Here’s what you’ve all been waiting for: the 2019-20 Ivy Hoops Online Women’s All-Ivy honorees as selected by IHO contributors, which are notably different from the selections that the Ivy League released:
Roxy Barahman
Fallout continues over decision to cancel the Ivy League Tournament
Things have not calmed down after Tuesday afternoon’s bombshell announcement from the Ivy League and its eight presidents that this weekend’s Ivy League Tournaments were canceled, making the league the first conference to cancel tournament play.
The conference likes to refer to its tournament as Ivy Madness. To paraphrase Harvard senior Seth Towns, the 2018 Player of the Year, it’s more like Ivy Mayhem.
Yale women stymie Penn to create second-place scrum in Ivy standings
With two weeks to go till the Ivy women’s tournament begins, Yale moved into a second-place tie with Penn in the conference standings, 71-54.
Since Columbia kept pace with Yale and Penn at 7-4 in league play by winning at Harvard, the odds seem good that those three will join Princeton in the tournament in Boston.
Roxy Barahman had a stellar night for Yale (17-7 overall), and the defensive-minded Penn team (17-8) had no answer for her. The senior guard scored 29 points on 10-for-21 shooting, including 4-for-7 from beyond the arc, and served up five assists as the Bulldogs won at the Palestra for the first time in seven years.
Columbia defeats Yale, 74-65, moves into third-place tie as Sienna Durr leads the way
After Yale cut a 16-point third-quarter deficit to two early in the fourth quarter, Columbia got four three-pointers from four different players to pull away and grab a 74-65 win over the Bulldogs at the John J. Lee Amphitheater on Saturday evening.
The two teams battled evenly through most of the first quarter, when Tori Andrew hit a driving left side layup to put Yale (16-7, 6-4 Ivy) up 13-11. The Lions (15-8, 6-4) responded with a 21-2 run between the last two minutes of the first quarter and the first 3:15 of the second frame to open up a 17-point lead.
Yale completes season sweep of Cornell, takes sole possession of third place
If revenge was the motive, then call it mission accomplished for Yale.
Cornell swept Yale last season to knock the Bulldogs out of Ivy League Tournament contention. Yale completed this season’s sweep of the Big Red last night at John J. Lee Amphitheater, 65-51.
The game was nip and tuck early on, but Yale (16-6, 6-3 Ivy) ended the half with a 32-27 lead behind the clutch shooting of Ellen Margaret Andrews. The Bulldogs were 4-for-6 from 3 in the first half. Andrews posted 18 points for the game to lead her squad.
Penn takes a squeaker at Yale
This game didn’t go anything like the coaches drew it up. But Penn came back with some clutch plays in a defensive struggle to beat Yale, 53-51, Saturday afternoon in New Haven.
Credit two starting guards for Penn (15-5, 5-2), senior captains Phoebe Sterba and Kendall Grasela, with pulling this one out after Yale (15-6, 5-3) built a 10-point lead in the second half. The Quakers’ headliners, junior center Eleah Parker and first-year shooting guard Kayla Padilla, had long stretches when they couldn’t buy a basket, but Sterba canned 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds, and Grasela — who directs the offense while averaging just 3.5 shots a game — had 11 points and five assists.
No. 25 Princeton stymies Yale, 55-39
There are 13 people on a basketball court at any one time. One never should focus on three of them.
Unfortunately, the focus was on them in the first half of the Princeton-Yale battle at John J. Lee Amphitheater.
And they were equal-opportunity malfeasants. You won’t hear that from Princeton coach Carla Berube or Yale coach Allison Guth. They are too classy.
But the officials made some mind-jarring calls which led to both Yale standout Roxy Barahman and Princeton star Bella Alarie ending up on the bench early.
Princeton, ranked No. 25 in the USA Today/WBCA Coaches Poll, beat Yale, 55-39, before a sparse crowd of 551 at JLA. Princeton (18-1, 6-0 Ivy) had a large and vocal following behind its bench. Former UConn great and National Player of the Year Kara Wolters was present to support her former college teammate Berube.
Harvard women give Yale its first conference loss of season
Harvard handed its archrival its first defeat in Ivy League competition Friday, pulling away in the fourth quarter to notch a 66-57 win over Yale at Lavietes Pavilion.
Yale (14-4, 4-1 Ivy) overcame an 18-8 deficit after one quarter to claim a 31-29 halftime lead, but the Crimson ended the game on a 15-5 run over the final 7:12, attacking the Bulldogs inside down the stretch.
Yale overcomes 16-point second-half deficit to push past Cornell, 74-67
ITHACA, N.Y. – The Cornell Big Red led by as many as 16 points in the third quarter, but Yale stormed back to avenge last season’s Big Red sweep of the Bulldogs and remain undefeated in Ivy League play, escaping Newman Arena Saturday with a 74-67 win.
“A really disappointing second half,” Cornell coach Dayna Smith said. “Their top two leading scorers stepped up when they needed to.”
Those two would be Roxy Barahman and Camilla Emsbo. Each ended the first half with six points but finished with 26 points and 24 points, respectively.
Yale women use dominant second half to defeat Columbia for seventh straight win
Leading by only three at the half, Yale used a 50-point effort over the last 20 minutes to convincingly beat Columbia, 85-60, taking the first leg of its Empire State weekend.
A battle between two of the Ivy’s up-and-coming programs started with the visitors jumping out to a quick 10-0 start. The Lions (10-6, 1-2 Ivy) battled back to tie the game at 15 by the end of the first quarter, with 12 of those points being scored by Ivy rookies Abbey Hsu, Hannah Pratt (a sophomore who missed all last year), Kaitlyn Davis and Carly Rivera.
The second quarter was a back-and-forth affair with four lead changes and four ties, leaving the game knotted at 32 after Rivera nailed a jumper from the right baseline with just under a minute to go. Yale senior Roxy Barahman calmly sank a shot from the top of the key, beyond the men’s line, to put the Bulldogs up 35-32 to finish the half.