Home of the Roundball Poets
Wed., Jan. 24
Penn 74 at Temple 59
Fri., Jan. 26
Harvard 97 vs Yale 73
Dartmouth 78 vs Brown 73
Sat., Jan. 27
Columbia 72 at Cornell 54
Harvard 87 vs Brown 85
Yale 57 at Dartmouth 39
Sun., Jan. 28
Penn 89 vs Gwynedd Mercy (Division III) 25
Standings
1. Penn (13-6, 3-0 Ivy)
After Penn let Temple slip away at the Palestra last weekend, it got Big 5 revenge Saturday with a 67-56 win over St. Joseph’s, displaying a stout defense that had Steve Donahue singing its praises after the game.
“The story of our team, and our season, is our defense,” Donahue said according to The Daily Pennsylvanian. “Playing two bigs, with the defensive numbers we have right now … we’re way different than last year, and way ahead.”
Brown 81 vs Yale 71 (OT)
In Yale’s 77-63 win in New Haven last Friday, the Bulldogs were able to prevent the Bears from getting into its fast paced offensive flow. At the start of this week’s return match in Providence, Brown (13-2; 1-1 Ivy) was determined not to let that happen again. However, they ended up forcing the pace to go a bit too fast and both teams struggled over the first 20 minutes. The Bears managed to take a four-point lead into the locker room, but they shot 36 percent overall, 40 percent from two and 27 percent from three, as well as committing 10 turnovers. Yale (8-7; 1-1 Ivy), meanwhile, shot 27 percent overall, 33 percent from two and 29 percent from three.
1. Penn (12-6, 3-0 Ivy)
It says a great deal that, in just his third season at the helm on 33rd Street, that Steve Donahue has turned Penn around to the point that it’s No. 1 in the Ivy Power Poll during league play.
Donahue’s predecessor’s predecessor’s predecessor Fran Dunphy and the Temple Owls still dealt Penn the 11th consecutive loss in the teams’ series Saturday, overcoming a 51-48 deficit with 4:02 to play at the Palestra. Penn went ice cold from deep (8-for-31, 25.8 percent) and notched just 0.81 points per possession against Temple’s stout defense.
Yale 77 vs Brown 63
Yale (8-6; 1-0 Ivy) opened up its march to Ivy Madness with a double digit victory over Brown (12-2; 0-1 Ivy) in a Friday matinee contest at the John J. Lee Amphitheater. After a poor shooting first quarter from both teams, Yale entered the second frame up 3 and stretched it to six at halftime. The Bears came out hot at the beginning of the third quarter, going on an 8-0 run over the first 1:36 to take a 39-37 lead. From there, the teams stayed close and were tied at 58 with 6:54 left in the fourth quarter. Two Tamara Simpson steals and layups in nine seconds sparked Yale to a 10-0 run that put the game out of reach.
1. Princeton (7-7)
The Tigers showed what they’re capable of by scoring the biggest nonconference upset among Ivies this season with a 103-93 toppling of USC in overtime. The Tigers blew a seven-point lead with 46 seconds to go in regulation but rallied in gritty fashion in the extra period, getting seven points from Amir Bell in overtime. Princeton got 30 points from Myles Stephens and 23 points from Devin Cannady, who played all 45 minutes. Stephens and Cannady posted nine rebounds each. But what was perhaps most encouraging about Princeton’s victory over USC was freshman Sebastian Much continuing to emerge with a 19-point, four-assist performance that he followed up with double-figure efforts in Princeton’s next two games against Middle Tennessee State and Akron in the Diamond Head Classic. The Tigers let themselves down at the free throw line in their 69-67 loss to MTSU, going just 14-for-23 (60.9 percent) there.
1. Princeton (9-3)
Win – at Wagner, 58-37
Win – vs St. Joe’s, 63-54 (at Gainesville, Gator Classic)
Win – vs UT-Chattanooga, 59-49 (at Gainesville, Gator Classic)
The Tigers opened up a 17 point lead on Wagner by the second quarter, but the Seahawks got the lead down to five 30 seconds into the second half. An 8-1 run over the next three minutes stretched the lead back to double-digits and the Tigers never looked back. Leslie Robinson, Sydney Jordan and Carlie Littlefield each put up 10 points in the low-scoring contest. Defensively, Princeton held Wagner to a season-low 37 points, including 30 percent shooting and only one three-pointer.
There hasn’t been much Ivy action the past couple of weeks due to finals, but here’s a snapshot of the Ivy League at the moment:
1. Princeton (4-6)
We haven’t seen “Ivy Princeton” yet, so the Tigers are at the top for now. In other words, just keep in mind Princeton has always seemed to overachieve in league play and underachieve in non-league play under coach Mitch Henderson. But Princeton overcame a 16-3 hole against Monmouth with a subsequent 20-2 run last week to pocket a 69-58 victory at Jadwin Gym, building that run the Princeton way: layups and three-pointers that comprised 18 of those 20 points.
The Tigers lit up Cal Poly from downtown Saturday night, and Princeton’s point distribution has been more even in its past two games. Princeton’s got a shot to shred the “non-Ivy Princeton” narrative by upsetting Southern Cal Tuesday.
1. Princeton (6-3)
Win – at Quinnipiac, 60-46
Loss – at Rutgers, 70-50
In the second of a six game road trip, the Tigers visited Quinnipiac on Saturday afternoon and soundly defeated a Bobcat team that made it to the Sweet Sixteen in last year’s NCAA Tournament. Despite falling behind by six and not scoring a point in the first 5:21 of the game, Princeton rallied to take a three point lead after the first quarter. Down 6 heading into the final frame, the Bobcats used a 9-2 run to take a one point lead with 7:13 to go. The Orange & Black responded by outscoring Quinnipiac 17-2 the rest of the way for the victory. Bella Alarie and Leslie Robinson each posted 16 points and 11 rebounds to lead the way. The Tigers won the game with strong defense, limiting the Bobcats to 19 percent three-point shooting and 36 percent two-point shooting while outrebounding them by 11 percent.
1. Princeton (2-1)
Win – at Seton Hall, 85-83
Loss – vs Georgia Tech, 67-56
Bella Alarie had double-doubles in both games, this week, and is leading the Tigers with 15.3 points and 10.3 boards a game. Tia Weledji is averaging 14.7 points a contest and had her first career double-double against the Pirates. Carlie Littlefield has been named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week for the first two weeks of the season. Starting wing Sydney Jordan left the Seton Hall game after four minutes with an injury and did not play against Georgia Tech. Her absence from the lineup will, most likely, increase the playing time for the highly rated first-year, Abby Meyers.