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.
Rob Browne
Harvard women fade late in loss to UMass on a cold shooting night
Coming off an eight-day layoff, Harvard women’s basketball ran out of gas in the fourth quarter against Bay State rival Massachusetts and suffered its first loss of the season, 77-67, at Lavietes Pavilion Friday night.
Columbia women finally make the Pirates walk the plank
It took 234 days, but Columbia women’s basketball got its revenge on Seton Hall, the team that came out victorious in last year’s WNIT Quarterfinal, in a 83-76 victory on Thursday night.
“I’m so proud of our team. We’ve had this game circled on our calendar for a while, since March 28,” head coach Megan Griffith said in a postgame interview. “It was just an opportunity for us to come back and battle with a really great Seton Hall program.”
Columbia women take down Memphis on opening night
Returning over 96% of the team’s points, rebounds and minutes from last year’s WNIT quarterfinal team, expectations are high for the Columbia women this season. The Lions took their initial step toward the program’s first ever NCAA Tournament bid with a 77-69 victory over Memphis at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse on Monday night.
The game was knotted at seven halfway through the opening frame, but the Tigers finished the quarter on a 11-2 run. Down eight with just over a minute to go, the Lions returned the favor and ended the half on 8-2 run to cut the deficit to two. Memphis extended the lead to four, 54-50, after three quarters.
But the game would quickly turn in Columbia’s favor.
Yale women’s captain Camilla Emsbo to miss 2022-23 due to injury, ending Yale playing career
Yale’s Camilla Emsbo was scheduled to play for Team USA at the Maccabi Games in Israel this summer, but the 6’5″ forward did not ultimately join the team. Several weeks later, the Next Hoops’ Jenn Hatfield tweeted that “a source familiar with the situation” told her that Emsbo entered the transfer portal for 2023-24. With only one year of eligibility remining, it appeared that the two-time All-Ivy player was done playing for the Elis, but she remained on Yale’s 2022-23 roster and the school would not discuss her status for this season.
The school announced that Embso has an undisclosed injury and will be out for the year Tuesday morning, a few hours before the Ivy League’s Media Day. Despite not playing on the court, the senior captain will remain with the team in a supporting role. The injury ends Emsbo’s Yale playing career.
Carrie Moore returns to the Ivy League as Harvard’s new women’s basketball coach
Carrie Moore, a long-time Princeton assistant for Courtney Banghart, was named the fourth coach in the history of Harvard women’s basketball on Tuesday afternoon. The Western Michigan and Detroit Country Day alum takes over for legendary coach Kathy Delaney-Smith, who presided over the Crimson team for the last 40 years.
“I am so incredibly humbled and excited to be the next head women’s basketball coach at Harvard University,” Moore told Harvard Athletics. “A very special thank you to Coach Kathy Delaney-Smith for building such a tremendous foundation here and for your long history of fighting for women. Congratulations on your retirement. I am absolutely thrilled to lead these incredible young women and move this program forward.”
Yale men’s James Jones reportedly inking extension through ’30-’31
Another Ivy League Tournament title and NCAA appearance, another ride on the coaching carousel and another contact extension for the dean of Ivy coaches.
Hours after Adam Nelson at HoopDirt.com stated that Yale’s James Jones was “picking up steam” for the open position at the University of San Diego, Jon Rothstein tweeted that Jones was finalizing a deal that would keep him at Yale through the completion of the 2030-31 season.
When reached for comment about the extension, a member of Yale Athletics informed Ivy Hoops Online that the school doesn’t comment on personnel matters, and nothing could be added “at the moment.”
Ivy Madness reporter’s notebook: Day 3
“This is the business we’ve chosen.” – Brian Earl and Hyman Roth
“We played for, I would say, a good 15 minutes tonight, but that’s not good enough against a good program.” – Columbia head coach Megan Griffith, following the Lions defeat to top-seeded Princeton
No matter what the coaches who did not earn victories on Saturday thought, I felt there were three really good games of college basketball on display at Lavietes Pavilion, including a fantastic opener that saw Princeton escape an upset big from Cornell, 77-73. Hopefully, West Coast fans woke up at 8 a.m. on a Saturday morning to catch it.
Here are some random thoughts and observations from the Ancient Eight’s Super Saturday:
Ivy Madness reporter’s notebook: Days 1 & 2
“As we battle in the WBCA (Women’s Basketball Coaches Association), they’re always talking about “create this environment.” Any time I talk equity with anyone, they always say there’s more pressure on a man because the gyms are full, and the bands are playing. The opposite is true. It’s much easier to play in a (packed) venue like this. It’s very, very hard for women all over the country and play in empty gyms without bands, fighting their schools for support to get the bands there and to get the cheerleaders there. There’s been huge growth at Harvard, but there’s such a long way to go. It’s really wonderful for the athletes to play in this kind of venue and it’s fun to watch as well.” – soon-to-be retiring Harvard women’s coach Kathy Delaney-Smith, talking about the boisterous atmosphere during her team’s 72-67 loss to No. 1 seed Princeton
Some random thoughts after two great days at the 2022 Ivy League Tournament:
Ivy League Tournament: Men’s semifinals preview
“The expectations (for winning) are always there, they just felt even heavier this year (due to the pandemic). There should be several asterisks next to it (being at the Ivy League Tournament) and that’s true of all the teams.” – Princeton coach Mitch Henderson