Columbia Lions women's basketball

Last updated
Columbia Lions
Basketball current event.svg 2024–25 Columbia Lions women's basketball team
Columbia Lions wordmark.svg
UniversityColumbia University
First season1984
All-time record442–718 (.381)
Head coach Megan Griffith (9th season)
Conference Ivy League
Location New York City, New York
Arena Levien Gymnasium
(capacity: 2,500)
Nickname Lions
Student sectionTBD
ColorsColumbia blue and white [1]
   
Uniforms
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Home
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Away
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Alternate
NCAA tournament appearances
2024, 2025
Conference regular season champions
2023, 2024, 2025

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 two Ivy League championships. [3] The team has been coached by Megan Griffith since 2016.

Contents

History

After the 2023–24 season, the Lions have a 442–718 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] They received their first NCAA Tournament bid as an at-large bid in 2024, leaving only Yale as the one Ivy League team to never make the women's tournament. They won the Ivy regular season title once again in the 2024-25 season but lost in the championship game of the Ivy Tournament to Harvard. However, Columbia would receive an at-large bid to reach their second straight NCAA Tournament.

YearRecordConference RecordCoach
1984–8519–7n/aNancy Kalafus
1985–8621–6n/aNancy Kalafus
1986–878–162–12Nancy Kalafus
1987–8812–144–10Nancy Kalafus
1988–8912–145–9Nancy Kalafus
1989–9012–145–9Nancy Kalafus
1990–9110–165–9Nancy Kalafus
1991–924–221–13Kerry Phayre
1992–937–191–13Kerry Phayre
1993–944–222–12Kerry Phayre
1994–950–260–14Kerry Phayre
1995–962–241–13Kerry Phayre
1996–976–203–11Jay Butler
1997–984–220–14Jay Butler
1998–996–202–12Jay Butler
1999–20007–196–8Jay Butler
2000–019–186–8Jay Butler
2002–0311–164–10Jay Butler
2003–0412–146–8Jay Butler
2004–0512–155–9Traci Waites/Tory Verdi
2005–066–212–12Paul Nixon
2006–078–204–10Paul Nixon
2007–0810–187–7Paul Nixon
2008–0913–156–8Paul Nixon
2009–1018–109–5Paul Nixon
2010–117–216–8Paul Nixon
2011–123–251–13Paul Nixon
2012–135–233–11Paul Nixon
2013–146–223–11 Stephanie Glance
2014–158–202–12Stephanie Glance
2015–1612–171–13Sheila Roux
2016–17 13–143–11 Megan Griffith
2017–18 8–212–12Megan Griffith
2018–19 8–194–10Megan Griffith
2019–20 17–108–6Megan Griffith
2020–21Season Cancelled Due to Covid
2021–22 25–712–2Megan Griffith
2022–23 28–612–2Megan Griffith
2023–24 23–713-1Megan Griffith
All-Time Coaching Records [5]
NameYearsRecord%Conf. RecordConf. %
Nancy Kalafus1984–91 (7)94–87.51921–49.300
Kerry Phayre1991–96 (5)17–113.1315–65.071
Jay Butler1996–04 (8)67–143.31933–79.295
Traci Waites2004–05 (<1)9–8.5292–2.500
Tory Verdi 2004–05 (<1)3–7.3005–7.417
Paul Nixon2005–13 (8)70–153.31439–74.345
Stephanie Glance 2013–15 (2)14–42.2505–23.178
Sheila Roux2015–16 (1)12–17.4141–13.071
Megan Griffith 2016–pres. (8)122–84.59254–44.551

Postseason appearances

NCAA Division I

Columbia has appeared in two NCAA Tournament.

YearSeedRoundOpponentResults
2024 #12First Four#12 VanderbiltL 68-72
2025 #11First Four#11 WashingtonTBD

WNIT

YearRoundOpponentResults
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 17, 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. ↑ "Brand Guide". VisualIdentity.Columbia.edu. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  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. ↑ "Columbia Basketball 2016–17 Record Book" (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.
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