The Friday Sports Roundup returns from a relaxing winter break.

Men’s basketball: After a 73-50 win over NJIT (forward Jason Miller led the way with 16 points and 10 rebounds), the Lions were unable to open the Ivy League season with a win, falling 71-59 to a strong Cornell team.

Despite leading by 28-23 at the half, and despite playing at home, Columbia was unable to hold on, as Cornell shot 65% from the field in the second half. Columbia’s Niko Scott scored a season-high 21 points (and pulled down 8 rebounds), while Cornell had four players in double figures, including Louis Dale’s 19 and Ryan Wittman’s 16. In other Ivy League play, Brown scraped by Yale 64-62, Dartmouth won 59-55 over Harvard, and Princeton dominated Penn 64-49. This weekend, Columbia goes to Ithaca, looking for revenge against Cornell. Tipoff is at 4 p.m., and the game can be heard on WKCR and 970AM.

Fencing: The fencing team began its season last weekend at the North American Cup in Louisville, Kentucky, where four fencers finished in the top 10 in their respective categories. This Saturday and Sunday at NYU, the Lions begin team competition against some of the best teams in the country, including national champion Ohio State and runner-up Notre Dame.

Women’s Basketball: While the men were unable to open their conference play with a win, the women started with a 47-44 win over Cornell last Saturday. Kathleen Barry had 14 points for the Lions, while Judie Lomax grabbed 15 rebounds. It was the third win in a row for the Lions (who beat Northern Colorado 77-74 on the 11th), and they hope to keep the streak alive tomorrow in a rematch against Cornell in Ithaca.

Swimming & Diving: After a long winter break, the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams came back strong last weekend, both winning over Bucknell (the men 141-102 and the women 155-88). The teams resume league competition tomorrow at Cornell.

Wrestling: Last weekend, the wrestling team returned strong from their Winter Break trip to California, placing 3rd out of 18 teams at the New York State Championships. Senior Derek Sickles and sophomore Ryan Flores won individual titles. This weekend, the team heads to Washington D.C. on Sunday for matches against American and George Mason.

Track and Field: The track team began its season this past weekend by coming in third in a tri-meet with Yale and Dartmouth. Several individuals came in first in their events, though, including: first-year Sharay Hale (400 meters), first-year Kyra Caldwell (500 meters), both men’s and women’s 4×800 relay team, junior Serita Lachesis (mile), first-year Monique Roberts (high jump), first-year Unzuma Udeh (triple jump), sophomore Jeff Moriarty (mile), senior Ryan Hays (1000 meters), and sophomore Jeremy Whyte (triple jump). Today, the track team takes part in the Albany Great Dane Classic, held at the New York City Armory.

– JCD