Ivy women’s hoops Saturday recap

Columbia (7-14, 3-5 Ivy) 83 at Brown (9-15, 1-7) 81

Columbia’s Madison Hardy sank two three-pointers in the last minute to push the Lions over Brown, 83-81, at the Pittzitola Sports Center.  The victory was Columbia’s first conference road win and brought the Light Blue into a three-way tie for fifth place.  The Bears, which lost their seventh straight contest, ended the night in sole possession of last place.

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Ivy women’s hoops Friday recap

Cornell (8-10, 2-5 Ivy) 65 at Brown (9-14, 1-6) 53

The Big Red limited the league’s most prolific offense to only 17 second half points, as it came away with a 65-53 victory over Brown in Providence.  With the Bears holding a 42-37 lead four minutes into the third quarter, Cornell finished the frame on a 13-2 run to take a six point lead.  A Justine Gaziano layup made the score 57-53 in favor of the Big Red with 3:38 to go, but those would be the last points of the night for the Bears.  Cornell then went on an 8-0 run, including a 6-6 performance from the free throw line, to close the game.

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Ivy women’s hoops Saturday recap

Princeton (11-9, 3-2 Ivy) 93 vs Brown (9-13, 1-5) 74

The Tigers rebounded from Friday night’s overtime loss to Yale by beating the Bears by 19 on Saturday night.  In front of the team’s alumnae, including the ’14-’15 team that went 30-0 in the regular season, Princeton jumped out to a nine point lead after one quarter and eleven at the half.  The Bears cut the lead to six, two and a half minutes into the third quarter, but that would be as close as the they would get.

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Ivy women’s hoops Friday recap

Dartmouth (9-9, 2-3 Ivy) 63 at Cornell (7-9, 1-4 Ivy) 56

Cy Lippold scored 21 and Isalys Quinones added 19 to lead the Big Green to a 63-56 victory over Cornell, its first win in Ithaca in nine years.  The two captains shot a combined 10-for-17 from beyond the arc with each making five three-pointers.  As a team, Dartmouth ended up hitting 11 shots from three at a 50 percent rate.

The teams were close throughout with Dartmouth holding a 32-30 lead at the half and a 50-45 advantage after three.  Cornell tied it at 50 on an old-fashioned three by Caitlin Smith with 8:42 left in the fourth quarter. With the Big Green up 53-52 at the seven-minute mark, Cornell shot 1-for-9 over the next 6:30 as Dartmouth went on a 10-2 run to put the game away.

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Ivy women’s hoops Saturday recap

Harvard (10-7, 3-1 Ivy) 100 at Brown (9-11, 1-3 Ivy) 83

With Brown holding a 51-50 lead one minute into the third quarter, Harvard used two separate runs of 10-0 and 15-3 over the next ten minutes to take a 78-59 advantage.  The Bears battled back, going on their own 21-7 run over the next five minutes to make it a 85-80 with four minutes left in regulation.  A Justine Gaziano three 30 seconds later made it a 87-83 contest, but the Crimson scored the game’s last 13 points to win going away.

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Inside Ivy Hoops – Jan. 10, 2019

In the latest episode of Inside Ivy Hoops, Ivy Hoops Online editor Mike Tony is joined by Columbia women’s basketball coach Megan Griffith and IHO writer George Clark.

Mike and George recap last weekend’s Penn-Princeton doubleheader, preview the rematch between the Ps at the Palestra Saturday and weigh in other action from around the league:

Coach Griffith reflects on Columbia’s big win at Mercer Sunday, her team’s relative youth and the importance of confidence, her thoughts on the Ivy League Tournament and much more:

Mike notes the payoff of continuity and experience for Ivy men’s and women’s hoops this season – and the few rookies who are breaking through so far:

Ivy women’s hoops in review: Jan. 5-6

Penn takes round one at Princeton

On Saturday afternoon, the Penn women, behind a career game from junior Phoebe Sterba, bounced back from a dominant Princeton third quarter to take the Ivy opener 66-60. The Quakers’ (9-2, 1-0 Ivy, 2-0 Big 5) victory, the first over the Tigers (8-8, 0-1) since the 2017 Ivy League Tournament championship, extends their present steak to five games and gives them an important road victory over the Ivy preseason favorites.

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Penn-Princeton doubleheader yields two thrillers at Jadwin Gym

Saturday’s Penn-Princeton doubleheader at Jadwin Gym was full of highs and lows for both Ps, as the two games featured a combined 12 lead changes (seven for the men, five for the women) and a split for each school.

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Ivy women’s hoops in review: Dec. 13-22

Princeton (7-7)
12/15 vs Marist (#14 Mid-Major Top 25) 60-57
12/19 at St. Francis (Brooklyn) 83-64
12/21 at Hartford 75-38

The Tigers are on a six game win streak, including all five games that Bella Alarie has played since returning from a broken right wrist.  The reigning Ivy Player of the Year, who has been named Player of the Week in each of her first two weeks back, is absolutely crushing the competition with 19.6 points, 9.6 rebounds and 3.6 blocks per game.  Alarie’s presence in the middle has helped the defense limit its opponents to 48.6 points per game, while opening up the team’s transition offense and improving its production to 70.2 points per contest.

The Tigers will look to extend its dominance next Saturday when they travel to New Hampshire (3-9) in the team’s last non-conference game before stating league play at home against Penn on Jan. 5.

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Ivy women’s hoops weeks in review: Nov. 29 – Dec. 12

Princeton (4-7)
12/2 vs Davidson 65-57
12/8 vs Quinnipiac 54-42
12/11 vs Monmouth 79-47

Before the return of Bella Alarie on Friday night, Princeton went 2-7 with home victories bookending a seven game losing streak.  While the youthful Tigers have gained valuable game experience during this time, culminating in a come from behind win over Davidson, the return of the reigning Ivy Player of the Year immediately showed why they were picked to repeat as league champs.  In Alarie’s first game back, she had 16 points, a career high 19 rebounds and 5 blocks.  Not only did the Tigers win by 12 over a Quinnipiac squad that made it to the second round of last year’s NCAA Tournament, but Alarie was named Ivy League co-Player of the Week.  In her follow-up performance at Monmouth, she put up 16 points, 7 rebounds and 4 blocks.

During Alarie’s absence, Carlie Littlefield and Gabrielle Rush stepped up for the Orange & Black.  Littlefield averaged 15.3 points (4th Ivy), 5.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists (11th), 1.8 made threes (9th) and 1.7 steals (4th) in 33.9 minutes per game.  Rush, meanwhile, added 13.6 points (8th), 6.7 boards (9th), 2.8 made threes (2nd) and 1.7 steals (6th) per contest.

Over the first part of the season, the team has been uncharacteristically weak in two point shooting (40.9 percent), three point defense (35.9 percent) and offensive rebounding rate (27.5 percent).  With their premier post player back and other important rotation players expected back from the DL soon, the Tigers should expect those numbers to improve significantly.

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