Senior Shawnee Pickney, above, scored a career high 27 points in her final game as a Lion.

Men's Fencing Scores First Ivy Title of 2000-01 Season

At a day-long meet on Feb. 24, the Penn State campus in University Park, Pa, the men's fencing team defeated Penn 15-12, to clinch a tie for its first Ivy title since 1998. The team then put in another strong performance to down the defending National Champion and top-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions, 15-12.

Junior Paolo Roselli and first-year Andrew Sohn each went 3-0 in the victory over the Quakers. Penn and Columbia finish tied at 3-1 in the Ivy League.

Women's Fencing Loses Title Shot Against Penn

The women's fencing team won three of five contests in a full day of competition at Penn State. Unfortunately, a 14-13 defeat at the hands of Penn dashed its chance to share the Ivy women's crown. The team also suffered a 20-7 loss to Penn State, but came back to defeat Cornell 24-3 and Temple 14-13.

Men's Basketball Scores Victory in Final Game

Junior co-captain Craig Austin netted 30 points in the men's final game of the season, helping the Light Blue down Dartmouth 71-64 in Hanover, N.H. The victory snapped Columbia's eight-game road losing streak and brought the Light Blue season record to 7-7 in the Ivy League for the second straight year, 12-15 overall.

Sophomore Chris Wiedemann had ten points and nine rebounds in the contest, and sophomore Jamie Irvine scored eight on 3 for 3 shooting. Playing in the last game of his Columbia career, senior Mike Merley hit the last shot of the game.

Austin's 30 points helped him move from 19th to 16th on the school's all-time scoring list.

Women's Basketball Misses Chance at .500 Ivy League Season

The women's team dropped its final game of the season to a sharp-shooting Dartmouth squad, 78-64. The loss dashed Columbia's hopes for a .500 Ivy League season and double-digit regular season record, instead giving them a 6-8 final mark, 9-18 overall. Senior Shawnee Pickney scored a career high 27 points in her final game for the Lions and posted her sixth double-double of the season.

Two Lions Selected to All-Academic Basketball Team

Senior Brie Cokos and sophomore Katie Day were selected to the second team Verizon Academic All-District I Women's Basketball Team, as announced by Jeff Schwartz, district coordinator for Academic All-America.

Columbia is the only school to have two students selected and the only team to represent the Ivy League.

Cokos was a starting guard on the team before suffering a season-ending injury earlier this season. She was named to the Ivy League Honor Roll for performances against Cal-State Fullerton and Santa Clara before her injury. The 5'11" guard is an environmental biology major and maintains a 3.77 GPA.

Day started the majority of games this year for the Light Blue and has posted two double-doubles this season, grabbing a career-high 16 rebounds in one game against Cornell. Also named to the Ivy League Honor Roll, the pre-med major maintains a 3.86 GPA.

The women's basketball team ranked sixth last season on the 2000 Academic Top-25 Team Honor Roll.