Columbia continues to struggle to find offensive stride as season continues

While the old adage may say that defense wins championships, no one doubts that offensive production is also critical to a team’s success. Just ask the Columbia women’s basketball team, whose offensive struggles have limited its success this season.

Columbia’s struggling can be seen in statistics, where it ranks last among Ivy League teams in most offensive categories, such as in points per game (50.9) and field goal percentage (33 percent). Senior guard Melissa Shafer and junior forward Tyler Simpson are the lone Lions who are averaging double figures, with both averaging a little over 10 points per game. According to head coach Paul Nixon, the Lions’ offensive struggles are due to a variety of reasons.

“Our offense has been sporadic all season due to inconsistency within our lineups,” Nixon said.

“We have been shuffling players in and out all season long due to various minor injuries and players shifting positions. This has greatly affected our ability to get into any kind of offensive flow or rhythm.”

After Columbia lost its three top scorers from last season, the lineup has regularly shifted, with Nixon searching for the perfect combination of players. Unfortunately for the Lions, these necessary shifts have resulted in players needing more time to adjust to the playing style of their teammates.

Ultimately, though, the Lions’ offensive woes are due to their poor shot selection—the team has been taking low-percentage outside shots too frequently. Currently, the Lions have a three-point shooting percentage of only 25 percent.

“The team has taken about the right number of outside shots in terms of what we like to do in our system, but our shot selection has not always been the greatest this season,” Nixon said.

“Too often we have taken rushed, contested outside shots instead of working for the best possible shot. In terms of quantity, we’ve been about where we need to be, but in terms of quality of the shots, we need to keep improving.”

With the Light Blue having played only three Ivy League games so far, there is still ample time for it to improve its offensive success. Nixon has spent time in practice not only helping his young team develop individual skills on offense, but also assisting them in playing better with their fellow teammates.

“What we have been focusing on in practice is not just executing plays, but also learning how to read off of one another and play better together,” Nixon said.

While offense has been a low point for the Lions this season, their recent performance has been promising. The Light Blue scored 50 points against Penn last Friday and is beginning to show signs that this young team is starting to improve offensively. For the Lions to get back in the win column, they will need their team to play better—and together—on the offensive end of the floor.