Kiley Capstraw

Ivy women’s basketball Media Day highlights

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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:

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Yale women’s basketball looks to move up in Ivy pecking order

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The Yale women finished last season at 8-19 and 5-9 in the Ivy League. Gone from last year are leading scorer and assist leader Jenna Clark, leading rebounder Nyla McGill and third-leading scorer Brenna McDonald. Good news or bad news?

Well, Ivy media has pegged Yale as a sixth-place finisher.

Yale third-year coach Dalila Eshe says her team will have improved “culture” and be “incredibly athletic, running a high-octane offense.” She defines culture as “buying into the program and [being] like-minded.”

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Yale women’s basketball puts it all together in 72-48 win over Quinnipiac

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The Yale women’s basketball team returned five players who scored 10 or more points in a game last season, along with its top four scorers and rebounders. There was reason for optimism coming off of a 13-14 season which included 7-7 in Ivy play.

But the Bulldogs have opened up the season 3-10.

Even so, Yale’s on a one-game winning streak after finally putting together 40 minutes of solid basketball Saturday at John J. Lee Amphitheater with a 72-48 wire-to-wire win over in-state rival Quinnipiac.

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Yale women’s basketball falls at Stony Brook, 81-66

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In a contest featuring two of the nation’s top point guards, Yale’s Jenna Clark bested Stony Brook’s Gigi Gonzalez on the stat sheet, but the Bulldogs came out on the losing end to the Seawolves in a Wednesday matinee at Long Island’s Island Federal Credit Union Arena.

The senior from Pittsburgh finished the day with 26 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals for Yale, while Gonzalez totaled 19 points, five rebounds, two assists and one steal.

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2023-24 Ivy women’s media day recap and season preview

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With the season a few weeks away, the Ivy League hosted Women’s Basketball Media Day on Monday, the first of two media availabilities this week. The event was hosted over Zoom for media members and is available on the conference’s YouTube channel.

The preseason media poll was released last Thursday with Princeton earning all 16 first-place votes. Last year’s Ivy Tournament winner and regular season co-champions are the sixth unanimous pick in league history and the first since Penn in 2016-2017.

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Yale women escape Harvard with 71-70 overtime victory

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Yale was traveling from Hanover to Harvard Friday night and coming off a 97-53 home thrashing by Columbia a week before against a Crimson squad that had taken down mighty Princeton the same day. It seemed like a recipe for defeat.

But first-year coach Dalila Eshe’s team delivered a Saturday night stunner by pulling out a 71-70 overtime win at Lavietes Pavilion.

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Columbia women blow out Yale, 97-53, in Ivy opener

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Junior guard Abbey Hsu registered 13 points, five rebounds and two assists in 25 minutes in Columbia’s 97-53 rout of Yale Saturday afternoon. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)

Saturday was just another day at the office for high-flying Columbia women’s basketball.

The Light Blue defeated Yale, 97-53, at John J. Lee Amphitheater before a highly partisan Columbia crowd.

Columbia (12-2, 1-0 Ivy) never trailed in winning its ninth straight contest.

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Yale women can’t complete comeback, fall to Lehigh, 70-63

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Down 13 in the final stanza hosting Lehigh Wednesday evening, Yale women’s basketball mounted a furious comeback, fueled by a three-point shooting barrage.

But the Bulldogs couldn’t close the deal, bowing to the Mountain Hawks, 70-63. at John J. Lee Amphitheater.

The Mountain Hawks had opened up an early 10-5 lead before Yale (6-7) fought back to lead 11-10 after the first quarter.

Lehigh (4-7) shot it well in the second quarter and led 31-25 at intermission before running out to a 36-27 lead early in the third quarter. The visitors led 53-43 heading into the last period.

“We started out locked in and intense on defense, then had [a] mental letdown in the second and third where we didn’t follow the game plan,” first-year Yale coach Dalila Eshe said.

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Yale women let Syracuse slip away in 60-58 home loss

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Give Felisha Legette-Jack a lot of credit. The first-year Syracuse women’s coach brought a power-conference team into John J. Lee Amphitheater to do battle with Yale.

And the Orange escaped with a 60-58 win.

Yale (4-5) dominated the first half, building a 17-8 lead by the 3:53 mark, holding Syracuse (6-2) to 3-for-16 shooting from the field and converting on three of trey attempts. Yale controlled the tempo and forced Syracuse into a slower style of play.

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Yale women deliver Eshe her first win as head coach by besting Fairfield, 68-61

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Dalila Eshe got her first win as a head coach with Yale’s win over Fairfield Monday night. (Dalila Eshe Twitter page)

It’s a game that Dalila Eshe will never forget.

Eshe earned her first victory as Yale head coach with a hard fought 68-61 home win over in-state rival and Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference opponent Fairfield Monday night.

The Bulldogs (1-2) had opened the season with losses at Fordham and St. Joseph’s.

First-year guard Kiley Capstraw poured in 24 points on 6-for-13 shooting from the field.

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