.5 points, six rebounds, two assists, two steals while shooting at least 50 percent from the field.
Columbia holds a 14-game winning streak against Brown—the longest series streak in program history—and an active 11-game streak against Yale.
The team secured its spot in the upcoming Ivy League Women’s Basketball Tournament with a win over Dartmouth on February 21. This marks Columbia’s sixth consecutive tournament qualification since first making it in 2020; that year’s event was canceled due to COVID-19 concerns. Columbia is still seeking its first tournament championship after reaching the final three times.
Several individual milestones are within reach this weekend: Perri Page needs just fifteen more rebounds to become only the seventeenth player in program history with five hundred career boards; Riley Weiss is closing in on higher spots for single-season scoring totals as well as all-time rankings for points scored, field goals made, and three-pointers made.
Nationally recognized bracket projections consistently list Columbia as an expected No. 11 seed or “First Four Out” for postseason play across multiple outlets including ESPN, CBS Sports, USA Today, Sports Illustrated, The Athletic, College Sports Madness, Her Hoop Stats and The IX Sports.
Columbia has not lost a game when leading at halftime since January 20th of last year against Princeton—a run now totaling forty-three straight wins under those circumstances.
Following their recent victory over Dartmouth where they dominated rebounding by twenty-two boards—second best margin this season—Nasi Simmons went perfect from the floor (five-for-five), Marta Jaama hit her first collegiate free throw and Susie Rafiu played her hundredth career game.
Weiss has achieved several notable feats this season: she is one of only two NCAA players with multiple games scoring thirty-eight or more points; she tied a school record with nine made threes during her thirty-eight point effort at Cornell; she leads all Ivy players in scoring average; she is a finalist for the L’Cheisman Award recognizing top Jewish athletes; she has earned Ivy League Player of the Week honors five times—the most among league players—and received additional regional and national weekly awards throughout this campaign.
For updates on Columbia women’s basketball follow @CULionsWBB on social media or visit GoColumbiaLions.com.
