Princeton women’s basketball rolls over Yale, 74-38, in opening night of back-to-back weekend

The Princeton women’s basketball team used tenacious defense and efficient offense on Friday night to collar the Yale Bulldogs, 74-38, at Lee Amphitheater in New Haven. Yale’s 38 points were the fewest allowed by Princeton so far this season.

The Tigers raced out to a 4-0 lead when Fadima Tall found a cutting Skye Belker for a beautifully executed backdoor layup. The Tigers never looked back from there as Princeton led wire-to-wire for the seventh time in their last 10 games.

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Yale men’s basketball still has room for improvement after downing Dartmouth

Dartmouth and Yale tip off at John J. Lee Amphitheater Monday for what became an 83-67 win for the latter over the former. (Ray Curren | Ivy Hoops Online)

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Bez Mbeng was not in the mood for mincing words after setting Yale’s all-time career steals record in an 83-67 win over Dartmouth Monday afternoon.

“I love defense,” Mbeng, who passed former Yale standout Alex Zampier (2006-10) for the record, said.

And as he has for most of the last three seasons for Yale, Mbeng led the way in that department Monday at Lee Amphitheater, harassing Ryan Cornish, Connor Amundsen, or whomever else he was in the neighborhood of, finishing with three steals to go with 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

“It means a lot to me,” Mbeng said. “A lot of credit goes to my teammates and coaches for getting me better and putting me in good positions to get those steals. I’m just really thankful right now.”

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Yale men’s basketball vanquishes Vermont – without Yassine Gharram

Yale and Vermont tip off for what became a 65-50 win for the former over the latter Saturday. (Ray Curren | Ivy Hoops Online}

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Yale broke a two-game losing streak with an impressive second half Saturday afternoon at Lee Amphitheater, allowing exactly half as many points as the last time we saw the Bulldogs at Mohegan Sun two weeks ago in a 65-50 win over Vermont, albeit a struggling and undermanned Catamounts team.

The big personnel news of the day was that Yale’s leading scorer (and 16th nationally) John Poulakidas was not in uniform. The Bulldogs’ offense struggled mightily without him in the first half, scoring just 22 points and turning the ball over 13 times. Sophomore Trevor Mullin got his first career start, but it was Bez Mbeng who had six of those turnovers.

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