WVU Women’s Basketball
Columbia Won’t be Intimidated by WVU Pressure
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — On paper and on film, the press defense run by the WVU women can look scary.
The Big 12’s top defense in terms of points against (55.5 per game) and turnovers forced (23.7 per game), the Mountaineers can put their opponents in the blender at times. It’s a daunting challenge for any team to face, especially when that team only has one day to prepare.
After winning its First Four game Thursday night, Columbia has just one day to prepare before facing the Mountaineers in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Saturday afternoon, but the Lions aren’t afraid of what the Mountaineers are going to throw at them.
“We’re not going to be surprised by anything that they do,” Columbia coach Megan Griffith said. “We spent a lot of time looking at this team as a staff and trying to make it a simple gameplan.”
Columbia’s players were solely focused on their matchup with Washington this week, but Griffith and her staff spent a lot of time advanced scouting the Mountaineers to be ready for the potential of a quick turnaround.
“As much as they’re a team that creates a lot of havoc, they’re an extremely disciplined team as well,” Griffith said. “We’re not looking at it as ‘let’s just beat the press’, it’s way more calculated than that. For me, it’s way more methodical, it’s almost like a math problem but at the same time, there’s a feel to the game.”
The Lions were the most turnover-prone team in the Ivy League this season, committing 451 giveaways in 30 games, but Columbia only turned the ball over nine times in its play-in win over Washington Thursday.
“This is what you prepare for all year,” Columbia senior Kitty Henderson said. “This is why you do ball-handling every day, this is why you do all the little details. I think we’re ready for it, we just have to trust our work.”
Columbia’s players started watching film on West Virginia Friday morning and quickly got an idea of what the Mountaineers are about.
“They’re just a really scrappy team in general,” Columbia senior Cecelia Collins said. “They’re super physical and will go for a ton of steals, especially when they press you in the full court. They’re a very good team, they’re very well coached and we just have to be disciplined.”
Columbia ran its offense very well against Washington, especially in the second half where the Lions shot 54.2% from the floor and 62.5% from three. Columbia believes a similar performance could propel them past the Mountaineers and into the second round.
“It’s not feeding into what they want us to do,” junior Perri Page said. “We have to make sure we’re executing our game plan in the way that we want and dictate our offense to their defense.”
Page, a Pittsburgh native, is the daughter of former Pitt men’s basketball player Julius Page, who played in a number of Backyard Brawls against the Mountaineers in the early 2000s.
“Obviously the Pitt/WVU rivalry is big,” Page said. “I’ve never played WVU before and I’m very excited to have this matchup coming up.”
The WVU women tip-off against Columbia Saturday at 2 p.m. inside North Carolina’s Carmichael Arena in Chapel Hill, N.C. The game will be broadcast on ESPNews.
Stay tuned for WV Sports Now’s complete coverage of the WVU women’s basketball team in the NCAA Tournament on location in Chapel Hill, N.C.
