Columbia coach Megan Griffith yells out to plays in the first quarter of Saturday’s WNIT championship game against Kansas inside Allen Fieldhouse. Riley Weiss scored 24 points and Kitty Henderson tallied 11 points, seven rebounds and seven assists as Columbia held off Washington 63-60 in the First Four of the Women’s NCAA Tournament on Thursday in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Columbia (24-6), playing in the First Four for the second straight season, won an NCAA Tournament game for the first time in program history. The Lions earned the No. 11 seed in the Birmingham 2 Region and will face No. 6 West Virginia on Saturday.
The Lions rallied after trailing 21-10 at the end of the first quarter and 34-21 at halftime. Weiss scored 19 of her points and made four of her five 3-pointers in the second half.
She started the second half with a personal 7-0 run — two triples and one free throw — to give Columbia its first lead of the night. She hit one more 3-pointer after the Huskies tied the game.
Sayvia Sellers made consecutive buckets to help Washington pull even at 54-54 with 3:34 left, but Susie Rafiu’s layup 30 seconds later restored the Lions’ lead for good. Weiss added four important free throws down the stretch as Elle Ladine tried to will the Huskies back with a pair of late 3-pointers.
Sellers had 21 points and six assists to power the Huskies (19-14). Dalayah Daniels put up 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Ladine added 16 points and six boards.
Washington lost despite outshooting Columbia 52.9 percent to 40.7 percent from the field. The Huskies went a paltry 3-for-10 from the free-throw line compared with the 12-of-17 clip by Columbia.
Cecelia Collins scored 12 points for the Lions.
William & Mary 69, High Point 63
In its first-ever NCAA Tournament game, the Pride kept their run going behind a game-high 24 points from Bella Nascimento and eliminated the sss in a First Four matchup at Austin, Texas.
Winners of five straight games, the 16th-seeded Tribe (16-18) advance to the first round Saturday against top-seeded Texas in the Birmingham 3 Region.
Monet Dance added 15 for William & Mary, which won four games in four days as the No. 9 seed to win the Coastal Athletic Association tournament and then came up with big plays down the stretch to extend its season. Natalie Fox scored 12 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, while Cassidy Gerdes chipped in 12 points.
Lauren Scott scored 19 points to pace High Point (21-12), which trailed 34-28 at halftime but battled back to take a three-point lead midway through the fourth quarter. Aaliyah Collins added 18 points and Jaleesa Lawrence contributed 15 points and seven rebounds.
Lawrence nailed a 3-pointer with 2:52 remaining in the game to tie the score at 57, but the Tribe regained the lead for good on Fox’s putback at the 2:11 mark. William & Mary sealed the outcome by making six straight foul shots in the final 27.1 seconds.
–Field Level Media
