Rob Browne

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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Harvard women fade late in loss to UMass on a cold shooting night

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Junior guard Lola Mullaney posted 15 points, going 5-for-17 from three-point range in Harvard’s 77-67 loss to UMass Friday night. The Crimson died by the three, launching 40 of their 61 field goal attempts from beyond the arc and hitting just 11 of them. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)

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.

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Columbia women finally make the Pirates walk the plank

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Abbey Hsu led Columbia to a win over Seton Hall Thursday that avenged the Lions’ WNIT loss to the Pirates last season, notching a team-high 19 points, including a 4-for-6 three-point shooting performance. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)

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.”

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Columbia women take down Memphis on opening night

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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.

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Yale women’s captain Camilla Emsbo to miss 2022-23 due to injury, ending Yale playing career

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Camilla Emsbo averaged 13.3 points and 8.7 rebounds in 82 games as a Yale Bulldog. (Camilla Emsbo’s Twitter page)

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.

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Carrie Moore returns to the Ivy League as Harvard’s new women’s basketball coach

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Carrie Moore comes to Harvard after two stints at Princeton as assistant coach (2016-19) and director of basketball operations (2008-10) that yielded three Ivy League championships. (Harvard Athletics)

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.”

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Yale men’s James Jones reportedly inking extension through ’30-’31

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James Jones appears to be sticking around Yale for a while longer. (photo by Erica Denhoff)

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.”

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