Ivy tournament

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

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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:

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Harvard women stun Columbia to advance to Ivy League Tournament final

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Sophomore guard Harmoni Turner contributed 18 points, 12 rebounds and four assists in 44 minutes in Harvard’s Ivy League Tournament semifinal upset of Columbia at Jadwin Gym Friday. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)

PRINCETON, N.J. – The Harvard Crimson put an abrupt end to anticipation of a rubber match between regular-season co-champions Princeton and Columbia by defeating the latter in the second of two Ivy League Tournament semifinal games played at Jadwin Gym in an overtime thriller, 72-65.

The No. 3 Crimson advance to face No. 1 Princeton, which defeated Penn earlier Friday, 60-47.  The tournament final will be played Saturday  at 5 p.m. at Jadwin Gym.  

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Princeton women stave off Penn in Ivy League Tournament semifinal

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PRINCETON, N.J. – What looked like a rout for the top-seeded Princeton women turned into a close game, but they stopped a Penn comeback and took their semifinal game Friday in the Ivy League Tournament semifinal, 60-47.

The Tigers had reason to be confident: They were on their home court, they were the regular-season titleholders for the fifth year in a row, and they’d beaten the Quakers decisively just a week earlier in West Philly. Princeton scored first, then again, then again and again, setting up fastbreaks seemingly at will — 19 points in the first quarter on 50% shooting. Penn, meanwhile, was a portrait in futility: two points on 1-for-13 shooting.
“I felt really good after that first quarter,” Princeton coach Carla Berube said.
The game was as good as over.
But then it wasn’t.

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Reporter’s Notebook – Ivy League Tournament day two

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Empty media room seat in memory of Grant Wahl (Photo by Rob Browne)

The morning of day two of Ivy Madness had more people in the media room and arena as the men’s teams took the stage for their interview sessions.

It’s certainly worth noting the empty media room seat left unoccupied as a tribute to Grant Wahl, the award-winning college basketball and soccer journalist who died a few months ago due to complications associated with Marfan syndrome.  Wahl attended Princeton from 1992 to 1996 and began his career as a reporter for the Daily Princetonian.  A very nice touch by everyone at the Ivy League office and Princeton Athletics.

Some more observations from the pre-semifinal part of the day:

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Q&A with Princeton men’s coach Mitch Henderson

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Princeton men’s coach Mitch Henderson led the Tigers to a second straight Ivy League championship this season. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)

Our George “Toothless Tiger” Clark caught up with Princeton men’s coach Mitch Henderson ahead of Princeton’s Ivy League Tournament semifinal matchup with Penn. Henderson reflects on his deep connection with Pete Carril, the importance of blending old and new coming off last season’s Ivy League championship in this year’s Ivy title run, the emergence of Ivy Rookie of the Year Caden Pierce, the coaching approach to Ivy Madness and more:

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Reporter’s Notebook – Ivy League Tournament day one

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Pictured is a photo of an Ivy Madness banner hanging on the outside of Jadwin Gym. (Photo by Rob Browne)

Ivy League Tournament V officially started on Thursday afternoon, with the four women’s teams taking part in press conferences and shootarounds for “Live from Ivy Madness.”

This year’s edition, the first-ever tournament to take place in a suburban setting, takes place at Jadwin Gymnasium on the campus of Princeton University.  While the campus is incredibly picturesque, and the athletic complex has a lot of beautiful modern buildings that fit in well with each other, the basketball arena continues to be its own unique entity.

The previous locations at Penn, Yale and Harvard had much more intimate environments, whether in the press conference room or the actual arena.  This year, everything feels much larger and more spacious.  I’m sure most people would see that as a positive, but I liked it more when the reporters and fans were closer to the coaches and players.

As usual, the Ivy League staff and their partners at ESPN are doing a great job getting everything organized.  The campus staff are also incredibly helpful.

I can’t explain why, but there seems to be a greater security presence inside the arena than past years.  There were several guards going through the media room and arena, even though there was an incredibly small crowd this afternoon.  Officials have also limited access to the stairwells and have rotating staff members operating the elevator for everyone.  Feels a bit odd that we aren’t allowed to press our own buttons, but I’m sure they have good reasons for doing this.

Some other observations from the day:

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Ivy League Tournament women’s semifinal preview: No. 3 Harvard vs. No. 2 Columbia

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No. 2 Columbia (23-4, 12-2 Ivy) vs No. 3 Harvard (16-10, 9-5 Ivy), 7 p.m. or 30 minutes following 4:30 game (Princeton vs Penn), whichever is later (available on ESPN+) at Jadwin Gym 

Game #1, 1/14/23: Columbia (home) over Harvard, 82-56
Game #2, 2/17/23: Columbia over Harvard (home), 75-70

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Ivy League Tournament women’s semifinal preview: No. 4 Penn vs. No. 1 Princeton

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No. 1 Princeton (21-5, 12-2 Ivy) vs No. 4 Penn (17-10, 9-5 Ivy), Jadwin Gym, 4:30 p.m. (available on ESPN+)

Game #1, 1/16/23: Princeton (home) over Penn, 55-40
Game #2, 3/3/23: Princeton over Penn (home), 71-52

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A banner(s) weekend for Princeton basketball

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Thanks to a weekend sweep of Penn, the Princeton men’s and women’s basketball programs both won Ivy League titles this weekend, meaning that two more banners will soon be added to the crowded rafters at Jadwin Gym.  Here are four takeaways from Princeton’s historic basketball weekend:

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2024 Ivy League Tournaments moved from Brown to Columbia

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Levien Gym will host the 2024 Ivy League Tournaments, the league announced Wednesday. (Columbia Athletics)

In a surprise Wednesday afternoon announcement, the Ivy League office stated that the 2024 Ivy League men’s and women’s basketball tournaments will be held at Columbia’s Levien Gymnasium. Specific dates for the four-day event have not been posted.

The announcement signals a substantial change in the Ivy League’s rotation of tournament locations set in 2019. Brown was slated to host the tournaments next in 2024.

The Ivy League attributed the move to Levien Gym to gym renovations being finished sooner than expected when the original tourney rotation was announced in a statement Wednesday.  

“The future of the rotation remains under continuous evaluation,” Ivy League spokesman Matt Panto told Ivy Hoops Online in an email Wednesday. “The league is excited to bring the tournaments to Princeton next month and New York City in 2024.”

Brown Athletics did not respond to a request for comment.

“New York City is home to passionate and dedicated alumni and fans from all eight Ivy League institutions,” Ivy League executive director Robin Harris said in Wednesday’s statement. “Coupled with the energy of March Madness and the enthusiasm that this event has built over just a short period of time, the league could not be more excited to host Ivy Madness in the Big Apple.”

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