Princeton women’s basketball coach Carla Berube has accumulated so many talented players on her roster over the years that pundits have often wondered how Princeton’s bench would fare against another team’s starting lineup. They got their answer on Saturday at Jadwin Gymnasium as Berube started all five members of her senior class in a 71-42 Senior Night romp over Yale.
Dalila Eshe
Yale women’s basketball heads for Harvard with losing skein snapped
Seventy-seven days is a long time in a college hoops season of about 130 days.
It was an especially long time for Yale women’s basketball coach Dalila Eshe, since that was the length of time between her team’s opening-night win over Monmouth in November and a victory on Monday at Dartmouth.
Yale (2-15, 1-3 Ivy) upset Dartmouth (8-9, 2-2) 70-67 behind 22 points from senior forward Grace Thybulle.
“Grace had an incredible game,” Eshe said.
Rivalry games are tough, but Harvard women’s basketball bests Yale, 61-43
“Don’t let up, pedal on the gas,” Carrie Moore said midway through the third period with Harvard women’s basketball building a scoring run against Yale.
Moore’s Crimson defeated host Yale, 61-43, in a surprisingly competitive game Saturday to open Ivy League play.
Consider that Harvard (12-1, 1-0 Ivy) had already defeated Boston University by 60 (86-26) and Yale had fallen to the Terriers, 77-56, just last week.
Ivy women’s basketball Media Day highlights
As the 2024-25 season quickly approaches, the Ivy League hosted its annual women’s basketball Media Day on Thursday. The three-hour event, hosted by Lance Medow, can be viewed on the conference’s YouTube channel.
Prior to the event, the league announced the results of its preseason poll.
Princeton, which has claimed the Ancient Eight title for the last six years, was picked first with 122 out of a possible 128 points and 10 first-place votes. Columbia, which has tied for the top spot in each of the last two seasons, came in second with 110 points and five first-place votes.
Harvard, which has finished the last two years in third placed, was tabbed for third in 2025, earning 101 points and one first-place spot.
Penn, the final participant in last year’s Ivy tournament, was picked fourth with 75 votes, while Brown, which finished last year tied with Penn for fourth, was four points back in fifth place.
Sixth place went to Yale, which was as high as third place in 2022, with 48 votes.
While Cornell and Dartmouth ended last season tied for seventh place, the Big Red got the nod for seventh in this year’s poll with 30 points and the Big Green were eighth with 19 points.
Below are highlights from this year’s virtual Media Day:
Yale women’s basketball looks to move up in Ivy pecking order
The Yale women finished last season at 8-19 and 5-9 in the Ivy League. Gone from last year are leading scorer and assist leader Jenna Clark, leading rebounder Nyla McGill and third-leading scorer Brenna McDonald. Good news or bad news?
Well, Ivy media has pegged Yale as a sixth-place finisher.
Yale third-year coach Dalila Eshe says her team will have improved “culture” and be “incredibly athletic, running a high-octane offense.” She defines culture as “buying into the program and [being] like-minded.”
Reporter’s Notebook: Ivy Madness day two
Another great day in the books at Columbia University and Levien Gymnasium.
Four good press conferences, two very good semifinal games and lots of tasty food (including pizza!) in the media room. It’s really hard to beat a day like that.
Some things of note from an Ivy hoops Friday:
Yale women’s basketball comes back for 74-68 overtime win at Penn
Reports of the death of the Yale women’s basketball season have been greatly exaggerated.
Brown women’s basketball holds off Yale to move to 2-0 in Ivy League play
A furious run in the final quarter wasn’t enough to keep Yale women’s basketball from a 76-71 defeat at home versus Brown Saturday.
Defense travels, and that was the story of the first half. Brown is the second-best Ivy defensive team, giving up just 57 points per game, and the Bears held Yale (3-12, 0-2 Ivy) to a paltry 23 first-half points.
Yale women’s basketball puts it all together in 72-48 win over Quinnipiac
The Yale women’s basketball team returned five players who scored 10 or more points in a game last season, along with its top four scorers and rebounders. There was reason for optimism coming off of a 13-14 season which included 7-7 in Ivy play.
But the Bulldogs have opened up the season 3-10.
Even so, Yale’s on a one-game winning streak after finally putting together 40 minutes of solid basketball Saturday at John J. Lee Amphitheater with a 72-48 wire-to-wire win over in-state rival Quinnipiac.
Yale women’s basketball falls to St. John’s, 75-56
Everything that starts well does not always end well.
That was the story for Yale women’s basketball at John J. Lee Amphitheater Thursday in a rare noon game against St. John’s of the Big East.