Dartmouth fires head coach Paul Cormier after six seasons in second stint at school

Paul Cormier finishes with a 141-211 record at Dartmouth in 13 seasons over two stints. (Dartmouth Sports)
Paul Cormier finishes with a 141-211 record at Dartmouth in 13 seasons over two stints. (Dartmouth Sports)

In what many Ivy overlookers consider a surprising move, Dartmouth fired Paul Cormier Monday six seasons into his second stint as Dartmouth’s head coach. Cormier went 54-116 (.318) overall and 23-61 (.274) in his second stint in Hanover after going 87-95 (.478) and 47-51 (.480) in his first stint from 1984 to 1991.

Last season, Cormier led Dartmouth to its first postseason appearance since 1959, as the team went 14-14 in the regular season to earn a fourth-place Ivy finish and CIT berth. The Big Green lost to Canisius in the first round of the CIT.

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No. 10 Penn falls to No. 7 Washington, 65-53

No. 10 Penn fell to No. 7 Washington in the first round of the NCAA women’s tournament Saturday at the Xfinity Center in College Park, Md., 65-53, ending a Penn season that gave the Quakers a program record for career wins.

Penn (24-5, 13-1 Ivy) led Washington (23-10, 11-7 Pac-12) 13-7 after the first quarter and 25-24 at halftime, giving the Huskies problems with its 2-3 zone. Washington shot just 3-for-18 in the first quarter, as Penn showed off its scoring defense which ranks eighth in the country.

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No. 12 Yale outlasted by No. 4 Duke, 71-64

So very close.

No. 12 Yale came up just short in its bid for the first Sweet 16 appearance in program history, falling to No. 4 Duke, 71-64, in front of a pro-Yale partisan crowd at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence.

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How No. 12 Yale can defeat No. 4 Duke, part 1

Yale lost to Duke in November, 80-61, with the Blue Devils shooting 48.3 percent from the floor, including 58.3 percent from two-point range. Duke scored 1.19 points per possession against the Bulldogs, with four Dukies scoring at least 12 points. Indeed, Duke’s offense is its calling card, as coach Mike Krzyzewski’s squad ranks fourth in the nation in adjusted offensive efficiency and fifth in offensive turnover percentage. Duke is also 26th nationally in three-point percentage. The Dukies’ offense is disciplined, efficient and potent from long range.

But the Elis match up well with the Blue Devils in three key areas and will defeat Duke if it can capitalize on them:

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No. 6 West Virginia defeats No. 11 Princeton, 74-65

The No. 11 Princeton women’s basketball team fell to No. 6 West Virginia in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Columbus, Ohio Friday, surrendering an eight-point first-half lead in the Tigers’ sixth tournament appearance.

The Mountaineers shot north of 50 percent in the second half, led by Bria Holmes’ 26 points. Annie Tarakchian and Alex Wheatley scored 20 and 18 points for the Tigers respectively.

Princeton had returned three starters from last year’s squad that went undefeated during the regular season, nabbing the first at-large bid in Ivy history with its 22-6 regular season overall record, including a 12-2 mark in league play.

No. 12 Yale defeats No. 5 Baylor, 79-75, notches first NCAA Tournament win ever

Sophomore guard Makai Mason posted 31 points, six rebounds, four assists and just two turnovers in 39 minutes. (Fansided)
Sophomore guard Makai Mason posted 31 points, six rebounds, four assists and just two turnovers in 39 minutes. (Fansided)

Yale made history just by showing up. Then the Bulldogs made a whole lot more.

In Yale’s first NCAA Tournament game since 1962, the Bulldogs won their first contest in the tourney ever, besting the Bears, 79-75, after leading most of the way in front of a Yale partisan crowd at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence.

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Ivy CIT/NIT postseason roundup

Columbia 86, Norfolk State 54

The host Lions doubled up the Spartans in the first half, 42-21, and never looked back. Luke Petrasek shook off a late-season scoring slump to lead all scorers with 18 points in just 24 minutes, with Petrasek and Maodo Lo each hitting four treys to give the Lions an easy first-round CIT win. The Spartans got outscored 48-6 from three-point range, and that was pretty much the ballgame. Here’s Columbia Athletics’ explanation of what happens next in the crazy CIT process:

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On the Vine – Mar. 15, 2016

The panel looks ahead to Yale’s NCAA Tournament first-round showdown with Baylor, Princeton’s NIT matchup with Virginia Tech and Columbia’s CIT square-off with Norfolk State. Peter Andrews and Mike Tony are joined by IHO writer Robert Crawford and Dallas Morning News contributor/Baylor expert Shehan Jeyarajah for this episode:

Two-bid Ivy: No. 10 Penn vs. No. 7 Washington, No. 11 Princeton vs. No. 6 West Virginia

#2bidivy got in just under the wire.

For the first time ever, the Ivy League got two NCAA Tournament bids, league champion Penn and at-large Princeton, in the final season without a conference tournament to determine the league’s NCAA Tournament representative.

Penn received the automatic bid after defeating Princeton at Jadwin Gym, 62-60, completing a season sweep of the Tigers. The Quakers were rewarded with their highest seed in school history, a No. 10 seed pitting them against No. 7 Washington. The Quakers (24-4) and Huskies (22-10) will square off on Saturday at 4 p.m. at the Xfinity Center in College Park, Md. A first-round Penn win would set the Quakers up with No. 2 Maryland on the Terrapins’ home court. Then-No. 1 Maryland ousted Princeton from the tournament in the second round of last season’s tournament, ending the Tigers’ undefeated season.

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Cornell fires head coach Bill Courtney after six seasons

Cornell fired head coach Bill Courtney after six seasons Monday, ESPN reported, opting not to renew his contract.

Courtney finished with an overall record of 60-113 (.311), including a 27-57 (.321) record in conference play. The Big Red finished last in the conference for the second time in three years this season, going 3-11 in Ivy play after having gone 2-26 overall in 2013-14. Cornell was the only Ivy not to make a postseason tournament during Courtney’s tenure.

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