Columbia Lions women's basketball

The Columbia Lions women's basketball team is the intercollegiate women's basketball program representing Columbia University. The school competes in the Ivy League in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The Lions play home basketball games at the Levien Gymnasium in New York, New York on the university campus.^[2] Columbia has won one Ivy League championship.^[3] The team has been coached by Megan Griffith since 2016.

Columbia Lions
2022–23 Columbia Lions women's basketball team
University	Columbia University
First season	1984
All-time record	391–705 (.357)
Head coach	Megan Griffith (7th season)
Conference	Ivy League
Location	New York City, New York
Arena	Levien Gymnasium (Capacity: 2,500)
Nickname	Lions
Student section	TBD
Colors	Columbia blue and white^[1]
Uniforms
Home Away Alternate
Conference regular season champions
2023

History

Prior to the 2022-23 season, the Lions have a 391-705 record since beginning play in 1984 after Columbia went co-ed in 1983. They joined the Ivy League in women's basketball in 1986 after two seasons in Division III play. The women's teams used to be known as the Barnard Bears, named for the affiliated women's college of the same name. For their first 23 seasons, they never finished higher than fourth in the eight team conference.^[4]

Year	Record	Conference Record	Coach
1984–85	19–7	n/a	Nancy Kalafus
1985–86	21–6	n/a	Nancy Kalafus
1986–87	8–16	2–12	Nancy Kalafus
1987–88	12–14	4–10	Nancy Kalafus
1988–89	12–14	5–9	Nancy Kalafus
1989–90	12–14	5–9	Nancy Kalafus
1990–91	10–16	5–9	Nancy Kalafus
1991–92	4–22	1–13	Kerry Phayre
1992–93	7–19	1–13	Kerry Phayre
1993–94	4–22	2–12	Kerry Phayre
1994–95	0–26	0–14	Kerry Phayre
1995–96	2–24	1–13	Kerry Phayre
1996–97	6–20	3–11	Jay Butler
1997–98	4–22	0–14	Jay Butler
1998–99	6–20	2–12	Jay Butler
1999-00	7–19	6–8	Jay Butler
2000–01	9–18	6–8	Jay Butler
2002–03	11–16	4–10	Jay Butler
2003–04	12–14	6–8	Jay Butler
2004–05	12–15	5–9	Traci Waites/Tory Verdi
2005–06	6–21	2–12	Paul Nixon
2006–07	8–20	4–10	Paul Nixon
2007–08	10–18	7–7	Paul Nixon
2008–09	13–15	6–8	Paul Nixon
2009–10	18–10	9–5	Paul Nixon
2010–11	7–21	6–8	Paul Nixon
2011–12	3–25	1–13	Paul Nixon
2012–13	5–23	3–11	Paul Nixon
2013–14	6–22	3–11	Stephanie Glance
2014–15	8–20	2–12	Stephanie Glance
2015–16	12–17	1–13	Sheila Roux
2016–17	13–14	3–11	Megan Griffith
2017–18	8–21	2–12	Megan Griffith
2018–19	8–19	4–10	Megan Griffith
2019–20	17–10	8–6	Megan Griffith
2020–21	Season Cancelled Due to Covid
2021–22	25–7	12–2	Megan Griffith
2022–23	28–6	12–2	Megan Griffith

All-Time Coaching Records^[5]

Name	Years	Record	%	Conf. Record	Conf. %
Nancy Kalafus	1984–91 (7)	94–87	.519	21–49	.300
Kerry Phayre	1991–96 (5)	17–113	.131	5–65	.071
Jay Butler	1996–04 (8)	67–143	.319	33–79	.295
Traci Waites	2004–05 (<1)	9–8	.529	2–2	.500
Tory Verdi	2004–05 (<1)	3–7	.300	5–7	.417
Paul Nixon	2005–13 (8)	70–153	.314	39–74	.345
Stephanie Glance	2013–15 (2)	14–42	.250	5–23	.178
Sheila Roux	2015–16 (1)	12–17	.414	1–13	.071
Megan Griffith	2016–pres. (7)	99–77	.563	41–41	.500

WNIT

Year	Round	Opponent	Results
2022	First round Second round Third round Quarterfinals	Holy Cross Old Dominion Boston College Seton Hall	W 80–69 W 62–59 W 54–51 L 75–78
2023	First round Second round Super 16 Great 8 Fab 4 Championship Game	FDU Fordham Syracuse Harvard Bowling Green Kansas	W 69–53 W 78–73 W 88–82 W 77–71 W 77–70 L 59–66

2019- Present

Megan Griffith's tenure as head coach has brought about a marked improvement in the Lions' standing in both the Ivy League conference and overall. In the 2019-20 season, the team qualified for the Ivy League Women's Basketball Tournament for the first time.^[6] They finished second in the 2022 Ivy League tournament, losing in the finals to Princeton.^[7] In 2022, Columbia began receiving votes in the AP poll for the first time in program history.^[8] In 2023, the team won a share of the Ivy League women’s basketball title, also for the first time in program history.^[9] On March 17th, 2023, Griffith became the winningest head coach in program history after picking up her 95th career win.^[10]

Notable players on the Columbia Women's Basketball roster include junior Abbey Hsu, 2023 Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Award Semifinalist and 2022-23 First Team All-Ivy League,^[11] and senior Kaitlyn Davis, 2021-22 and 2022-23 First Team All-Ivy League.^[12] Both players joined the 1,000-point club in the 2022-23 season, along with senior Sienna Durr, becoming the 12th, 13th, and 14th Lions to do so in program history.^[13][14] On January 28, 2023, Kaitlyn Davis made history as the first player to ever record a triple-double in Columbia Women's Basketball history.^[15]

The Lions made Ivy League history two seasons in a row, being the first Ivy League team to reach the WNIT quarterfinals in 2022 and the first to reach the semifinals or finals in 2023.^[16]

References

1. Columbia University Brand Guide (PDF). December 1, 2017. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
2. "Women's Basketball – News – GoColumbiaLions.com—Official Web Site of Columbia University Athletics". Gocolumbialions.com. Retrieved 2017-01-26.
3. "Columbia Wins First Ivy League Championship". Gocolumbialions.com. Retrieved 2023-03-05.
4. (PDF). Gocolumbialions.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-12-20. Retrieved 2017-01-26.
5. Columbia Athletic Communications (2018). "Columbia Women's Basketball • 2017-18 Record Book" (PDF). Columbia University. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
6. "TICKET PUNCHED! Columbia Wins 6th Straight to Leap into Ivy Madness". Gocolumbialions.com. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
7. Franco, Kyle. "Princeton women's basketball books NCAA Tournament ticket with perfect Ivy League championship". The Trentonian. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
8. "Women's Basketball Receives First AP Top 25 Votes". Gocolumbialions.com. Retrieved 2023-02-26.
9. "Columbia Wins First Ivy League Championship". Gocolumbialions.com. Retrieved 2023-03-05.
10. "Davis, Durr Reach 1,000 in WNIT Victory Over FDU". Gocolumbialions.com. Retrieved 2023-03-19.
11. "2022-23 Women's Basketball Roster – Abbey Hsu". Gocolumbialions.com. Retrieved 2023-02-26.
12. "2022-23 Women's Basketball Roster – Kaitlyn Davis". Gocolumbialions.com. Retrieved 2023-02-26.
13. "Hsu Scores 1,000th Point in Blowout Win". Gocolumbialions.com. Retrieved 2023-03-19.
14. "Davis, Durr Reach 1,000 in WNIT Victory Over FDU". Gocolumbialions.com. Retrieved 2023-03-19.
15. "Kaitlyn Davis Named Ivy League Player of the Week". Gocolumbialions.com. Retrieved 2023-02-26.
16. "Columbia to Face Bowling Green Wednesday in the WNIT Semifinals". Gocolumbialions.com. Retrieved 2023-03-28.

External links

• Official website