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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.
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Bez Mbeng was not in the mood for mincing words after setting Yale’s all-time career steals record in an 83-67 win over Dartmouth Monday afternoon.
“I love defense,” Mbeng, who passed former Yale standout Alex Zampier (2006-10) for the record, said.
And as he has for most of the last three seasons for Yale, Mbeng led the way in that department Monday at Lee Amphitheater, harassing Ryan Cornish, Connor Amundsen, or whomever else he was in the neighborhood of, finishing with three steals to go with 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
“It means a lot to me,” Mbeng said. “A lot of credit goes to my teammates and coaches for getting me better and putting me in good positions to get those steals. I’m just really thankful right now.”
Ivy Hoops Online correspondent George “Toothless Tiger” Clark recaps an instant classic 81-80 win for Princeton men’s basketball (13-4, 2-0 Ivy) at Dartmouth (7-8, 1-1) Saturday: Audio Player
Before tipping off against Dartmouth women’s basketball on Saturday afternoon, Princeton took the court at Jadwin Gymnasium wearing freshly minted warmup shirts with the team’s “Get Stops” slogan colorfully displayed on the front.
The Tigers forcefully delivered on their wardrobe messaging.
The hosts held the Big Green to under 40 points in a dominant 63-39 triumph.
It was billed as a battle between the two top Ivy scorers. And it lived up to expectations.
Senior guard John Poulakidas notched 29 points, one off his career high, to lead Yale to a 92-88 win over Columbia at Levien Gym Saturday.
“I take my work and my craft very seriously,” Poulakidas said. “We have a team full of dogs.”
The Red and Blue got the late stop they needed down three, forcing a wild miss from the host Big Green’s Brandon Mitchell-Day with about 20 seconds left to play. But after securing the rebound, freshman point guard AJ Levine lost the handle as he crossed midcourt.
Dartmouth corralled the loose ball, and after an exchange of free throws and a missed desperation three from Penn’s Ethan Roberts, walked away with a 73-70 win.
The Quakers (4-10, 0-1 Ivy) dropped their Ivy opener for the first time since the 2019-20 season. They’ve only beaten the Big Green (7-7, 1-0) at Leede Arena once since 2019.
It could be a long slog of an Ivy season for the Red and Blue, which rank dead last in the conference in KenPom (307th). They got off to an 0-1 start because …
The Dartmouth women used a stifling defense to rout favored Brown 64-48 in the Ivy League opener for both teams at the Pizzitola Sports Center on Saturday afternoon.
Going up against a Bears team (6-8, 0-1 Ivy) which tied for fourth last year and was picked for fifth in this year’s preseason media poll, the road win was a huge boost for a Big Green squad (7-7, 1-0) that was picked for the conference’s last spot.
HANOVER, N.H. – If you think there’s nowhere to go but up for the Dartmouth men’s basketball team this season, you’re probably not alone. The Big Green won only four Division I games last season and were – to be kind – dreadful offensively: 351st nationally in efficiency, last in the Ivy League by a pretty wide margin. And Dusan Neskovic, who was fifth nationally in usage and third in shots taken, is now at Richmond.
The preseason Ivy League poll would agree with you as well. Dartmouth was picked dead last almost unanimously.
But internally, as the Big Green regrouped, it also marked opportunity for them. Outside of Neskovic’s departure, they are not necessarily starting over. And in their Division I opener Saturday afternoon at Leede Arena, with two seniors and two juniors in the starting lineup, they took an early punch from Sacred Heart and came back to win fairly comfortably (with the exception of the final minute), 81-76.
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: