Lions basketball still underdogs in upcoming away matches

Even with a three-game winning streak—including a sweep of Brown and Yale last weekend—and with five wins in their past seven games, the Columbia women’s basketball team is still the underdog. At least, that’s how the Lions see themselves.

For head coach Paul Nixon, Columbia’s underdog status has less to do with the Lions starting the season with 13 straight losses than with Columbia (5-15, 4-2 Ivy) playing six of its final eight games—including its two games this weekend, against Princeton and Penn—on the road.

“If we were gonna play six of our last eight games here at home … I would say we might—might—be considered the favorites,” Nixon said. “But I just don’t think, in our league and, really, in any league, when you go on the road—unless you’re one of the league favorites—that you’re gonna be the favorite.”

That makes Princeton (15-4, 4-1) the favorite on Friday, though the Tigers have already been picked to finish first in the Ivy League. Princeton went 14-0 in conference play last year.
This season, the Tigers had returned all of their starters—until sophomore forward Niveen Rasheed, the reigning Ivy League Rookie of the Year, went down with an ACL injury on Dec. 29. Though Rasheed was averaging a team-high 16.4 points per game, Princeton still has plenty of scoring options.

Senior guard Addie Micir, for example, is the league’s fifth-highest scorer, with 13.3 points per game. Then comes junior center Devona Allgood (11.8) and junior guard Lauren Edwards (11.4).
Micir is most dangerous from beyond the arc, where her three-point shooting percentage (.463) is the second-highest among conference players. She already has made 56 three-pointers this year, averaging a league-high 2.95 per game.

Columbia will counter with junior guard Melissa Shafer, who has regained her shooting touch after having struggled early in the season. Shafer led the league in three-point shooting percentage (.443) last year and is now tenth in the conference (.337).

Shafer has scored in double figures in each of the Lions’ past three games. In Columbia’s 72-49 win over Brown on Feb. 4, she went 5-for-8 from the three-point range and finished with a game-high 17 points.

Despite Shafer’s recent success, she likely will not join the starting lineup. Shafer has thrived as a bench player throughout her career, and Nixon does not want to rearrange his starting five now that his players—both starters and reserves—have finally become comfortable in their roles.

Shafer is not the Lions’ only offensive threat. Senior guard Kathleen Barry is averaging a team-high 11.2 points per game, and a total of four Columbia players have scored in double digits in each of the past three contests. Senior center Lauren Dwyer, who scored 14 points against Brown and four against Yale, is now 10 points away from 1000 for her career.
Penn, meanwhile, boasts the league’s leading scorer—and she’s only a freshman. Guard Alyssa Baron is averaging 17.3 points per game and is coming off a 38-point showing against Harvard (5-0 Ivy).

On Feb. 7, Baron received Ivy Player of the Week, Ivy League Rookie of the Week, and Co-Big 5 Player of the Week honors. Then, on Tuesday, she earned the title of Co-ECAC Player of the Week. Baron shares that honor with none other than Connecticut’s Maya Moore, arguably the best women’s college basketball player in the country.

Though Penn (7-12, 1-4 Ivy) has only one league win, the Quakers have been competitive. Last weekend, they suffered a 68-65 loss at Dartmouth before enduring an 88-84 defeat—in double overtime—at Harvard. Baron has shown that Penn should not be overlooked.

Columbia, true to its underdog form, does not see its upcoming games as guaranteed victories.

“We are definitely not to the point now where we can just roll in off the bus, show up, and beat anybody,” Nixon said. “We’ve really gotta keep playing well and keep working hard every possession and try our best to find a way to win at the end.”