Senior Mia Lakstigala is a dependable, versatile Penn player — a 6-footer who collects rebounds but also handles the ball and sinks threes. And she did it all well Saturday night for a career-high 21 points plus seven rebounds as the Quakers beat Brown, 67-53, in her second-to-last game at the Palestra.
Brown
Three takeaways from the Brown men’s late triumph at Cornell
Jaylan Gainey’s putback dunk with 3.5 seconds left resulted in an 81-80 Brown win at Cornell Saturday that has huge implications for the Ivy League Tournament race.
Let’s hear 🔊 the hometown call of @SlimJaylan‘s game-winning flush! 🏀🐻 pic.twitter.com/C3uJt2vAyk
— Brown Men’s Basketball (@BrownBasketball) February 12, 2022
Here’s what to take away from the memorable finish for Brown (12-13, 4-6 Ivy) and Cornell (13-8, 5-5):
- The Ivy men’s race just got more interesting
Brown now has a fighting chance in the Ivy League Tournament race, even if Cornell still has the inside track. Bruno has a 22.3% shot of making the tourney after the win, still a far cry from the Big Red’s 68.7%, according to friend of Ivy Hoops Online Luke Benz’s analysis:
Ivy Madness odds following routs by Princeton and Yale, Penn putting Harvard in very tough spot, and Jaylan Gainey with Brown’s biggest bucket of the season to breath some life into its season.
Cornell 1 game up on Brown + tiebreaker (1-1 in H2H, Cornell win over Princeton) 🏀🌿 pic.twitter.com/r92O7Bo0Kc— Luke Benz (@recspecs730) February 13, 2022
But three of Brown’s final four games are at home, while three of Cornell’s last four contests are on the road. Since the Bears and Big Red have split their season series, the next head-to-head tiebreaker would be each team’s record against the highest seed outside the tie. Brown has matchups with all three teams above it and Cornell in the Ivy standings – Princeton and Penn next weekend at home and at Yale in the season finale.
The Big Red hold this tiebreaker by virtue of their win over Princeton, but they’ve got only one more opportunity to strengthen that tiebreaker when they host Yale on Feb. 26.
The race for the No. 4 seed could go down to the wire.
2. Jaylan Gainey comes up big again
Gainey was KenPom’s game MVP for the second contest in a row, contributing 16 points on 7-for-11 shooting and nine rebounds, including five on the offensive end. Hopefully Gainey’s game-winner attracts more attention to the terrific campaign he’s had as a senior. Gainey leads the Ivy League in field goal percentage by a wide margin (67.1% to second-place Tosan Evbuomwan’s 53.7% for Princeton) and blocks by a similarly commanding distance (two per game versus second-place Isaiah Kelly’s 0.9 for Yale).
Gainey has become more assertive offensively as Ivy play has progressed, a trend that bodes well for the stretch run. Gainey has recorded five blocks in two of Brown’s last three games against Yale, and he’ll be key in Brown’s matchup at Yale that could give the Bears a potential tiebreaker in the scrum for the Ivy tourney’s No. 4 seed.
Even though Gainey was named Ivy Defensive Player of the Year in 2019-20, his stellar play anchoring the conference’s top scoring defense doesn’t get the plaudits it should.
3. Not cleaning the defensive boards cost Cornell
The offensive rebound leading to Gainey’s game-winning putback was Brown’s 14th offensive board of the game. Cornell managed just four. The Big Red have been outrebounded on the offensive end by a combined margin of 35-16 in their last three losses.
That’s an especially troubling trend for Cornell given that it wants to push the tempo, having the third-quickest average possession length in the country per KenPom behind only Gonzaga and St. John’s. Also in the Ivy League’s bottom half in offensive rebound percentage are Cornell’s next two opponents, Dartmouth and Harvard, giving the Big Red a better opportunity to correct this issue in next weekend’s high-stakes New England road trip.
Brown senior forward Ashley Ducharme makes cards in between baskets
If you are a college basketball fan, it’s likely you’ve heard of Connecticut Huskies freshman phenom guard Caroline Ducharme.
Ducharme inked a Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) deal with ISlide, a sandal company, for a sandal featuring the quote, “When it gets hard, think about why you started.”
“My ‘why’ is my family, specifically my older sister Ashley,” Ducharme wrote on Instagram. “It’s hard to describe the impact that she’s had on me as a player and who I am as a person. There’s no one who inspires, challenges, and supports me more than she does. Will always be my favorite teammate.”
Her sister is Brown Bears senior forward Ashley Ducharme. Ashley may be the lesser-known Ducharme sister, but she is impressive in her own right.
Ivy women’s weekend: Saturday separation
As the calendar moves into February, we have reached the midpoint of the Ivy season. While this weekend brings the first back-to-back games of the season, Saturday night looks to be the more pivotal evening for the women’s division. Each game pits teams from the four tiers of the conference against one another.
Cornell men survive late comeback, defeat Brown at the buzzer
Three weeks ago, the Cornell men lost to Princeton at the buzzer after leading by 18 with 16 minutes left. Sunday against Brown, the same thing nearly happened for the Big Red.
But this time, it ended differently.
Yale men eke out win at Brown
Brown coach Mike Martin was 6-2 against Yale and coach James Jones during his storied playing career for the Bears, but the tables have been turned in head-to-head coaching.
Yale women best Brown off buzzer-beater from Christen McCann
Now that was a finish to remember.
Yale overcame a slow start and the absence of all-everything Camilla Emsbo to injury to beat Brown at John J. Lee Amphitheater Monday, 69-67, on a layup by Christen McCann with 1.8 seconds remaining.
🤩 Here is Christen McCann’s game-winner from today’s 69-67 @ivyleague win vs. Brown!#ThisIsYale pic.twitter.com/iB7UCuNN2L
— Yale Women’s Basketball (@YaleWBasketball) January 17, 2022
Jenna Clark, the Ivy assist leader, dished on the winning bucket.
The winner was set up by a Klara Astrom steal with five seconds remaining. Coach Allison Guth then called a timeout to set up the winning shot.
McCann played a full 39 minutes and led her team with 19 points on 7-for-9 shooting. The Port St. Lucie, Fla. native also added eight rebounds.
Versatile senior forward Alex Cade took over for Emsbo at center and led Yale (10-6, 3-1 Ivy) with 11 rebounds while standing out with a career-high 18 points.
First-year guard Isabella Mauricio led Brown (5-11, 0-4) with her own career high of 23 points.
Brown carried a 41-37 lead into the locker room off of a torrid 53% shooting from the field. The Bears had taken a 22-21 lead at the end of the first quarter on a Mauricio trey at the buzzer and then went on a 12-0 run to start the second quarter.
Both Mauricio and freshman forward Amanda Latkany had eight in the half and Yale was paced by Jenna Clark with seven. Latkany had missed both the Harvard and Princeton losses.
Yale outscored Brown over the third stanza, fueled by an 8-0 run. Brown carried a narrow 56-55 lead into the last period.
Brown entered the game averaging only 55 points per game but shot 47% from the floor.
Yale outrebounded the visitors 43-31 and held a 16-1 advantage on the offensive glass to claim its third straight win.
Brown hosts Columbia and Yale hosts Penn next Saturday, both at 2 p.m.
Princeton women rout Brown, 72-39
The overmatched Brown Bears were spanked by Carla Berube’s Princeton Tigers on Saturday in Providence, 72-39.
The vaunted Tiger defense had single-digit yields in the first (nine) and third (eight) quarters, holding the Bears to under 10 per period for the game.
On offense, Ellie Mitchell was the first of four Tigers to register 12 points for the game. Mitchell went 6- for-6 in the first quarter, an unusual output for the rebounding and defensive specialist. The Tigers led 24-8 after one period and never trailed. Mitchell collected her usual 11 rebounds to record her fifth career double-double.
Abby Meyers, Julia Cunningham and Kaitlyn Chen also contributed 12 points each to fuel the runaway.
Berube used the lopsided contest as an opportunity to give 14 players the chance for some game action. Chet Nweke went 4-for-4 from the field in 13 minutes.
The Tigers could not be accused of looking ahead to Monday’s visit to The Palestra where their bitter rivals, the Penn Quakers, await. Penn-Princeton meetings are always fun and usually offer a surprise or two. Stream the game on ESPN+.
Princeton men hang on to best Brown, 76-74
Love that home cooking! The Princeton Tigers, whose opening game on the road against Harvard was postponed, played its third straight Ivy League game in Jadwin Gym’s friendly confines on Saturday afternoon against the Brown Bears.
Brown at Princeton men’s game time changed
The Brown at Princeton men’s game originally scheduled for Saturday at 4 p.m. now has an earlier tip-off time.