Iyana Moore scored 22 points on Wednesday night to power Vanderbilt to a 72-68 win over Columbia in a clash of No. 12 seeds in the First Four of the Women’s NCAA Tournament in Blacksburg, Va.
It’s the first time Vanderbilt (23-9) has won an NCAA Tournament game since 2013. The Commodores will face No. 5 Baylor on Friday
The Commodores also got a double-double of 16 points and 15 rebounds from Sacha Washington. Khamil Pierre finished with 11 points.
Kitty Henderson led the Lions (23-7) with 20 points and nine rebounds, while AP All-American honorable mention Abbey Hsu chipped in 13 points. Columbia was playing in the tournament for the first time in program history after becoming just the second Ivy League team to ever receive an at-large bid.
After Henderson’s 3-pointer put Columbia ahead by one with 6:30 left in the second quarter, Vanderbilt broke off a 16-5 run to take a 10-point lead into intermission. Jordyn Oliver had four points, a steal and an assist during that stretch for the Commodores, while the Lions turned the ball over five times.
Columbia got within four points with 1:46 to play in the fourth, but Vanderbilt never let the Lions get any closer until there was just three seconds to go.
–Field Level Media