The Columbia Women’s Team just defeated Brown 68-52 at Levien Gymnasium in Manhattan as the Lions went into high gear Meg-style for the first time in the year 2026. The rocket-ship offense that Columbia is known for was on full display for the MLK crowd faithful with Fliss Henderson leading the relay team against a very good Brown team that was previously undefeated. If you were watching on ESPN+ the game was great, but for reason Columbia ran the same ad repeatedly which was incredibly annoying. Some character named Peter Chatsky that I never heard of is apparently running for Congress presumably in the New York Metropolitan Area and everytme there is a time out Columbia runs the same ad for him. I guess he has unlimited money. Incredibly annoying!!! I certainly won’t vote for him.
The team seems to be gelling a little bit. The shoulder injury to Susie Rafiu (?back next week) may have been a blessing in disguise because it’s giving other players opportunities and deepening our bench.
I think we have three all Ivy caliber players in Fliss, Perri, and Riely. Both Fliss and Perri are double-double machines. Fliss is probably even better than her great sister at this point in her career. I think she’s only a sophomore. Fliss had a double-double today with 14 rebounds and 13 points and Perri put up terrific numbers, considering she only played 17 minutes. I think them stepping up as stars is going to help take pressure off Riley and could help her get back into a shooting groove.
I’m also very bullish on Hilke F who is starting in place of Susie. I think she could be a CeCe Collins like player b/c she is so good under the basket.
Finally, Nasi Simmons had another 6 steals today. I wish she was able to get more playing time. I think she’s a future Ivy defensive player of the year.
We still have a lot of talent on the bench that we’re not utilizing. That’s one of the challenges of basketball that there’s only five people on the court at one time. Princeton is not very deep, so having fresh legs and a deep rotation could help counter the talent of their starting 5.
Speaking of Princeton, I thought they would waltz to a 14-0 league record but they were fortunate to escape with an overtime win against Harvard today.
Early on, it looks like Princeton, Columbia, Harvard, and Brown are the playoff teams but lots of great basketball between now and then.
When Simmons figures out how to fit in more to the halfcourt offense, watch out! Her defense is tremendous - Brown’s Grace Arnolie is VERY impressive, but I think very few of her 21 points came with Nasi as her primary defender.
Some big shots from Mia Broom, who is also a menace on defense
Agree with most of the above, although I think Columbia is much better when they are playing high-tempo and relatively mediocre in the half-court. Fliss indicated in her post-game ESPN+ interview that they are aiming to push the pace on each possession.
Absolutely! I just meant that when they ARE forced to play half-court, she tends to get stuck in the corner, occasionally hoisting up a 3. My “watch out” was to say that if her offense comes around she will be a truly top player at this level.
No question that you are right on with your “watch out” regarding Nasi Simmons . When you have a ball thief of her ability she needs to be on the court as much as possible. The cat-like skills of both Simmons and Broom are such that Coach G is bound to add a few wrinkles to our half-court offense soon to utilize their extraordinary skills.