If you missed the Ivy League’s own women’s All-Ivy awards, you can find them here. As selected by Ivy Hoops Online’s contributors, here are the IHO 2018-19 Women’s All-Ivy Awards:
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Bella Alarie, Princeton (Jr., G/F – Bethesda, Md.)
A slam dunk of a Player of the Year selection, Alarie was IHO’s POY for the second year in a row. Injury kept Alarie from game action until Dec. 8, but she’s been her usual dominant self ever since, averaging 23.0 points and 10.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.9 blocks per game. Alarie has scored 6.2 more points and snared 2.9 more rebounds than the next two highest producers in those categories in league play, and she sets the tone of entire games at both ends of the floor, altering offensive attacks and serving as a conduit for Princeton’s conference-best scoring offense.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Sienna Durr, Columbia (Fr., G/F – Grinnell, Iowa)
Durr averaged 14.5 points (sixth in the league) and 6.2 boards (14th in the league) as a rookie, also finishing fourth in field-goal percentage and eighth in free-throw percentage while establishing herself as the focal point of a first-year-led offensive attack. Coach Megan Griffith explained Sienna Durr’s impact as a first-year in her interview on Inside Ivy Hoops in January.
Honorable Mention: Camilla Emsbo, Yale (Fr., F – Lakewood, Colo.)
Emsbo was a standout in Yale’s frontcourt as a rookie, ranking in the league’s top four in rebounding, field-goal percentage and blocks and figuring to be a pivotal component in Yale’s interior defense and offensive attack for years to come. As Yale junior guard Roxy Barahman told Ivy Hoops Online last month, Emsbo helped to make up for the loss of Jen Berkowitz to graduation by providing a “large presence around the rim.”
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Eleah Parker, Penn (So., C – Charlotte, N.C.)
Parker averaged 15.6 points, 8.9 rebounds and an easily league-best 3.3 blocks per game as a sophomore, anchoring one of the best defenses in Division I.
MOST IMPROVED PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Gabrielle Rush, Princeton (Sr., G – Hinsdale, Ill.)
Rush roughly doubled her minutes and scoring output from last season, playing a pivotal role in Princeton’s Ivy title run with her defense (1.7 steals per game, fifth-best in the league) and three-point shooting (second-most three-pointers per game in the league).
COACH OF THE YEAR
Dayna Smith, Cornell
Smith took a Big Red squad picked to finish last in the league in the preseason media poll to its first ever Ivy League Tournament appearance, improving over the course of Ivy play to win three of its last four games despite a limited (not much three-point shooting) offensive attack. This is a grind-it-out, defense-first squad that has made Ivy opponents work harder and harder to win as league action continued on, and Smith oversaw that impressive progression.
GAME OF THE YEAR
Harvard over Penn, 80-72 (2OT)
Penn’s first conference loss came after a 50-minute see-saw battle at Lavietes Pavilion. Harvard took a 16-12 lead into the second quarter before Penn answered with a 6-1 run, but the Crimson reclaimed an edge for a 33-29 halftime advantage and opened the second half on an 8-2 run that upped the lead to 41-31 and threatened to make it an easy win for Harvard. But Penn persevered, leading 51-48 with 5:55 to go after a Princess Aghayere bucket. That score held for the next 2:46, but two free throws from Jadyn Bush tied the game at 52-52 with 25 seconds to go, and then came a very evenly played overtime period that proved indecisive following a Michae Jones layup that tied the score at 62-62 with three seconds left. Harvard dominated in the second overtime, exploding for 18 points despite Jeannie Boehm fouling out early in the session. The game featured 12 ties and 10 lead changes and reshaped the Ivy title race, paving the way for Princeton to climb atop the league along with Penn.
FIRST-TEAM ALL-IVY*
Bella Alarie, Princeton (Jr., G/F – Bethesda, Md.)
Roxy Barahman, Yale (Jr., G – Calabasas, Calif.)
Barahman was one of the league’s most dynamic scorers this season, leading the Ivy League in conference play in assists while ranking fourth in assists and third in defensive rebounds and minutes. No shot was more dramatic across the league this season than Barahman’s buzzer-beating game-winning deep three to defeat Harvard, 65-62. Yale coach Allison Guth talked about Barahman’s (and Emsbo’s) impact during an interview on Inside Ivy Hoops earlier this season.
Laura Bagwell-Katalinich, Cornell (Jr., F – Minneapolis)
The Penn transfer powered Cornell to an unlikely Ivy League Tournament appearance, finishing second in the league in scoring and fourth in rebounding in Ivy play, for which she saved her best moments – including a 26-point, 13-rebound performance to clinch an important sweep of Yale and seven points on 3-for-3 shooting in a decisive fourth quarter in the tournament berth-clinching regular season finale at Dartmouth. Bagwell-Katalinich seems to get better as games go on (just ask Princeton, who watched as she scored 14 points in the fourth quarter to nearly rally the Big Red to a comeback upset at Jadwin Gym), and she’s turned in a remarkable season, establishing herself as one of the league’s most efficient scorers from the field and from the foul line as well as a defensive standout on a team full of stout defenders.
Eleah Parker, Penn (So., C – Charlotte, N.C.)
Parker contributed more than just defense as a sophomore, exploding for a season-high 29 points in Penn’s Ivy title share-clinching regular season finale at Yale and ranking fourth in the league in scoring and third in field-goal percentage.
Katie Benzan, Harvard (Jr., G – Wellesley, Mass.)
The league’s most prolific three-point shooter, Benzan also boasted the league’s third-best assist-to-turnover ratio in conference play, the linchpin of a Harvard offense that got stronger as conference play went on.
Shayna Mehta, Brown (Sr., G – San Francisco)
Despite Brown’s disappointing 1-13 Ivy record, Mehta remained one of the league’s most elite scorers as a senior, also the Ivy’s best pickpocketer (3.4 steals per game in conference play) and most durable standout (a league-best 36.7 minutes per game). Mehta’s 37 points versus Yale in Brown’s lone Ivy win, 25-point, 10-rebound, nine-assist performance in a double overtime loss at Northern Illinois and six three-pointers in a win at Holy Cross showed Mehta’s scoring greatness, which Ivy fans will miss next season.
*Six first-team selections due to a tie in voting
SECOND-TEAM ALL-IVY*
Jadyn Bush, Harvard (So., F – Federal Way, Wash.)
Bush became an integral part of Harvard’s starting lineup as a sophomore, averaging 11 points and 8.6 rebounds per game while making 52 percent of her shots in league play (behind only Yale’s Alexandra Maund). A double-double machine, Bush has played a key role in Harvard closing the gap between itself and Penn and Princeton atop the Ivy League this season.
Carlie Littlefield, Princeton (So., G – Waukee, Iowa)
Littlefield helped push the Tigers over the top in conference play, ranking in the top 10 in Ivy action in scoring, assists, free-throw percentage, steals, and assist-to-turnover ratio. Her floor vision resulted in a season-high six assists that loomed large in Princeton’s huge win at Penn.
Princess Aghayere, Penn (Sr., F – Reston, Va.)
Aghayere took advantage of her elevated role as a senior, providing a defensive spark and efficient scoring in Penn’s characteristically standout frontcourt, including a 12-point, 12-rebound double-double in an Ivy opening win at Princeton that reestablished Penn as an Ivy title frontrunner.
Sienna Durr, Columbia (Fr., G/F – Grinnell, Iowa)
Isalys Quinones, Dartmouth (Sr., F – San Diego)
Quinones was the driving force behind a Big Green bid for an Ivy League Tournament that fell just short, finishing seventh in conference play in scoring, blocks and free-throw percentage.
Ashley Russell, Penn (Sr., G – Braintree, Mass.)
Russell has become one of the league’s best ball distributors, ranking second in conference play in assists, steals, assist-to-turnover ratio and minutes played, arguably the glue that holds the Ivy champion Quakers together.
Justine Gaziano, Brown (Jr., G – Natick, Mass.)
Gaziano scored an efficient 17.5 points per game as a junior, continuing to gouge teams from beyond the arc and faring well against stout Princeton and Harvard defenses in league play.
*Six second-team selections due to a tie in voting
ALL-IVY HONORABLE MENTIONS
Samantha Widmann, Cornell (Jr., G/F – Lawrenceville, N.J.)
With Bagwell-Katalinich shouldering much of the offensive burden, Widmann still delivered at both ends of the floor, finishing in the top 10 in league play in rebounding, field-goal percentage, free-throw percentage and steals.
Janiya Clemmons, Columbia (Jr., G – Accokeek, Md.)
Clemmons played a big role in Columbia’s progress this season, averaging 12.0 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game while starting all games for the first time in her career.
Cy Lippold, Dartmouth (Sr., G – Bronx, N.Y.)
A true team leader, Lippold led the Ivy League in three-point shooting percentage and finished fourth in assists, inspiring her teammates even after she sustained an injury late in the season. Dartmouth coach Belle Koclanes discussed Lippold’s and Quinones’s impact as team leaders in an interview on Inside Ivy Hoops last month.
Jeannie Boehm, Harvard (Jr., F – Winnetka, Ill.)
Boehm continued to anchor Harvard’s defense in the paint, finishing second in the league in blocks, getting into double figures eight times in scoring and rebounding each during the Ivy slate.
Camilla Emsbo, Yale (Fr., F – Lakewood, Colo.)