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Princeton (9-8, 1-1 Ivy) 79 at Columbia (5-11, 1-2 Ivy) 64
Friday evening’s action began with an all-time performance from last year’s Ivy League Player of the Year, Princeton’s Bella Alarie. Alarie scored 45 points, besting the previous record of 43 points set by Dartmouth’s Gail Koziara in 1978, while making a conference record 20 field goals. As if that wasn’t enough, the 6′ 4″ forward captured 14 rebounds and added 4 blocks, setting a new Princeton career record of 160.
GARDEN CITY, N.Y. – The Brown women’s basketball team built several 20-point-plus second-half leads and held off a determined Adelphi to come away with a closer-than-expected 75-62 victory on Wednesday evening. With the win, the Bears secured their third victory in the penultimate contest of a seven game road trip and improved its overall record to 8-7.
The game, a rare visit to a Division II program, was the result of a cancelled late December game against Howard and the need to fill an empty slot before the start of the Ivy schedule. With most teams starting league play in January and limited time at the end of 2018 calendar, there were few takers.
“I’ve known (Adephi head coach) Missy (Traversi) for a long time,” said Brown coach Sarah Behn. “We’re grateful they squeezed the game in.”
With a fourth place finish, an appearance in the inaugural Ivy Tournament, and a postseason win in the first round of the 2017 Women’s Basketball Invitational, things looked bright for the Brown women’s team heading into 2017-2018. The Bears, which did not lose a single member of the previous year’s squad, were picked fourth in the league’s preseason poll and there was talk among Ivy fans that this group could be the first since 2011-2012 to break the Harvard-Penn-Princeton stranglehold on the conference’s top three spots.
A 9-1 start, including Tournament titles at the University of Pacific and the Ocean State Tip-Off, added to the program’s confidence as it returned from finals to visit Boston University on December 22nd. Up 28 points with 3:22 remaining in the third quarter, starting three-guard Taylor Will came off the court with a knee injury and did not return to action for the rest of the year. While Brown defeated the Terriers, Howard University and Johnson & Wales to complete its non-conference scheduled with a program-best 12-1 record, the Bears aura of invincibility had been shattered.
Harvard
Mason Forbes, a two-star recruit from Folsom (CA) High School, chose to attend Harvard on Tuesday night, becoming the Crimson’s fourth member for the class of 2018. The 6’8” 195 pound center/power forward averaged 15.0 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 3.6 blocks a game in the 2016-17 season. According to Verbal Commits, he chose Harvard over Mt. St. Mary’s, San Diego State, San Jose State, and Cal Poly.
Forbes comes from a basketball rich family. His grandfather, Sterling Forbes, Sr., played for Pepperdine, was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers, and joined the Harlem Globetrotters. His father, Sterling “Smooth” Forbes, Jr., played for Southwest Texas State before playing with the Globetrotters. His younger sister, McKenzie Forbes, is a senior at Folsom High School and an ESPN Top 40 prospect who will be attending Cal-Berkeley in the fall of 2018. ‘