Rob Browne

Ivy women’s week five roundup: Ancient Eight’s Top 10

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As the opening half of the conference schedule came to a close on Saturday, Columbia used a dominant performance over last-place Dartmouth to claim sole possession of first place.  Penn, which entered the weekend tied with the Lions, fell from the top slot after giving up a season-high 84 points during a lopsided 24-point defeat at Harvard.  Princeton, which started out tied with Harvard and Yale, used a masterful defensive performance to beat Yale by 49 points and keep pace with the Crimson.  In Saturday’s Ivy opening game, Cornell used a 10-1 run early in the fourth quarter to pull away from Brown and get the league’s only road win. 

Saturday results
Cornell over Brown, 66-61
Princeton over Yale, 79-30
Columbia over Dartmouth, 79-50
Harvard over Penn, 84-60

Standings 
Columbia 6-1 (17-3 overall)
Princeton 5-2 (14-5)
Penn 5-2 (13-7)
Harvard 5-2 (12-7)
Yale 4-3 (10-10)
Cornell 2-5 (9-11)
Brown 1-6 (8-11)
Dartmouth 0-7 (2-19)

As the second half of the Ivy schedule begins this weekend, all eyes will focus on Levien Gymnasium as Columbia welcomes the Ps to NYC.  The league leaders will look for payback on Friday night against the Quakers, who pulled away late in the fourth quarter at home against the Lions on January 7.  On Saturday, Columbia, which beat Princeton by three in an overtime thriller on January 6, will try to make it two in a row against four-time defending champs.  The Tigers haven’t been swept by an Ivy opponent since losing to Penn three times in 2017, but the dreaded Friday night bus trip from Ithaca to Manhattan and a start time 20 hours after finishing the game at Cornell will certainly pose added challenges.

Fri., Feb. 3
Princeton at Cornell, 6:00 p.m.
Harvard at Yale, 6:00 p.m.
Penn at Columbia, 6:00 p.m.
Dartmouth at Brown, 7:00 p.m.

Sat., Feb. 4
Penn at Cornell, 4:00 p.m.
Princeton at Columbia, 4:00 p.m.
Dartmouth at Yale, 4:00 p.m.
Harvard at Brown, 5:00 p.m.

Below are 10 of the top performances from the weekend:

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Ivy men’s week five roundup: Ancient Eight’s Top 10

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After another exciting weekend of Ivy hoops that saw all the home teams holding serve, the league standings have a tie at the top, and seven teams are separated by only two games. 

Yale continued its dominance of Princeton, winning for the eighth time in their last nine matchups.  Meanwhile, Penn, losers of three straight league contests, won its third straight over Harvard in a must-win game at the Palestra. 

Cornell, missing Nazir Williams, took care of Brown, which was without Kalu Anya, Dan Friday and Malachi Ndur.  Dartmouth continued its strong league play with a victory over Columbia, its third league win it its last four contests and finds itself over .500 at the halfway point for the first time since 2009.

Saturday results
Yale over Princeton, 87-65
Penn over Harvard, 83-68
Cornell over Brown, 80-73
Dartmouth over Columbia, 83-73

Standings 
Cornell 5-2 (15-5, overall)
Princeton 5-2 (14-6)
Yale 4-3 (14-6)
Dartmouth 4-3 (8-13)
Harvard 3-4 (12-9)
Brown 3-4 (10-10)
Penn 3-4 (11-11)
Columbia 1-6 (6-16)

The second half of the schedule starts with a big back-to-back weekend, highlighted by a matchup between the league leaders at Jadwin Gymnasium and Yale looking for revenge against Dartmouth at Leede Arena.

Fri., Feb. 3
Yale at Harvard, 5:00 p.m.
Brown at Dartmouth, 6:00 p.m.
Columbia at Penn, 7:00 p.m.
Cornell at Princeton, 7:00 p.m.

Sat., Feb. 4
Yale at Dartmouth, 6:00 p.m.
Brown at Harvard, 6:00 p.m.
Columbia at Princeton, 6:00 p.m.
Cornell at Penn, 6:00 p.m.

Below are 10 of the top performances from the weekend: – 

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Dartmouth men withstand Harvard comeback and get weekend sweep

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Dartmouth senior forward Dame Adelekun posted 14 points and nine rebounds in the Big Green’s 60-59 win at Lavietes Pavilion Monday. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)

Despite having its double-digit second half lead methodically erased by Harvard, Dartmouth prevented the Crimson from getting off a last-possession shot and came away with a 60-59 victory at Lavietes Pavilion on Monday afternoon.

In the opening weeks of Ivy play, the Big Green (7-12, 3-2 Ivy) are the conference’s most pleasant surprise.  Picked seventh in the preseason media poll, Dartmouth now has wins against the No. 1 (Penn), No. 2 (Yale) and No. 4 (Harvard) ranked teams.

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Harvard men stymie Columbia, powered by Ledlum double-double

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While the Ivy League is known for its close games, Saturday afternoon’s matchup at Lavietes Pavilion was an exception as Harvard cruised to a 73-51 victory over Columbia.

The win moves the Crimson (11-7, 2-2 Ivy) into a four-way tie for second place, while the defeat sends the Lions (6-13, 1-3) into a two-way tie with Yale for the bottom slot in the conference.

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Harvard men’s basketball alum Charlie Baker named next NCAA president

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Baker

In a Thursday morning announcement, Massachusetts governor and former Harvard men’s basketball alum, Charlie Baker was named the next president of the NCAA.

Baker, a two-term governor who chose not to run for re-election this past November, will assume his new role on March 1, 2023.  Maura Healey, the present state attorney general and a former Crimson women’s basketball captain, will take over for Baker on January 5.

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Columbia women complete revenge week sweep with UMass win – and they’re sharing the wealth

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Abbey Hsu shone during what she called “revenge week” for Columbia, leading the Lions to triumphs over teams that beat them last season. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)

On the strength of 14 three-pointers and a 30-point third quarter, the Columbia women soundly defeated UMass at the Mullins Center on Saturday afternoon, their second straight takedown of an opponent that defeated them in New York City last year.

“This is huge. We called it revenge week,” Abbey Hsu told Columbia Athletics following the win. “This was to prove that we are a better team than we were last year. We want to be a team that competes with teams in the post-season and we proved that tonight.”

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Columbia women win “revenge game” at Stony Brook, get ready for showdown at UMass

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Columbia senior guard/forward Kaitlyn Davis’ 19 points, nine rebounds and three steals helped propel the Lions past Stony Brook on the road Wednesday night. Davis called the matchup a “revenge game” after the Seawolves beat Columbia last season. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)

STONY BROOK, N.Y. – Like the first stop in the Columbia women’s 2022-23 redemption tour, last night’s appearance in eastern Long Island was a resounding success for the Lions.

Senior forward Kaitlyn Davis’ 19 points (including this nifty behind-the-back drive in the third quarter), nine rebounds and three steals led a balanced offensive and defensive attack from the starting five as the Lions came away with an 84-68 victory over the Stony Brook at Island Federal Arena on Wednesday night.

The win avenges a 91-82 defeat at the hands of Seawolves last November at Levien Gymnasium.

“This was a big game for us, a revenge game from last year,” Davis told Ivy Hoops Online.  “(We’re) Just trying to do our job, show that this year we’re a different team, a better team.”

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Brown men defeat Bryant and Hartford to extend winning streak to four

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Senior guard Paxson Wojcik (32) has hit three treys in each of Brown’s last two games – both wins – going 6-for-14 from three-point range and scoring 37 points at Bryant and Hartford. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)

Despite missing two of their starting five for this weekend’s games, the Brown men came away with two convincing road victories against Bryant and Hartford.

The Bears (5-4), winners of four straight wins and five of their last six, are playing their best basketball of the year as they head into the last and hardest stretch of their nonconference schedule.

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Columbia women gathering momentum after taking Miami Thanksgiving Tournament title

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A double-double from Jaida Patrick helped propel Columbia past Miami to win the Miami Thanksgiving Tournament. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)

“I love any buzz about our team,” coach Megan Griffith said at her weekly media availability.  “Anytime somebody’s talking about our program, it’s a good thing.”

After crushing Arkansas-Pine Bluff by 38 and outlasting Miami in front of its home fans en route to winning the Miami Thanksgiving Tournament title Sunday, there’s definitely positive buzz about Columbia women’s basketball.

Just since this weekend’s games, the team has moved up to No. 9 in the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25. ESPN has listed the Lions as the automatic Ivy League qualifier and a No. 12 seed for the NCAA Tournament.

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Harvard men’s second-half rally falls short in loss at Fordham

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Something had to give on Sunday afternoon at Rose Hill Gymnasium, with both Harvard and Fordham riding four-game winning streaks.  Unfortunately for the Crimson, the Rams withstood a late second-half rally and emerged with the hard-fought 68-60 victory in the Bronx.

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