The coaches and players of Columbia University women’s basketball have been saying the team is playing with a greater sense of unity, and on Sunday they proved it with a strong 70–51 victory over Fordham University. Columbia dominated from start to finish.

“If you look at the stats, this is one time the stat sheet totally tells you everything—there are numbers in every column for every player,” said Columbia head coach Megan Griffith. “When you have a distributed effort like that, it’s really going to help lead to a successful outcome. If we stay focused on the little things—which I think they did today—and they execute our game plan well, we saw what they can do.”

Freshmen Kaitlyn Davis and Abbey Hsu combined for 29 points. Griffith said Davis, Hsu and Carly Rivera (also a freshman) are all impact players. “They’re high character kids that fight really hard and are going to be really great players here,” said Griffith.

This was Columbia’s first win of the season. Griffith said the 57–71 loss to Saint Joseph’s provided a reality check. While the team vibe was great, defensive execution wasn’t what it needed to be.

Team co-captain Janiya Clemmons described the win as amazing. While there’s little time to celebrate, the win definitely gives the Lions a confidence boost and affirmation that they’re moving in the right direction.

“Coming off our last game, we focused a lot in practice on having to play as a team,” said Clemmons. “We all felt like defensively and offensively against Saint Joseph we kind of played like individuals. You can’t win basketball games that way. So, we really focused on our helpside defense, moving the ball, attacking and setting our teammates up to be successful. I think we executed that.”

Davis described the victory as a great team win. “Everything was spread out, everybody did their job and it showed,” said Davis, who chose to attend Columbia because she felt a connection to the players and coaching staff. She said the other freshmen together with the returning players can make an impact.

“Together, we can bring the team where it should be,” said Davis. “I feel we have all the pieces we need. That’s what we’re doing this year, we’re going somewhere. That’s something I want to be a part of.”

The Columbia Lions are on the road this weekend, playing at Buffalo on Friday and Robert Morris on Sunday.