Columbia women defeat Harvard, punch ticket to Ivy Madness

Jaida Patrick scored a season-high 20 points and Abbey Hsu set the program record for three pointers in a season, as the Columbia women (18-4, 9-1 Ivy) held off a determined Harvard (12-11, 6-5 Ivy), 74-70, to earn a spot in the 2022 Ivy League Tournament.

The victory not only ensured the Lions their second straight ticket to the league’s postseason party, but it also tied the school record for wins in a Division I season and an Ivy League campaign (2009-10).

For the first time in the calendar year, the Lions welcomed the general public to Levien Gymnasium and 1,000-plus members of the campus community came out to cheer them on in the team’s annual Play4Kay game to support the Kay Yow Foundation’s fight against cancers that affect women.

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Harvard women best Yale in pivotal meeting in Ivy League Tournament race

First-year guard Harmoni Turner tied a career scoring high with 25 points in Harvard’s win over Yale Saturday. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)

In a game that had the feel of a battle for third place in the Ivy League and a chance to avoid Princeton in the first round of the conference tournament, Harvard outlasted Yale, 65-59.

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Ivy women’s weekend: Saturday separation

The Ivy League’s most prolific three-point shooter, Columbia sophomore guard Abbey Hsu ranks second in the Ivy League in scoring and third in minutes and is likely to play a pivotal role in Columbia’s tilt against Princeton Saturday. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)

As the calendar moves into February, we have reached the midpoint of the Ivy season.  While this weekend brings the first back-to-back games of the season, Saturday night looks to be the more pivotal evening for the women’s division.  Each game pits teams from the four tiers of the conference against one another.

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Princeton women pull away from Harvard, 68-50

The Princeton Tigers opened the defense of their 2020 Ivy League title Sunday afternoon at Jadwin Gym against the Harvard Crimson. This was the final appearance at Princeton of legendary Harvard coach Kathy Delaney-Smith, who is closing her 40-year coaching career at Harvard at the end of the season. The Ivy League is a much better place because of her presence in it.

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Ivy weekend preview: What to watch for now that there’s finally something to watch

Sunday will mark the first Ivy League conference basketball since March 7, 2020, even if two of the eight games in the opening slate (the Princeton at Harvard and Columbia at Yale men’s matchups) have been postponed due to COVID-19 concerns. Here’s what to watch for:

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Late run propels Harvard women over St. Joseph’s

Down four with 2:40 to go in regulation, McKenzie Forbes and Lola Mullaney led the Crimson on a 7-2 run to pull out a 73-70 win over St. Joseph’s at Hagan Arena on Tuesday afternoon.

Harvard (6-6) was originally scheduled to take on Norfolk State in the opening round of the Hawk Classic, but COVID-19 issues within the Spartans’ program forced the cancellation of the four-team tournament.  Despite the absence of Norfolk State and North Alabama, the Hawks (4-8) and Crimson decided to meet in the final nonconference game for both programs.

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Harvard sweeps post-Thanksgiving doubleheader at Lavietes

The Harvard women and men hosted a pair of cross-town rivals on Saturday.  Things didn’t look so great for the home teams early, but strong second-half performances gave both teams big wins and sent the crowd home happy.

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Ivy League women’s basketball Media Day roundup

One day after releasing the conference’s preseason poll, the Ivy League moved one step closer to normal by hosting the 2021-22 Media Day for women’s basketball Tuesday.  For the first time, the league used a Zoom format to create a stronger connection between the coaches, players and the media.

In Monday’s poll, three-time defending champion Princeton was again picked as the top team with 122 total points and 12 first-place votes.  Penn, the 2019 co-champion, was selected No. 2 with three first-place votes and 108 points. The next three teams were close, with only six points separating Columbia, Yale and Harvard.

The Lions, which earned their first Ivy League Tournament berth in 2020 before the tourney was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, moved up to third with 87 points. The Bulldogs, a third-place team in 2020, dropped to fourth at 82 points.  The Crimson, which finished fifth in 2020, received one first-place vote but missed the upper division by one point.

Cornell, the 2020 seventh-place squad, moved up to sixth for 2022 with 41 points.  Dartmouth and Brown, two teams with new coaching staffs, ended up with the last two spots, with the Big Green’s 29 points two ahead of the Bears.

Tuesday’s Media Day revealed the four tiers apparent in the preseason poll. But there could be a slight reordering near the top.

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What to expect when Ivy League basketball returns

As this Ivy non-season progresses, we thought it’d make sense for us to do an Ivy Hoops Online contributors’ roundtable looking ahead to next season, assuming there is one:

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