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.
The Red, which broke its five game losing streak and captured its first Ivy road win of the season, had a strong shooting night to go along with its defensive success. Cornell shot 52 percent from two, 33 percent (7-21) from three and 80 percent (16-20) from the line. On the other side of the ball, the Red held a 47-30 rebounding advantage, while holding Brown to 37 percent from two and 17 percent (4-24) from beyond the arc.
Laura Bagwell-Katalinich led the way for Cornell, posting a double-double of 14 points and 14 rebounds. Kate Sramac and Samantha Widmann both captured 6 rebounds, while Sramac scored 13 and Widmann added 11. In the losing effort, Gaziano had 17 points on 7-15 shooting. Taylor Will, Erika Steeves, and Shayna Mehta scored 10, 10 and 9 points, respectively, on a combined 9 for 29.
Penn (16-3, 6-0 Ivy) 60 at Dartmouth (10-10, 3-4) 44
The Quakers controlled the middle of the game, outscoring Dartmouth a combined 34-15 in the second and third quarters, to capture its seventh straight contest and remain the league’s only undefeated team. Dartmouth was up 12-10 with 3:39 to go in the first quarter, but Penn would go on a 19-1 run over the next 11 minutes to help the Red & Blue to a 31-17 halftime lead. Despite Cy Lippold’s 10 third quarter points, the Quakers held the rest of the Green off the scoreboard, finishing the frame up an insurmountable 20 points.
Penn’s league-leading defense held Dartmouth to 40 percent from two, 26 percent (6-23) from three and 50 percent (6-12) from the line, while holding a + 18 advantage in total rebounds and +12 on the offensive glass. Despite shooting 27 percent (6-22) from three, they used their size and strength to dominate the inside with 59 percent from two and 40 points in the paint. Ashley Russell had 19 points and 8 rebounds for the Quakers and Princess Aghayere finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds (7 offensive). Eleah Parker added 12 points, 5 rebounds and 1 block on the night. For the Green, Lippold was the only player in double-digits with a game-high 19 points.
Yale (15-7, 5-2 Ivy) 69 vs Columbia 61 (6-14, 2-5)
Yale, playing in its third-straight Friday night nail-biter, used a 9-0 fourth quarter run to pull away from Columbia and capture sole possession of second place in the Ivy League. After entering the last frame tied at 49, a Sienna Durr jumper gave the Lions a 56-54 lead with just over six minutes left in regulation. Despite shooting 3 of 11 over the next four minutes, the Bulldogs scored nine straight points, including an old-fashioned three by Roxy Barahman and a left baseline trifecta from Tori Andrew, to make it a 63-56 game. Columbia’s Riley Casey made all three free throws, after being fouled outside the arc, to cut the lead to four with 30 seconds left. Yale would go on to make all four of its free throws to seal the win.
Yale, which won its 11th straight home game, flipped the script on its usual offensive production. For a team that often has challenges at the three point and free throw lines, the Bulldogs ended the night shooting 40 percent (8-20) from three and 77 percent (13-17) at the charity stripe. The free throws ended up being the big difference on the night, with Yale securing 9 more attempts and 8 more baskets than Columbia. Defensively, the Bulldogs allowed the Lions to shoot 32 percent (8-25) from three, but they limited them to only 41 percent from two, 56 percent from the line and 3 points from the bench.
Barahman, the Ivy’s leading scorer, had a stat-stuffing evening of 25 points (4-8 from three, 7-7 FT), 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals. Camilla Emsbo had 17 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks, while Andrew added 12 points (3-5 from three). Casey led Columbia with 23 points (6-12 from three), while Janiya Clemmons had a huge night with 21 points, 12 rebounds, and 5 assists. Sienna Durr, who entered the game averaging 14.6 points, and Madison Hardy, who came in with a 9.1 point average, were held to 7 and 0 points, respectively.
Princeton (12-9, 4-2 Ivy) 75 at Harvard (11-9, 4-3) 71
The Crimson battled back from a 16 point second half deficit, but could not complete the comeback against Princeton on Friday night. The Tigers second straight victory moved them into third place, one half game back of Yale. The Harvard loss, the team’s first at Lavietes Pavilion since March of 2017, moves them into fourth place.
Princeton finished the first half up 38-33 and extended the lead to 51-35 halfway through the third quarter. With the Orange & Black up 58-45 with just over two minutes left in the frame, the Crimson finished on an 8-2 run to make the score 60-53 heading into the final ten minutes. Grace Stone scored an old-fashion three pointer after tipping in a missed Carlie Littlefield three to give Princeton a 73-65 lead with 2:30 to go in regulation. Harvard’s Madeline Raster then hit back-to-back three pointers in the last minute to cut the Tigers lead to two, 73-71, with 40 ticks on the clock. Bella Alarie missed a three from the left wing, but Qalea Ismail captured the offensive rebound and hit one of two free throws to make it a three point contest with 11 seconds left. Raster took another three to tie the game, but her shot from the right wing hit the rim and went out of bounds.
The Tigers shot only 27 percent (3-11) from beyond the arc, but hit 51 percent from two and 75 percent from the line. Harvard, meanwhile, made 11 three pointers at a 48 percent rate, while hitting 46 percent from inside the arc and 100 percent of their free throws. Unfortunately for the Crimson, Princeton took 24 attempts from the charity stripe, while they could only manage four.
Bella Alarie had game highs with 19 points, 9 rebounds and 4 blocks for the Tigers. She was joined in double-digit scoring by Littlefield and Gabrielle Rush, who scored 16 and 15 points, respectively. Harvard had five players with double-digit points – Raster with 16 (4-7 from three), Nani Redford 13, Katie Benzan with 11 (1-7 from three), Jadyn Bush with 10 and Sydney Skinner with 10.