NEW YORK \u2013 The Columbia women’s basketball team tips off its 42nd season with an 11 a.m. home game against Davidson on Monday at Schiller Court at Levien Gymnasium.
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\nFollowing the 2026-27 women’s college basketball opener between Notre Dame and Villanova on Sunday in Rome, Italy, there are 124 NCAA Division I games scheduled for the sport’s opening day in the U.S.<\/p>\n
OPENING TIPS WBIT CHAMPIONS! WATCH OUT FOR WEISS INTERNATIONAL LIONS ABOUT THE OPPONENT FOLLOW THE LIONS
\n\u00a0\u2022 Students from several New York City schools will be in attendance for Columbia’s 16th annual Education Day Game. The first such game was held in 2008 and was hosted annually through 2019. After being interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Education Day returned to Levien Gymnasium in 2023.
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\n\u2022 The Lions posted a 25-8 overall record last season on their way to the 2026 WBIT Championship. Columbia trailed for all of 3 minutes and 9 seconds in the five games of the WBIT combined, and became the first Ivy League basketball team since the 1975 Princeton men to win one of the NCAA’s major postseason tournaments.
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\n\u2022 Senior Riley Weiss<\/a> is Columbia’s top returning scorer, netting a program-record 662 points last season. Among her many accolades, she was named the 2025-26 Ivy League Player of the Year, 2026 WBIT Most Outstanding Player and was an AP All-America Honorable Mention. She enters her senior campaign with 1,429 career points to rank fourth on Columbia’s all-time list. She is 18 points behind Ula Lysniak (1983-87) for third.
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\n\u2022 Junior point guard Mia Broom<\/a> exploded during the 2026 WBIT, starting all five games and averaging 17.4 points, 6.2 rebounds and 5.0 assists on her way to being named to the All-Tournament Team. Heading into the WBIT, she had only started four games all season. During the regular season, she averaged 6.4 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists.
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\n\u2022 Columbia has finished inside the top 50 of the final NCAA NET rankings in three of the last four seasons, earning a final ranking of No. 45 in 2025-26. Its highest final ranking was No. 42 following the 2024-25 season.
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\n\u2022 The Lions return 66.3 percent of their scoring, 67.6 percent of their rebounding and 73 percent of their total assists from a year ago. Graduating seniors Perri Page<\/a> and Susie Rafiu<\/a> were the top departures, having combined for 763 points, 389 rebounds and 134 assists last season. Page also set the single-season record in steals with 82.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 The Lions posted a 25-8 overall record last season on their way to the 2026 WBIT Championship. The WBIT replaced the WNIT as one of the NCAA’s major postseason tournaments in 2024. The Lions steamrolled the competition, demolishing St. John’s by 48 points before going on the road to knock off top-seeded North Dakota State, 86-57, and third-seeded Cal, 74-68, to earn a trip to Wichita for the Final Four in Wichita, Kansas. Once there, Columbia finished the job, defeating Wisconsin in the semifinals, 67-50, and leading by as many as 27 on the way to winning the championship over BYU, 81-64.
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\n\u2022 Columbia trailed for all of 3 minutes and 9 seconds in the five games of the WBIT combined, and became the first Ivy League basketball team since the 1975 Princeton men (NIT) to win one of the NCAA’s major postseason tournaments.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Riley Weiss<\/a> has been named to the preseason watch lists for the Ann Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard of the Year Award, presented by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA). She is also, once again, on the preseason watch list for the 2027 Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Award, presented by Her Hoop Stats.
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\n\u2022 Weiss is coming off a season in which she scored a program-record 662 points (20.1 points per game) and led the Ivy League in scoring, total points, field goals made (238), and 3-pointers made (93). She became just the fourth player in Columbia history to average at least 20 points per game in a season while setting school records for single-season points and total field goals. With 232 career triples, Weiss continues her ascent up the Ivy League all-time charts after back-to-back seasons hitting over 90 shots from beyond the arc. She was named the 2025-26 Ivy League Player of the Year, a unanimous First Team All-Ivy League selection, and the Met Basketball Writers Association (MBWA) Division I Player of the Year, while leading Columbia to a 2026 WBIT Championship.
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\n\u2022 Entering the 2026-27 season, Weiss has accumulated 1,429 career points in three seasons, along with 125 assists and 105 steals. She averages 15.2 points per game across her career, shooting 42.2 percent from the field, 36.9 percent from 3-point range and 84.2 percent from the free throw line. Her 1,429 career points place her among the top scorers in program history as she enters her senior campaign.
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\nHOME COURT ADVANTAGE
\n\u2022 Columbia is a combined 46-8 (.852) at home since the start of the 2022-23 season.
\n\u2022 In Ivy League play, the Lions are 30-4 (.882) at home since the start of the 2021-22 season.
\n\u2022 The Lions won 20 straight regular season games at home between the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons.
\n\u2022 Columbia went 14-1 (.933) at home during the 2023-24 regular season, followed by 10-1 last season.
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\nFARWELL TO THE CAPTAINS
\n\u2022 Susie Rafiu<\/a> and Perri Page<\/a> were Columbia’s only two seniors and co-captains last season. In their time at Columbia, they posted a combined record of 100-28 (.781), including a run to the 2023 WNIT Championship Game, Columbia’s first NCAA Tournament selection in 2024, first NCAA Tournament win in 2025, and the WBIT Championship run as seniors in 2026. They earned their 100th win in the championship game.
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\n\u2022 Rafiu played in 109 career games and made 76 starts. She has totaled 657 points, 411 rebounds, 114 assists, 91 steals and 48 blocks. She ranks No. 5 in Columbia women’s basketball history in field goal percentage at 51.1% for her career.
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\n\u2022 Page has played in 111 games and made 61 starts in her career, including all 32 starts this season. She has totaled 919 career points, 537 rebounds, 160 steals, 141 assists and 29 blocks. Page ranks No. 6 at Columbia in career steals, No. 7 in field goal percentage (50.3%) and 15th in rebounds.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 According to research performed by NCAA communication staffs, Columbia is one of\u00a0 just 10 programs in the country with eight or more international players on its roster, and one of eight schools with at least eight countries represented on its roster. Columbia has two players from Australia, and one each from Spain, Canada, Estonia, Germany, Serbia and United Kingdom.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Click here for information on Davidson.<\/a><\/p>\n
\nFor the latest on the Columbia women’s basketball, follow @CULionsWBB on Twitter<\/a>, Instagram<\/a> and Facebook<\/a>, or on the web at GoColumbiaLions.com<\/a>.
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