Posts Tagged ‘winter sports’
BASKETBALL Lions at Villanova—Final score: COLUMBIA 75 – VILLANOVA 57
VILLANOVA, Pa. — After the first half, the Lions lead Villanova, 26-22. Columbia has capitalized on a number of Wildcat turnovers to put itself in a good position after 20 minutes of play.
Sophomore Alex Rosenburg and senior guard Brian Barbour have both been at the forefront of the Light Blue defensive effort. Rosenburg has done a good job of using his length to seal off passing lines, while Barbour’s relentless defense has also made things difficult for the Wildcats.
The biggest blemish on the Lions’ otherwise strong performance has been shooting. Columbia is shooting well below 50 percent from the field, a number that will need to improve for the Lions to hang on to their four-point halftime advantage.
An Ivy basketball tournament could be coming soon
On Friday, the Harvard Crimson published this report detailing that Ivy coaches are preparing a proposal for a four-team, two-round tournament, with the four teams coming from the top four finishers in the regular Ivy season. The winner of this tournament would receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The team that finishes in first place in the regular season would automatically receive a bid to the NIT (Not In Tournament National Invitation Tournament).
This is pretty big news, considering the Ivy League is the only league in the country that currently has an automatic bid without a tournament. But considering the fact that the story was picked up by USA Today yesterday, it seems like there’s a real possibility of this happening fairly soon. More »
Two Columbia fencers named All-Americans
Big news out of Columbus, OH this evening at the NCAA Fencing Championships—senior Sammy Roberts and junior Lydia Kopecky have both been named All-Americans for their accomplishments this season. This marks the third time Roberts has earned the distinction, and the second time for Kopecky.
Roberts, who competes in women’s sabre, finished twelfth in the National Championship tournament at Ohio State, while Kopecky, competing in women’s epée, finished eighth.
Other notable women’s performances in Columbus include junior Essane Diedro, who finished fourteenth in women’s sabre, junior D’Meca Homer who placed twenty-second in women’s foil, and freshman Diana Tsinis, who finished seventeenth in women’s epée.
The men’s competition begins tomorrow, with freshmen Michael Josephs and Will Spear participating in men’s sabre, and sophomore Alen Hadzic competing in men’s epée.
For Katie Meili, high goals plus confidence equals record setting success
After setting the Ivy League record as the only woman to swim the 100m breaststroke in under a minute and earning All-American honors, Meili-Mania has taken Columbia by storm. Columbia College junior Katie Meili is undoubtedly one of the most impressive swimmers to ever compete for Columbia, and her personality isn’t half bad either!
However, there is a whole lot more to this Texas native than just an impressive stroke. Do you want to know where she gets her cool confidence? Or what some of her obsessions are? How about where you can find her when she’s not in class?
Read after the jump for the latest installment of “five questions” with this now-Ivy League legend. More »
Brian Barbour earns first team All-Ivy distinction
The Lions’ leading scorer, go-to ball handler, and clutch play maker this year, junior point guard Brian Barbour, earned All-Ivy League first team honors Wednesday afternoon.
Since November, when point guard Noruwa Agho suffered a knee injury in the second game of the season, Barbour has been the offensive leader for the men’s basketball team.
In conference play, he led the league with 5.6 assists per game and was the second highest scorer with 16.9 points per game. Known for his near-perfection from the foul line, he finished with a 90.1 free throw percentage—the third-best in the nation. More »
‘Getting live’ with the Lions’ Chris Crockett
Columbia College senior Chris Crockett’s four years as a Columbia Lion have been marked with various accomplishments—this past month alone, Crockett scored a career-high of six three-pointers in a game against Brown.With an average of about 15 points per game, this guard ended his final season in style.
But there’s far more to this Columbus, Ohio native than just swift feet and precision on the court. Crockett turned on the charm for Spectrum and answers some of our questions, leaving us laughing and begging for more.
Want to know who’s on his VIP list? Or what’s the funniest thing he’s ever heard during a game? Read after the jump for the latest installment of “five questions.”
Record setters may be hot, but bounty hunters definitely are not
In this week’s Who’s Hot, Who’s Not, there’s basketball records, baseball’s season beginning, and…bounty hunters?
Who’s Hot?
Melissa Shafer
Do you hold any records? Probably not (well…maybe you do, since Columbia people are significantly more awesome the more and more you get to know them). Anyway, even if you don’t hold a record (like me), Melissa Shafer CC’12 does. More »
Men’s basketball goes out with a weekend to remember
With its final two games in the books, the 2011-2012 chapter of Columbia men’s basketball has come to a close. With their 77-70 overtime loss to Harvard and a solid win over Dartmouth on Senior Night, the Lions finish the season in sixth place with an Ivy record of 4-10 and an overall record of 15-15.
While the Lions did not improve on their Ivy record from last year (6-8), they did progress in plenty of other areas. With many core players returning to the team next season, there’s a lot to look forward to for next season.
But before we go there, let’s take a look back at this past weekend with three quick thoughts after the jump. More »
Men’s basketball got down early and couldn’t pull it out in this weekend’s games
While one Light Blue team celebrated an Ivy Championship, and another team got its first Ivy win of the year, men’s basketball couldn’t match its Ivy opponents this weekend—the Light Blue lost 75-67 to Yale on Friday night and 94-78 to Brown on Saturday. This 0-2 weekend leaves the Lion record at 14-14 overall and 3-9 in Ivy play.
With so many close Ivy losses, this weekend was the time for the Lions to show if they could take another step forward, but instead some defensive lapses and poor shooting proved that it wasn’t meant to be. But where does all this leave the Lions now? Follow the jump for three quick thoughts on these two games and the final two coming up this weekend.
Somebody’s #linning, but it sure isn’t Jeremy Lin
Who’s hot?
Women’s basketball
THEY WON! As the proud co-beat writer of women’s basketball, it was thrilling to see the young Lions team earn their first Ivy League win of the season against Yale, 56-52 on Friday. Junior Tyler Simpson led the way with 20 points and forward Courtney Bradford snagged 18 rebounds. Head Coach Paul Nixon even invented a term before the game, saying that the Lions would not let any team “out-athlete them,” and Yale was no exception.
While the Columbia women’s basketball team has struggled this season going just 3-21, the team has grown and shown promise as they look to finish the season strong in their final three games.
Tonight is their final home game against Brown at 7 p.m. in Levin Gymnaisum. The Light Blue nearly beat Brown two weeks ago only to be outdone by the Bears in overtime. But the Lions look primed to strike again tonight, so come support them on Senior Night!
More »