Vanderbilt Takes Down Columbia 72-68 To Advance To NCAA Tournament First Round
Josh Collier
Staff Writer
March 21, 2024
Vanderbilt picked up its first NCAA Tournament win since 2013 in the win over Columbia. (Vanderbilt Athletics)
BLACKSBURG — Vanderbilt women’s basketball (23-9) defeated Columbia (23-7) 72-68 Wednesday night in what was an evenly matched affair in Cassell Coliseum. This First Four victory will advance the Commodores to the first round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014 to take on Baylor (24-7) this Friday.
“We are not just happy to be here,” Vanderbilt head coach Shea Ralph said. “We have a purpose. And today was the first step in that purpose. We prepared all year for this moment. This was our goal from the moment we got together in June and I'm excited for my players that we get to keep dancing.”
The NCAA Tournament is a completely new atmosphere for every player on Vanderbilt. Regardless, the team will treat the game on Friday against Baylor no differently than any other.
“It is special to be in the tournament but our preparation is going to be exactly the same,” Ralph said. “I don't want them to feel like this game is any different than the games that we had in the beginning of the season. So this game coming up, they are Baylor, that's fine. We're Vanderbilt. They got to prepare for us, too.”
A player who stepped up big-time in this game for the Commodores was the junior guard Iyana Moore, who buried a dagger three-point shot with 24 seconds remaining to put her team up 69-62 and practically seal the game.
“Let me just say, Iyana Moore is a dog,” teammate Jordyn Cambridge said. “Honestly there's no shot that she takes that I don't think is going in. So when she got that big shot at the end of the game, before she even caught it, I knew it was going in because that's how much confidence I have in her.”
Moore scored 22 points (7-of-18 from the field, 4-of-6 from three) to go along with four rebounds, three assists and two steals in Wednesday’s win. She will hope to build upon that in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
For Columbia, this game marks the end of a special season. This was the first time in its 38-year program history that the team saw NCAA Tournament action — and according to head coach Megan Griffith — it will not be the last.
“This is definitely not the last time we'll be in this tournament, I can tell you all that,” Griffith said. “You know, it takes time to build something and like I said before, I think we've done it the right way. And I know the selection committee made the right decision by putting us in this tournament.”
Columbia will have a shot at making it back next year, but will have to do so without the likes of senior Abbey Hsu, who likely just played her last game in a Columbia jersey.
“I'm so happy that she got to play on this stage,” Griffith said. “She's going to go have a long pro career wherever she is. I hope she gets drafted high. And she did so much. She left the jersey in a better place. That's all we can ask our players to do.”
Hsu averaged 20.6 points (45.3% from the field, 39.8% from three), 7.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game this year and will soon look to begin her professional career. But for now, she mourns this season-ending loss with her teammates.
“Right now, it's kind of like, soaking this moment in with my teammates,” Hsu said. “You know, looking back at the game and just making sure I'm in this moment with my teammates and enjoying their presence.”