The Columbia women’s basketball team has released its schedule for the 2025-26 season. The Lions, who have won the Ivy League championship three times in a row and were last season’s outright champions, will start their campaign on the road against Butler on November 7.
Season tickets are set to go on sale in September. Those interested can reach out to the Columbia University Athletics ticket office at 888-LIONS-11 or lionstickets@columbia.edu for more information.
Megan Griffith, entering her tenth year as head coach, leads the team following another record-setting year. Last season, Columbia claimed its first outright Ivy League Championship and secured its first NCAA Tournament win by defeating Washington in the First Four. It was also their third consecutive regular-season Ivy League title and second straight at-large selection to the NCAA Tournament.
The non-conference schedule features nine games against teams that played in last year’s NCAA Tournament, WBIT, or WNIT. Five of those matchups are with teams from last season’s NCAA field: Richmond (home opener on November 15), Kansas State (November 27), South Dakota State (November 28), North Carolina (November 29) during the Cancun Challenge, and Florida Gulf Coast (December 29). The Lions will also host Saint Joseph’s (November 20) and UTSA (December 20), both of whom participated in postseason tournaments last year, and play Seton Hall away on December 9. Butler made an appearance in the previous WNIT.
Overall, Columbia’s upcoming schedule includes eight games against teams ranked in last year’s NET Top 50 and twelve against NET Top 100 opponents.
Prior to their home opener against Richmond on November 15 at Schiller Court at Levien Gymnasium, banners marking their recent NCAA Tournament appearance and Ivy League Championship will be updated. That game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. tip-off.
After hosting Saint Joseph’s and Binghamton (November 24), Columbia travels to Cancun for a three-day tournament over Thanksgiving weekend beginning with Kansas State on Thanksgiving Day. All three games there are set for a 1:30 p.m. start time. This marks Columbia’s second participation in the Cancun Challenge; they previously appeared in the event in 2017.
Local contests include Manhattan (away on December 3), Wagner (home on December 6), and Seton Hall before an exam break period. On December 20, UTSA visits for what will be its first-ever meeting with Columbia. The final non-conference game is at Florida Gulf Coast University on December 29.
Columbia opens Ivy League play at home versus Cornell on January 3; game times for conference matchups will be announced later.
A series of home games follows with Yale (January 17), Brown (January 19), Dartmouth (January 24), then back-to-back home contests against Princeton and Penn February 13-14. The regular-season concludes March 7 with Harvard visiting Schiller Court.
The Ivy League Tournament takes place March 13-14 at Cornell’s Newman Arena in Ithaca, New York. The semifinals are scheduled for Friday followed by Saturday’s championship game.
The NCAA Women’s Basketball Selection Special airs live March 15 at 8 p.m ET on ESPN.
For updates throughout the season, fans can follow @CULionsWBB across social media platforms Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or visit GoColumbiaLions.com.
