Yes, Virginia, there is a two-bid Ivy – but only for Princeton women’s basketball

Two weeks ago, Joe Lunardi of ESPN wrote that the Princeton men’s basketball team was on track to become the first team in history to earn a second Ivy League bid to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.  

“Conceivably, the Tigers could be 27-1 or thereabouts heading into the Ivy League championship game on Selection Sunday,” Lunardi wrote. “What would the committee do if Princeton drops that last game? Could the Ivy League really be a two-bid league? The answer from this seat is clearly ‘yes.’ And the uniqueness of it all is worth watching and even rooting for.”

Read more

How Princeton women’s basketball won a chess match against Columbia

Princeton women’s basketball coach Carla Berube led the Tigers to another big win in a big game versus Columbia Saturday.

The contrast in demeanor could not have been starker.

Trailing 3-2 at the 8:23 mark of the first quarter, Columbia coach Megan Griffith gathered her team while officials reviewed a play to check for possible head contact.  Griffith smiled broadly, exuding confidence as she leaned into her team’s huddle. Her players listened and nodded while she spoke, their arms wrapped around each other in a tight circle.  

On the other sideline, a grim-looking Carla Berube paced while her Princeton players stood apart from each other, hands of their hips.  

Was there meaning in this moment?  Did Griffith’s sureness foretell an upset or was she simply trying to radiate belief in her team in the biggest game of the Ivy League season so far?

Read more

Columbia women’s basketball defeats Cornell to go 2-0 in Ivy League play

It wasn’t the prettiest game, but Columbia women’s basketball still cruised to an 82-53 victory over Cornell Saturday afternoon at Levien Gymnasium.

With the team’s ninth straight win, the Lions (11-4, 2-0 Ivy) are undefeated in league play and tied with Princeton and Brown at the top of the standings. Cornell (6-8, 0-2), meanwhile, is winless in the conference and knotted up with Yale and Dartmouth at the bottom of the table.

In last year’s regular season finale, Columbia clinched its first-ever Ivy League title at home but was kept on its heels by Cornell. The Lions had to go an extra five minutes for the historic victory. The difficult win dropped the Lions’ NET rating and moved them to the No. 2 seed in the Ivy League Tournament.

With a quick turnaround on Monday against Yale and a showdown at Princeton set for next Saturday, Columbia looked to avoid a repeat of last year’s Empire State battle.

Read more

Princeton women’s basketball rolls past Harvard for seventh straight win

“We communicated well, got our hands up and worked really hard,” Princeton coach Carla Berube said to Ivy Hoops Online about her team’s defense in a 72-49 win over Harvard Saturday. (Princeton Athletics broadcast)

Princeton women’s basketball delivered one of its best defensive performances of the season to notch a wire-to-wire win over Harvard, 72-49, Saturday afternoon at Lavietes Pavilion.

Although this contest was billed as a rematch of the 2023 Ivy League Tournament championship game, also won by Princeton, the Tigers might have had revenge on their minds dating back to last season’s road trip to Lavietes.  A year ago, the Tigers lost their Ivy opener at Harvard in shocking fashion, 67-59.  It was the first league loss for Carla Berube in her coaching tenure at Princeton.  

Read more

Inside Ivy Hoops 4-11-23

Ivy Hoops Online editor Mike Tony and IHO writer Rob Browne discuss memorable postseason runs for Princeton men’s and women’s basketball and Columbia and Harvard in the WNIT, the new “Big 5” (really City 6) Classic, the prospect and potential impact of athletic scholarships for Ivy hoopsters and much more:

A paean to Princeton’s triumphant Ivy League Tournament and season

Pictured here during the Ivy League Tournament Saturday, the Princeton women have made a habit of lining up single file behind each other with their arms draped over each other’s shoulders during the national anthem. (Steve Silverman)

The Princeton men’s and women’s basketball teams did more than punch tickets for the NCAA Tournament by winning championships at the Ivy League Tournament over the weekend.  They also made history for the university and the Ivy League.  

By winning both the men’s and women’s regular season and tournament titles, Princeton became the first school in Ivy League history to win four conference basketball championships in the same season. It’s a record that may be tied someday, but it can never be broken. 

As the Princeton basketball community basks in the glory of this unparalleled success, here are three reflections from the perspective of a long-time follower and admirer of Princeton basketball:

Read more

Princeton men notch Ivy League Tournament final win over Yale to clinch NCAA Tournament berth with key adjustments

Stopping John Poulakidas was the Princeton game plan.
Mission accomplished.
2021-22 Ivy Player of the Year Tosan Evbuomwan and a variety of double teams held the Yale sophomore guard to seven points on 2-for-7 shooting as the Tigers defeated Yale, 74-65, to earn their first NCAA Tournament biid since 2017.

Read more

And the Ivy Madness Oscar goes to …

The Princeton Tiger flexes at Jadwin Gym Saturday. (Photo by Steve Silverman)

Since the 95th Academy Award airs Sunday night, here are my choices for the Ivy Madness Oscars from day two of the Ivy League Tournament:

Read more

Princeton women take fourth straight Ivy League Tournament after 54-48 win over Harvard

Princeton overtook Harvard, 54-48, at Jadwin Gym Saturday to claim its fourth straight Ivy League Tournament final. Our George “Toothless Tiger” Clark recaps the action:

Three Quakeaways from Penn men’s Ivy League Tournament semifinal loss to Princeton

Ivy Player of the Year Jordan Dingle’s 19 points and six assists in 37 minutes weren’t enough to push Penn past Princeton in their Ivy League Tournament semifinal clash at Jadwin Gym Saturday. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)

PRINCETON, N.J. — Penn and its fans will be replaying the final two minutes of Saturday’s Ivy League Tournament semifinal against Princeton for a long time.

What was setting up to be a thrilling finish ended only in deflation and disappointment, as a late series of critical 50-50 situations all broke the wrong way in a 77-70 loss to the hated Tigers.

Penn had the ball down 71-70 with 90 seconds left when junior guard Jordan Dingle made a pass out of a double team to sophomore forward Nick Spinoso at the top of the key.

Spinoso faked a pass to a cutting Dingle, then tried to spin off Princeton senior forward Keeshawn Kellman in the lane. Kellman flew backwards as if he had been hit by sniper fire, and the officials obliged with a charge call that mystified even the ESPN broadcast team. Penn never had the ball with a chance to take the lead again.

One call, of course, does not define a game. Penn had plenty of self-inflicted wounds on Saturday, one of many dispiriting Quakeaways:

Read more