Columbia Bounces Back to Beat Brown in Head Coach’s 100th Game
Bob Griffith and his wife Diane Griffith drove two hours from Philadelphia, as usual, to watch another home game of Columbia women’s basketball team. But today it felt a little bit different — it was their daughter Megan Griffith’s 100thgame as head coach at Columbia. And as it turned out, the game was definitely worth the trip.
Coach Griffith played for Columbia from 2003 to 2007. She captained the Lions for three seasons and was a two-time All-Ivy League selection. After graduation, she played three years of professional basketball in Europe, where she also started her coaching career as a youth basketball coach. She returned to the US in 2008 and spent six years coaching at Princeton, prior to joining Columbia in March, 2016, the same year when she was inducted into the Columbia University Athletics Hall of Fame.
And now she has a new goal, or at least her parents do: “I want her to win an Ivy League championship this year,” said Bob Griffith.
Megan Griffith coached her alma mater to its most Ivy League wins in eight years during the 2018–19 campaign. She’s in her fourth season as head coach of Columbia, and had a 10–5 record before facing brown on Saturday night. While the competition is tough, her dad’s wish could still come true.
Columbia women’s basketball team fought off Brown 74–60 with tough defense and a deep bench at the Levien Gymnasium, earning a second Ivy League victory this season after its home winning streak was snapped by Yale just the day before.
Sienna Durr, the Ivy League Rookie of the Year last season, achieved a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds, leading Columbia to fight against Brown’s repeated comeback efforts. Rising star Abby Hsu, a freshman guard, joined Durr in double figures with 16 points while another rookie, Kaitlyn Davis, also scored 10. All the Lions who stepped on the court scored at least four points, accumulating 21 bench points to only two for the Bears.
“That’s what we like to see,” said Durr. “When the stat sheet is all filled up with numbers from everybody and everybody is contributing, nobody is a standout on the offensive end “We’re just sharing the ball and we’re working and that’s how we get wins in the end.”
At the start of the game, neither team was able to take it to the hoop until Columbia sophomore Mikayla Markham shot a three-pointer and broke the deadlock after more than two minutes. Brown then took a 4–3 lead, but only held it for 41 seconds. The Lions scored the next nine points and took over the game.
Columbia’s defense limited Brown to a 21% shooting in the second quarter; the Lions were up nine at halftime. At this point Columbia had also grabbed 10 more offense rebounds than Brown. But Brown never gave up and made consistent comeback efforts that were mainly led by Justine Gaziano, Mckenna Dale and Maddie Mullin, who combined to post 50 of the 60 points scored by Brown.
The Bears kicked off the second half with a 6–0 run to cut the lead to three, while the Lions had turnovers and failing shots. But a reinforced defensive effort restrained the Bears from getting closer, and the Lions put themselves back on the right track with a 9–0 run, despite their 25% shooting in the third quarter.
When asked about defense, Griffith–the Columbia coach — thought the team did a better job coming out of the half. She complemented her players for not allowing Dale, the Brown point guard, to dribble comfortably with her strong right hand. “I don’t think it was perfect at times, but I think it was much better than we’ve seen, especially from last night,” she said, noting that the Lions were playing defense to grind down the Bears.
The Lions outrebounded Brown 50–26, which included a 12-rebound advantage on the offensive boards. “It became a pride thing,” said Hsu, the standout Columbia freshman who’s already won two Ivy Rookie of the Week honors. “I think we needed a little reminder and we made sure that wasn’t a thing that was going to hurt us tonight.”
Griffith pointed out that the Lions grabbed 12 more offensive rebounds than Brown, but committed 5 more turnovers than the Bears. That mix, however, still created seven extra possessions for Columbia. “If you look at those two factors at the end of the game and we’re in the positive, we’re usually winning,” says Griffith. “Rebounding has been a huge emphasis for us.”
Columbia’s dominance on the glass created opportunities for fast breaks that contributed to as many as 20 points. By contrast, Brown only got four points off fast breaks. “I think it gives us a lot of momentum and it frustrates the other team. We like to look for those,” said Hsu, whose successful and-one during a fast break in the early fourth quarter thrilled the audience. The Lions made an 8–0 run towards the end of the game that locked on victory.
Griffith noted that team basketball was a key factor to their win. “I think today there was a much more balanced effort on both ends of the floor. For us, that’s really important. We’re at our best when you see a stat sheet and there are numbers all spread out. It means that everybody is involved in all facets of the game,” she said.
“Defensively, I think we played together as a team. We trusted one another and we really locked in on the scout, which was super important to us,” Durr said. “That’s where our success came from today and the offense just comes right along with it.”
Speaking abouyt her 100th game coaching at her alma mater Columbia, the coach said, “I still feel like I’m in year one sometimes. Sometimes I feel like I’m in year 10 here. But I think a lot of that has to do just with the familiarity of this place.” Griffith said.
“Her heart is still in this school,” said Diane Griffith, coach Griffith’s mother, “I think now she’s giving back as a coach.”
“This is home, feels like home to me,” said Griffith, “So I just want to make it better.”
Note: This is a game story about Columbia Women’s basketball team VS Brown on February 1, 2020.
