No. 2 Columbia women’s basketball survives No. 3 Harvard, 63-61, to advance to Ivy League Tournament final

For the third time in the last two postseasons, the Lions and Crimson tipped off to do battle Friday at Levien Gym. (Photo: Rob Browne)

NEW YORK – In front of a partisan, sold-out crowd at Levien Gymnasium Friday, Ivy League Player of the Year Abbey Hsu used a 20-point, 14 rebound performance to lead her No. 2 Columbia Lions over No. 3 Harvard, 63-61, to set up a long-awaited final showdown with Princeton on Saturday night.

If Hsu, head coach Megan Griffith and the rest of the Lions can slay the Tigers, the program will earn its first-ever Ivy League Tournament title, as well as its inaugural berth in the NCAA Tournament.

Read more

Ivy League Tournament: Women’s press conference highlights

If it’s not on the MTA map, it should be (Photo: Rob Browne)

NEW YORK – The opening day of the Ivy League Tournament brought the four women’s teams to Levien Gymnasium on the campus of Columbia University.

Below are highlights of the press conferences and links to the videos. (Check out the game previews from Steve Silverman)

Read more

Penn women’s basketball edges Harvard, 69-67, clinches Ivy League Tournament slot

Penn women’s basketball has punched a ticket to Ivy Madness.
The Quakers clinched a slot in the Ivy League Tournament Saturday with a wild and crazy 69-67 win over Harvard at the Palestra. They’ll join the third-place Crimson, Princeton and Columbia in the tourney at Columbia’s Levien Gym March 15-16 to compete for a berth (or maybe two) in the NCAA Tournament.

Read more

Princeton women’s basketball rallies in the second half to beat Harvard, 60-49

The Princeton women’s basketball team rebounded from its first setback of the Ivy League season to defeat Harvard, 60-49, in the first of back-to-back games this weekend at Jadwin Gymnasium.   

The Tigers (21-4, 11-1 Ivy) needed a second half rally to shake off the Crimson, who led 35-30 after Princeton played one of its worst halves of basketball this season.  

Read more

Harvard women’s basketball bests Brown, 80-73, to clinch Ivy League Tournament slot

The Harvard women’s basketball team used an efficient fourth quarter to overcome a tough challenge from Brown on Saturday afternoon at Lavietes Pavilion. 

With the 80-73 victory, the Crimson (15-9, 8-3 Ivy) captured the third ticket to next month’s Ivy League Tournament at Levien Gym. It’ll be the third straight conference postseason appearance for Harvard and the sixth overall.

The Bears (14-10, 5-6), looking for their first Ivy Madness berth since the inaugural tournament in 2017, fell back into a tie with Penn. Both teams remain one game ahead of Yale with three games left in the regular season.

Read more

Columbia women’s basketball pulls away to win at Harvard, 71-63

Columbia women’s basketball, which clinched a slot in the Ivy League Tournament earlier in the weekend, used an 11-0 run late in the fourth quarter to pull away from Harvard in a 71-63 win in a nationally televised game at a sold-out Lavietes Pavilion Sunday afternoon.

The Lions (18-5, 9-1 Ivy) swept the season series from the Crimson and remain in sole possession of second place, one game behind No. 25 Princeton with four games left in the regular season. Despite the defeat, Harvard (14-9, 7-3) maintains its hold on third place, two games over Brown, but its chances at the No. 1 seed are quickly slipping away.

Read more

Columbia/Harvard Friday night matchups: Crimson men and Lions women prevail

On the first night of the Ivy League’s opening back-to-back weekend, the Columbia women hosted Harvard, while the Crimson men welcomed the Lions.

When the dust cleared on Friday evening, both home teams held serve in competitive contests.

With the wins, the Lions women (14-5, 5-1 Ivy) claimed sole possession of second place and the Crimson men (11-7. 2-3) sat in a fourth-place tie with Brown.

The Harvard (11-8, 4-2) women dropped to a third-place tie with Brown, while the Lions (10-8, 1-4) men fell into a sixth-place tie with Dartmouth and Penn.

Read more

Harmoni Turner, Katie Krupa lead Harvard women’s basketball past Penn

Katie Krupa (Harvard Athletics)
Harmoni Turner and Katie Krupa delivered career scoring highs Saturday to carry Harvard women’s basketball to a homecourt 69-56 win over Penn.
Turner, the junior guard, is often the engine behind the Harvard offense, averaging just under 20 points a game and four assists. Against Penn, she knocked down 31 points on 12-for-22 shooting to match her career best — plus 10 rebounds and a half-dozen assists. For Krupa, a sophomore forward, it was a breakout performance: 25 points on 8-for-12 shooting, including 3-for-7 on threes.

Read more

2023-24 Ivy women’s media day recap and season preview

With the season a few weeks away, the Ivy League hosted Women’s Basketball Media Day on Monday, the first of two media availabilities this week. The event was hosted over Zoom for media members and is available on the conference’s YouTube channel.

The preseason media poll was released last Thursday with Princeton earning all 16 first-place votes. Last year’s Ivy Tournament winner and regular season co-champions are the sixth unanimous pick in league history and the first since Penn in 2016-2017.

Read more

Harvard at Columbia in WNIT Great 8: What to watch for

Columbia and Harvard women’s basketball will square off for a fourth time this season Sunday at 4 p.m. at Levien Gym on ESPN3.

This time, a WNIT Fab 4 berth is on the line.

Read more