Shooting woes continue as Lions drop to 2-14

In front of a raucous Levien Gymnasium crowd, Columbia’s women’s basketball team managed to compete with Cornell before losing 54-44. The Lions (2-14, 0-2 Ivy) continued their offensive struggles and allowed the Big Red (7-9, 1-1 Ivy) to shoot over 55 percent in the second half.

The Lions have had difficulty creating shots inside the three-point line and have been forced to shoot 254 threes over the course of 16 games. Unfortunately for Columbia, the Light Blue has only shot 25 percent from beyond the arc this season, and its struggles continued against Cornell on Saturday—the Lions shot only 2-for-15 from beyond the three-point line. The Lions also struggled to attack against Cornell’s defense in the paint.

“We didn’t play as aggressive as we know we can, and I just think next time we’ll go out with a more aggressive mentality,” junior guard/forward Tyler Simpson said.

The Lions’ lack of aggressiveness in attacking the paint curtailed a promising first-half performance. With both teams playing a high-tempo offense and utilizing half-court presses on defense, excitement and turnovers were in abundance. The Lions dominated the first five minutes as they led 9-4 after a layup from senior guard Jazmin Fuller at 15:03. Cornell struggled early offensively and resorted to long jump shots in an effort to ignite their offense.

Yet Cornell managed to take a commanding lead with a stunning run that saw them outscore the Lions 16-3 to take a 20-12 lead. The Big Red was the beneficiary of a struggling Lions offense, which only shot 27 percent in the first half. The Lions inability to score consistently frustrated head coach Paul Nixon.

“We were never really able to get into a good offensive flow, I don’t think really at any point in the game,” Nixon said.

“I think our possessions of scoring were pretty sporadic. It’s not like we were able to string two or three in a row together where we were getting scores.”

Columbia, though, managed to cut Cornell’s lead to 24-19 in the frantic last few minutes of the half, due in large part to the Lions’ ability to get offensive rebounds and second chances at scoring.

Columbia’s momentum didn’t carry over to the second half, as the Light Blue’s tendency to take too many three-pointers and go through an offensive drought exhibited itself again. Cornell went on its second run of the game, and this time it was cataclysmic for the Lions. The Big Red’s 15-5 run allowed it to take a 47-31 lead with seven minutes left in the game. Cornell’s run was due to the Lions recurring inability to score consistently.

Senior guard Melissa Shafer aptly described the main reason why the Lions lost.

“We didn’t hit enough shots,” Shafer said.

Coach Nixon also attributed his team’s offensive struggles in the second half to the inability of his players to make shots.

“I think when another team is committed to packing the zone and trying to take away your post game, they’re really in some ways sort of daring you to take the outside shot,” Nixon said.

“I think we did a good job of trying to work the ball inside and out but we had quite a few open opportunities that we didn’t convert.”

The Lions will look to get back on track when they travel to play Penn on Friday at 7 p.m.