Columbia takes on Yale in Ivy League Women's Basketball Tournament

NEW YORK - The Columbia Women’s Basketball program is eyeing its first-ever conference championship title as the No. 2 Lions take on No. 3 Yale in the semifinals of the 2022 Ivy League Women's Basketball Tournament this Friday.

"We've got this amazing buy-in that has our players believing in, and then breeding that culture within the team," says Head Coach Megan Griffith. "And that's really what has taken us to this point."

Sophomore guard Abby Hsu adds the team is extremely close--like family in fact.

"Before the season, I kind of knew this was gonna be a special group," says Hsu. "Just knowing how hard we worked the previous year and just knowing we were adding to that talent--I knew it was gonna be a good year."

The Parkland, Florida native has quite the perspective as well--as a survivor of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Shooting.

"It made me value every day a little bit more, you know, I wasn't just going through the motions--not that I do, but if I ever caught myself--I try to value every day, every time I step foot on the court because you never know when it could be your last."

Columbia swept this year's regular-season series against Yale for the first time in over a decade, but Griffith who is in her 6th year at the helm knows her young squad will be tested this weekend.

"A lot of our players have played one season with college basketball, two at most. I think for our team to understand that it's all about the little things and the details all along our journey that are really gonna add up in the end and as long as we stick to that--stick to our execution and our game plan--I think we're gonna have the outcome that we want"

The semis will be played this Friday with Columbia taking on Yale at 7:30 pm and top-seeded Princeton facing fourth-seeded Harvard at 4:30 pm.

The tournament winner receives the Ivy League’s automatic bids to the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament.