There is one thing Columbia women's basketball wouldn't have traveled without this season.
It is the poster board that Coach Megan Griffith created the team's “potential board.” The goal is to provide players with concrete trackers of team progress throughout the season. Use Little Lions head stickers as markers to indicate growth.
Once a week, Griffith pulls out the board and checks in with the team.
“It was a great marker for us to see. It's not always about victory and loss, but how are you responding to certain things, not just the game, but how are you actually responding to adversity,” senior Cecelia Collins said Wednesday.
According to a potential board, Columbia has not yet reached the ceiling.
The team hoveres about 85% of how Griffith and her staff believe the Lions are.
“That 15 is something everyone is looking for right now,” Griffith said. “We all have that.”
The goal is to find a way to make use of it. There's no better time than the NCAA Tournament to get there.
Columbia scored goals at the beginning of the season and became the first Ivy League team to reach the Sweet 16.
After securing a massive bid on Sunday, the first four Thursday games against the 11th Cedar Washington are the next step to realizing that dream.
Before practice on Wednesday, I felt a sense of calm in Colombia.
“I feel like I'm very familiar with it,” Griffith said. “It really helped us to spend another night sleeping in our own bed with such confidence. It helped us reset and move forward. Honestly, I was woken up this morning and ready to play.”
Washington (19-13, 9-9 Big Ten) and Columbia (23-6, 13-1 Ivy) are evenly matched teams.
Husky attacks are said to be “systematic” and “surgical” in their attacks.
They are one of the top 3-point shooting teams across the country, with an average of 7.9 converted from deeper per game to 37.3% clips with 37.3% clips.
However, since its release on Sunday, Columbia has done a lot of homework to its partners.
“It knows their tendencies,” said Senior Kitty Henderson. “When they're closed, you know they want to film it. That's an adjustment we have to make. We've been practicing for the past two days and we'll continue to do it today.
The Lions weren't past their first four in last year's tournament. But this time, Colombia wants to surprise some people.
“Looking at us should be like seeing the power to play together and the ability to see adversity that hits,” Henderson said. “We're still looking at the same team. We're consistent. We hope we can see what the culture of victory can do.”
