Columbia coach Megan Griffith called her team into a huddle late Tuesday morning at the end of practice to break one more time before the team boarded a plane for Chapel Hill, N.C., for its First Four matchup. 

It wasn’t an easy practice. She harped on the team about defensive positioning and corrected players’ mistakes. 

But when it was all said and done, she felt at ease, “better” and “more ready” for Thursday’s game against Washington. 

“[Our team] has been in this exact situation and the way they’re approaching it now, it’s not like desperation necessarily,” Griffith said. “It’s more like we’ve been here, we know what to do. We know what to expect.”