Simone Sawyer went out with a bang, and the Penn women’s basketball team wrapped up its season sooner than it wanted but with an emphatic home win Saturday over Brown, 69-56.
Mike McLaughlin
Penn women’s basketball blows by Dartmouth
A day after losing its last chance at Ivy Madness, the Penn women’s basketball team came out and put on a championship-level clinic at Dartmouth, barely missing a shot in the first quarter en route to an 89-66 victory Saturday night.
Penn women’s basketball clips Cornell in overtime
In the end, Penn women’s basketball coach Mike McLaughlin didn’t talk about Friday’s win at Cornell in terms of the Ivy League standings, though it was crucial.
And he didn’t mention revenge for the loss Cornell dealt Penn in West Philly last month.
He spoke like a fan.
“First of all, it was a great college basketball game,” he told ESPN+.
In loss to No. 25 Princeton, a strong showing for Penn women’s basketball
After all those nonconference games, it was time to find out what was real.
Princeton was real. Well, we knew that before the Princeton women’s game Saturday at Penn: The Tigers were 12-1, the only loss — a close one — coming against a mighty Maryland team. And now the Tigers are nationally ranked themselves, the ultimate imprimatur of the sport.
Simone Sawyer propels Penn women’s basketball to bounceback win at Hofstra
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. – Simone Sawyer dominated both sides of the ball on Saturday afternoon, leading the Penn women’s team to a methodical 67-55 defeat of Hofstra at the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex.
The senior guard from Lincolnshire, Ill. led the offense with a 21-point, nine rebound performance and spearheaded a tenacious Quakers defense that shut down the Pride’s top three scorers in the second half.
“This was the best basketball game we’ve seen a guard at Penn play in a long time. Simone Sawyer was that good,” Penn coach Mike McLaughlin told Ivy Hoops Online immediately after the game. “She defended 94 feet almost the entire time, she guarded their point of attack. A great effort.”
The victory was a solid return to form, following a tough loss at Drexel earlier in the week, and puts Penn at 3-1 on the young season. Hofstra, meanwhile, moves to 1-2.
2025-26 Ivy League women’s basketball preview
The release of the Ivy League preseason media poll and 2025-26 Media Day revealed Princeton as the favorite heading into the 2025-26 season, followed by three-time defending champion Columbia, 2025 Ivy Madness title-holder Harvard in third and Penn rounding out the upper half of the conference.
Brown, which has tied the Quakers for fourth place the last two years, is the clear choice for the fifth slot. Dartmouth, Cornell and Yale are pegged for the last three spots, with the Big Green one point ahead of the Big Red and seven points in front of the Bulldogs.
A conversation with former Princeton coach and Dartmouth guard Courtney Banghart
Princeton coaching and Dartmouth playing legend Courtney Banghart spent 45 minutes in conversation with Ivy Hoops Online contributor Steve Silverman.
Ivy women’s semifinal: No. 1 Columbia gets by No. 4 Penn, 60-54
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Despite having multiple double-digit leads, the No. 1-seeded Columbia women couldn’t find a way to dominate No. 4 Penn and had to fight for a full 40 minutes to secure a 60-54 victory in Friday’s opening semifinal of the 2025 Ivy Tournament.
“Credit to them (Penn) for getting to this point and giving us their best,” coach Megan Griffith told the media in the postgame press conference. “Conversely, in our locker room, I don’t think we played our best, but that’s honestly what you’re going to get again in these games.”
With the win, the Lions (23-6) head to the program’s third-ever conference final. A victory in Saturday night’s contest against No. 3 Harvard. which won an instant classic against No. 2 Princeton in the nightcap, would give Columbia its first-ever Ivy Madness title, as well as the Ancient Eight’s automatic bid.
For Penn (15-13), the season is over and the drought for an Ivy League Tournament title now extends to eight years.
“I thought we really played well enough to put them (Columbia) in jeopardy,” Penn coach Mike McLaughlin said. “I’m just so proud that they hung in there … and gave ourselves an opportunity to beat a really good team tonight.”
Ivy Madness: Women’s Basketball Media Day
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Welcome to Ivy Madness VII (and Chag Sameach to those celebrating Purim)
This year, Ivy Hoops Online is coming to you from the heights of the Pizzitola Sports Center on the campus of Brown University.
Princeton women’s basketball races past Penn, 74-60, for Carla Berube’s 500th win
By now it’s a familiar recipe: Start the game with tenacious defense, add a heavy dose of imposing play in the paint and mix in a strong measure of sharpshooting from the outside.
When Princeton women’s basketball succeeds in combining these ingredients, it’s nearly guaranteed to win, as it did on Saturday afternoon in a 74-60, wire-to-wire putdown of Penn at Jadwin Gymnasium.
The triumph was Princeton’s 13th straight win over its arch-rival and the 500th head coaching win of Carla Berube’s career. Berube is 116-22 at Princeton after posting a 384-96 at Tufts for a career .809 winning percentage.