The conference’s next-to-last weekend began on Friday night with a nationally televised game between Princeton and Harvard, two of the four teams headed to the Ivy Tournament. The last time they met in January, the Crimson came away with a 67-59 victory, ending the Tigers’ 42-game Ivy League win streak.
Playing in front of more than 1,700 fans at Jadwin Gymnasium, Harvard took a 14-12 lead after the first quarter. The visitors used a late 13-2 run to open up a 12-point lead before Princeton cut it to 10, 30-20, at the half.
The Tigers started the third quarter on an 11-2 run to make it a one-point game at the 5:11 mark. The Crimson recovered to grab a six-point advantage with 1:30 to go in the frame but ended the quarter with a 39-35 lead.
A Harvard three made it 46-39 with 7:19 left in regulation, but Princeton had one more charge left. An 8-1 run by the Tigers knotted the contest at 47 with just over two minutes to go. With the score still tied and less than 30 seconds on the clock, Ellie Mitchell grabbed an offensive rebound off a missed layup and found a streaking Kaitlyn Chen in the paint for the game-winning bucket.
Princeton, which entered the weekend tied for first place with Columbia, remained at the top of the leaderboard, while Harvard, which was tied with Penn for third place, dropped a half-game behind the Quakers.
The other three contests weren’t close.
The Lions kept pace with the Tigers with a dominant 28-point win at Brown. Penn, the last of the Ivy Madness teams, defeated Dartmouth in Hanover and held the Big Green to 37 points, the first time limiting an Ivy opponent under 50 points this season.
In the only game not including any tournament participants, Yale locked up fifth place with a big 21-point home win against seventh-place Cornell.
Friday and Saturday’s results
Princeton over Harvard, 51-47
Penn over Dartmouth, 54-37
Yale over Cornell, 63-42
Columbia over Brown, 83-55
Below are 10 of the top performances from the weekend:
Kaitlyn Chen (Princeton)
vs Harvard: 18 points (7-for-13 2FG, 4-for-4 FT), two rebounds, two assists, two steals
Jenna Clark (Yale)
vs Cornell: 10 points (3-for-3 2FG, 1-for-4 3FG, 1-fpr-2 FT), seven rebounds, six assists, four steals
Kaitlyn Davis (Columbia) – Ivy League Player of the Week
vs Brown: 17 points (7-for-13 2FG, 3-for-4 FT), 13 rebounds (six offensive), seven assists, one steal (20th career double-double)
Sienna Durr (Columbia)
vs Brown: 14 points (5-for-9 2 FG, 0-1 3FG, 4-for-6 FT), three rebounds, and one steal in 14 minutes (986 career points)
McKenzie Forbes (Harvard)
vs Princeton: 19 points (3-for-5 2FG, 4-for-6 3FG, 1-for-2 FT), five rebounds, two assists
Kyla Jones (Brown)
vs Columbia: 27 points (12-for-17 2FG, 1-for-3 3FG), six rebounds, four steals, one assist
Brenna McDonald (Yale)
vs Cornell: 15 points (4-for-8 2FG, 7-for-7 FT), nine rebounds, two assists, one block
Ellie Mitchell (Princeton)
vs Harvard: 5 points (2-for-5 2FG, 1-for-2 FT), 12 rebounds (five offensive), two assists, two steals
Kayla Padilla (Penn)
vs Dartmouth: 23 points (3-for-9 2FG, 5-for-10 3FG, 2-for-3 FT), three rebounds, two steals, two blocks
Emily Pape (Cornell)
vs Yale: 18 points (8-for-15 2FG, 2-for-2 FT), nine rebounds, one block
Standings
*Columbia 11-2 (22-4, overall) – four straight wins
*Princeton 11-2 (20-5) – 12 straight wins
*Penn 9-4 (17-9)
*Harvard 8-5 (15-10)
^Yale 6-7 (12-14)
^Brown 4-10 (11-14)
^Cornell 3-10 (10-16)
^Dartmouth 0-13 (2-25) – 18 straight losses
* Clinched Ivy League Tournament slot
^ Eliminated from Ivy League Tournament
Season Series
Columbia: vs Princeton (1-1), vs Penn (1-1), vs Harvard (2-0), vs Yale (2-0), vs Brown (2-0), vs Cornell (1-0), vs Dartmouth (2-0)
Princeton: vs Columbia (1-1), vs Penn (1-0), vs Harvard (1-1), vs Yale (2-0), vs Brown (2-0), vs Cornell (2-0), vs Dartmouth (2-0)
Penn: vs Columbia (1-1), vs Princeton (0-1), vs Harvard (1-1), vs Yale (2-0), vs Brown (1-1), vs Cornell (2-0), vs Dartmouth (2-0)
Harvard: vs Columbia (0-2), vs Princeton (1-1), vs Penn (1-1), vs Yale (1-1), vs Brown (2-0), vs Cornell (2-0), vs Dartmouth (1-0)
Yale: vs Columbia (0-2), vs Princeton (0-2), vs Penn (0-2), vs Harvard (1-1), vs Brown (1-0), vs Cornell (2-0), vs Dartmouth (2-0)
Brown: vs Columbia (0-2), vs Princeton (0-2), vs Penn (1-1), vs Harvard (0-2), vs Yale (0-1), vs Cornell (1-1), vs Dartmouth (2-0)
Cornell: vs Columbia (0-1), vs Princeton (0-2), vs Penn (0-2), vs Harvard (0-2), vs Yale (0-2), vs Brown (1-1), vs Dartmouth (2-0)
Dartmouth: vs Columbia (0-2), vs Princeton (0-2), vs Penn (0-2), vs Harvard (0-1), vs Yale (0-2), vs Brown (0-2), vs Cornell (0-2)
NCAA NET Rankings (as of games played Monday, Feb. 27)
Columbia: 35
Princeton: 46
Penn: 112
Harvard: 81
Fri., March 3
Princeton at Penn, 7:00 p.m.
Sat., March 4
Brown at Yale, 2:00 p.m.
Cornell at Columbia, 2:00 p.m.
Dartmouth at Harvard, 2:00 p.m.
While the four Ivy Madness teams have been set for a few weeks, the positions and seedings have not been set. This weekend’s games will provide those answers to the top two spots, as well as the bottom half of the bracket.
The final slate of games is highlighted by another nationally televised game for the Tigers. This time, Princeton will be on the road to take on Penn at the Palestra.
The Tigers will be looking to claim at least a share of the regular season championship, its fifth straight, while Penn, which hasn’t beaten Princeton since January 2019, will try to lock up third place.
The three Saturday afternoon games, include Columbia welcoming Cornell to Levien Gymnasium. A win by the Lions will give the team its first Ivy League championship in program history.
Harvard will host winless Dartmouth and in a game with no Ivy Madness implications, Yale will go for the series sweep against an improving Brown squad that defeated tournament-bound Penn two weeks ago.
Ivy Madness Position and Seeding Implications (Ivy tiebreak procedures are here)
Columbia win (12-2), Princeton loss (11-3), Penn win (10-4), Harvard win (9-5) or loss (8-6)
Columbia is sole champion and No. 1 seed. Princeton is second and No. 2 seed. Penn is third and No. 3 seed. Harvard is fourth and No. 4 seed.
(Ivy Semis: Columbia vs Harvard, Princeton vs Penn)
Columbia loss (11-3), Princeton win (12-2), Penn loss (9-5), Harvard loss (8-6)
Princeton is sole champion and No. 1 seed. Columbia is second and No. 2 seed. Penn is third and No. 3 seed. Harvard is fourth and No. 4 seed.
(Ivy Semis: Princeton vs Harvard, Columbia vs Penn)
Columbia loss (11-3), Princeton win (12-2), Penn loss (9-5), Harvard win (9-5)
Princeton is sole champion and No. 1 seed. Columbia is second and #2 seed. Harvard is third and No. 3 seed (split series with Penn; better record vs Princeton, 1-1 vs 0-2). Penn is fourth and No. 4 seed.
(Ivy Semis: Princeton vs Penn, Columbia vs Harvard)
Columbia win (12-2), Princeton win (12-2), Penn loss (9-5), Harvard loss (8-6)
Columbia and Princeton are co-champions. Penn is third and No. 3 seed. Harvard is fourth and No. 4 seed.
Princeton is No. 1 seed (split series with Columbia; better record vs No. 3 Penn, 2-0 vs 1-1). Columbia is No. 2 seed.
(Ivy Semis: Princeton vs Harvard, Columbia vs Penn)
Columbia loss (11-3), Princeton loss (11-3), Penn win (10-4), Harvard win (9-5) or loss (8-6)
Columbia and Princeton are co-champions. Penn is third and No. 3 seed. Harvard is fourth and No. 4 seed.
Columbia is No. 1 seed (split series with Princeton; same 1-1 record vs No. 3 Penn; better record vs No. 4 Harvard, 2-0 vs 1-1). Princeton is No. 2 seed.
(Ivy Semis: Columbia vs Harvard, Princeton vs Penn)
Columbia win (12-2), Princeton win (12-2), Penn loss (9-5), Harvard win (9-5)
Columbia and Princeton are co-champions. Penn and Harvard are tied for third.
Columbia is No. 1 seed@ (split series with Princeton; same combined 3-1 record vs Penn & Harvard; same combined 8-0 record vs teams Nos. 5-8; better NET ranking). Princeton is No. 2 seed. Penn is No. 3 seed (split series with Penn; better record vs #1 seed Columbia, 1-1 vs 0-2). Harvard is No. 4 seed.
@ based on present ranking
(Ivy Semis: Columbia vs Harvard, Princeton vs Penn)
The last scenario has been updated based on information provided by the Ivy League office
Thanks for explaining all the permutations possible in the tournament. Now for the tougher questions: If Columbia and Princeton win this week and then reach the tournament championship game, do they both get NCAA bids? And if Penn or Harvard wins the tournament, will Princeton or Columbia get a bid as well? How about both of them?
That’s a great question!
Before the weekend, I would’ve said both Princeton & Columbia will make the tournament if they finish 12-2 & make it to the Ivy finals. ESPN bracketology had both as 11 seeds with Columbia as the automatic qualifier and the at large Tigers a part of the First Four.
After Columbia’s suboptimal performance against 7th place Cornell at home, 10 point decrease in the NET (now 45) & drop to #2 seed in the Ivy Tournament, I’m less confident in the Lions’ chances as an at large team.
(Surprisingly, the 1:00 am update to ESPN’s bracket still has the two teams in the same position)
I think a semifinal loss to Harvard completely eliminates Columbia from the tournament. I also think a blowout loss in the finals to Princeton in the finals will make it tough for them to get into the field. Their best chance as an at large is to have a convincing win against Harvard and a close loss vs Princeton.
Princeton should be the favorite for next week’s Ivy Tournament. ESPN’s experts unanimously picked the Tigers and I wouldn’t be surprised if their bracketology is updated to make the Tigers the automatic qualifier.
Seeing how easily the Tigers handle Penn, it would be shocking to not see Princeton in the finals. Harvard almost pulled off the upset in last year’s semis vs the Tigers but that was a home game for Harvard & Kathy Delaney-Smith’s final game.
Without the home court advantage or emotional inspiration, it is very hard to see any chance of a Penn upset.
If the Tigers don’t get the automatic bid, I feel their lengthy winning streak, strong national profile and NCAA Tournament success should allow them to get an at large bid.