Eleventh-seeded Columbia experienced March euphoria Thursday, when the Lions earned the program’s first NCAA Tournament win.

On Saturday, though, Columbia endured gut-wrenching defeat.

Columbia was no match for sixth-seeded West Virginia as the Mountaineers throttled the Lions 78-59 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

West Virginia’s press suffocated the Lions and forced them into a season-high 25 turnovers — including 11 in the first quarter.

“March Madness is who can make the other team the most uncomfortable, and I thought they did that successfully to start the game,” Columbia coach Megan Griffith said. “We knew it was coming, too.”

Cecelia Collins led the Lions with 16 points and had six assists and four rebounds.

Riley Weiss added 14 points and five rebounds and Kitty Henderson had 11 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals, but it wasn’t enough as another historic season for Columbia came to an end.

It wasn’t the way the Lions had hoped their March Madness would go. Since the beginning of the season, Columbia made their Sweet 16 aspirations well known.

This loss will sting for a while, but the future for Columbia is bright.

“It’s an amazing experience. This is why I came back home,” Griffith said. “I believed that we could be a championship program that would play deep into March. … Every year they see this program growing.”

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Columbia’s upward swing over the past four years mirrored the breakout of Henderson.

The Australian guard came to Columbia as what Griffith called an “endurance athlete,” but she’s leaving as one “hell of a basketball player.”

Henderson embodies all the virtues that make Columbia basketball. She’s tough, tenacious and persistent.

Most importantly, though, Henderson is a winner.

She’s the winningest player in program history, Columbia’s all-time assist leader and will go down as one of the Lions’ best all-time defenders.

She helped Columbia win three straight Ivy League regular-season titles, including the program’s first outright championship this season.

Henderson tried to choke back her tears during Saturday’s postgame news conference. But on several occasions, the immense sadness of her college career ending was too much to contain.

Fellow senior Collins reached out her hand and rubbed Henderson’s back to comfort her.

“This program means everything to me,” Henderson said. “This place is so special. The coaching staff, they give you everything. … It’s just gonna keep getting better and it’s gonna mean so much to me for the rest of my life. I definitely gave it my everything.”

Collins’ time at Columbia was shorter — she transferred in before her junior season — but she still feels an immense amount of pride in what she helped the team accomplish.

“I’m forever in debt to this program and this university, Coach G and the rest of the staff,” Collins said.

Losses like this can be tough to swallow.

But Columbia is a fairly young team and is expected to return several key players, including Weiss, Perri Page and Susie Rafiu.

All of them are hungry to make Columbia a perennial NCAA Tournament team.

“We fought like hell to get here and I promise you that is not something we will let go easily,” Griffith said. “Every year, it’s just continues to motivate you, knowing that you can do more.”