It is not something that happens all the time.
When Penn junior guard Lizzy Groetsch, a 2021 North Allegheny graduate and Sewickley native, does get to look across the court and see Columbia guard/forward Perri Page she relishes the chance to reconnect with home.
“She’s awesome,” said Groetsch of Page, a Chartiers Valley product and Bridgeville native. “Every time we play them we always kind of say ‘Hi’ before the game and pat each other on the back after. She’s a great player, and she’s got a great team.”
The pair of former WPIAL standouts are hoping to connect one last time this season.
Page’s Lions and Groetsch’s Quakers will make up half of the four-team field at this weekend’s Ivy League women’s basketball championship tournament.
No. 4 seed Penn (15-12) will open the tournament at 4:30 p.m. Friday against top-seeded Princeton (23-4), while No. 2 seed Columbia (22-5) will face third-seeded Harvard (16-11) in the other semifinal matchup, which is set to tip off at 7:30 p.m.
Columbia is hosting the Ivy League men’s and women’s tournaments at Francis S. Levien Gymnasium at its campus in the Morningside Heights section of New York City.
Each member of the eight-institution Ivy League gets the opportunity to host the tournament on a rotating basis. The chance to play in a conference tournament on her home floor is not something Page said she is taking for granted.
“For me to even be a part of that during the course of my four years it’s just amazing,” Page said. “It’s never going to be anything I’ll ever forget. To be able to cut down the nets on our home court, winning this tournament is going to be amazing.
“Usually at any other conference, it’s at a neutral site,” she added. “Just being able to have this opportunity is going to be unimaginable.”
The road to an Ivy League championship game matchup between Columbia and Penn could be much more difficult for Groetsch’s Quakers.
Penn will have to upset a Princeton team in the semifinals that is ranked No. 24 in the country and swept the Quakers in two regular-season contests.
“Our goal was to make it to this tournament and now that we’ve accomplished that it’s to go win the tournament and extend our season as long as we can,” said Groetsch, who will be making her second straight conference tournament appearance.
Page said she would enjoy another shot to face Groetsch, whom she called “a great friend,” but her Lions have some unfinished business to take care of first.
Columbia won its two games against Harvard this season but likely missed a chance to qualify for the NCAA tournament a season ago with an overtime loss to the Crimson in the Ivy League tournament semifinals.
“They really took something from us,” Page said. “We need to play with that passion, play with that fire that we all know that we have beforehand. Even if you’re a newcomer, or a freshman on the team, they knew how hard that loss was for us.”
For Page, though, the real loss came earlier last season.
Now a 5-foot-11 sophomore, Page had her freshman campaign a year ago ended when she was injured with a torn ACL during a February 2023 game.
Columbia associate head coach Tyler Cordell said Page’s dedication to rehabbing her injury was inspiring to watch.
“This was my first significant injury that put me out for a significant period of time,” Page said. “At first I was devastated because I was like, ‘Basketball is the only thing I know how to do and it’s something I really can’t do.’ I couldn’t run, I couldn’t really move well, I couldn’t bend, well, mobile wise. It was devastating to be a part of that.”
Page did not play in Columbia’s first game of this season but returned with a restriction of playing 10 minutes or less for the Lions second game of the year against Seton Hall. The following week Page said her restriction was raised to 15 minutes or less but is now playing “on a normal schedule.”
“Having the chance again to play is just a gift,” she said.
After a high school career during which she helped lead Chartiers Valley to three straight WPIAL Class 5A championships and a PIAA title, Page transitioned to Division I basketball and averaged 3.6 points, 2.5 rebounds and 12.3 minutes per game as a freshman before her injury.
Page, who started 11 games this season, is now averaging 5.5 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. She has settled into a role as the Lions’ first player off the bench.
Cordell said Page might be her team’s best defender. The coach added her mix of size, length and athleticism make Page a dangerous player on offense as well.
“It’s been really great for me to step into that role and to help everyone understand what it means to be a defender and how to really stop a team and then also get our own as well,” Page said.
After helping lead North Allegheny to WPIAL Class 6A titles in 2018, 2020 and 2021, Groetsch moved on to Penn and has become one of the Quakers’ most dependable players.
“They don’t get much better than her,” Penn coach Mike McLaughlin said. “She is about as grounded of a kid as you want to find. She’s super bright, in our business school here at Wharton. She’s an incredibly hard worker, lives and dies in the gym. She’s selfless, unbelievable humility. She’s one of the top-level kids that you can find anywhere.”
Groetsch served as a reserve player for her first two years at Penn but cemented her place in McLaughlin’s starting lineup every game this season. She is averaging 5.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.
“She’s probably one of the most improved players in our league this year,” McLaughlin said. “I couldn’t say anything about her other than this kid is what college sports, and sports at Penn, is all about.”
Groetsch said she is excited for the shot to punctuate her successful junior campaign with a strong showing in the Ivy League tournament.
“I’m super grateful to be able to represent Penn, represent Pittsburgh,” she said. “It’s a really exciting opportunity and I’m really looking forward to it.”
So, too, is Page.
The daughter of former standout Pitt guard Julius Page, she said she is poised for the opportunity to add another conference tournament championship to her family’s legacy.
Julius Page helped lead the Panthers to a Big East tournament title at New York City’s Madison Square Garden in 2003.
“Right now, I think he would just be like, ‘Have fun,’” Perri Page said. “That’s what his advice is for me usually, just to live in the moment and not take anything for granted.”
John is a copy editor and page designer at the Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at jsanta@unionprogress.com.