penn

Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball’s 92-87 win at Columbia

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NEW YORK CITY — In an otherwise lost season, Sam Brown delivered an evening of pure joy for Penn on Saturday night.

 

The sophomore guard accomplished something no Penn player had since Hassan Duncombe in December 1989: score at least 40 points in a game. Brown’s virtuoso 42-point showing carried the Quakers to a 92-87 win over Columbia.

 

It didn’t mean much in the standings, save for assuring that Penn (8-18, 4-9 Ivy) would avoid finishing last place in the Ivy League. That spot is now reserved for the Lions (12-14, 1-12), whose season has nosedived after a promising nonconference campaign. It seems likely that both teams will have new coaches next season.

 

Penn never trailed on Saturday, but there were more than a few perilous moments. Things got especially dicey when Columbia star Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa intercepted an inbounds pass from Nick Spinoso and drained a three to cut Penn’s lead to 86-85 with 30 seconds to play. 

 

But Brown calmly converted all six of his free throw attempts to assure the Lions would get no closer.

 

Brown was the biggest story of Saturday night. What made his evening so special?

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Solid second half lifts Harvard women’s basketball past Penn

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On Senior Night at Harvard, the seniors came through in a dominant second half Saturday to sail past the Penn women’s basketball team, 62-44.

Of course, it helps when your seniors include league-leading scorer Harmoni Turner and forward Elena Rodriguez. With two points from reserve forward Mona Zaric, the senior class came up just one point short of Penn’s total. Turner let loose for a double-double: 24 points from all over the court and 11 rebounds; Rodriguez had 17 points on 7-for-13 shooting.

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Quakeaway from Penn men’s basketball’s 90-62 loss at Cornell

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In a season marked by one low after another, Penn took what may have been its biggest body blow yet in a humiliating 90-62 defeat to Cornell in Ithaca, N.Y.

Even that final score is generous to the Quakers (7-18, 3-9 Ivy). Penn went into the halftime locker room down 63-27 after allowing the Big Red (15-10, 7-5) to drain 15 three-pointers in the first half.

By night’s end, nine different Cornell players had made a three-point basket, tying an NCAA Division 1 record.

There’s only one meaningful takeaway from Friday night’s disaster:

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Penn women’s basketball trounces Dartmouth, 66-37

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When the Dartmouth women went to West Philly to play some basketball in January, they were at their best and broke an 18-game losing streak against Penn.
On Friday, it was the Penn women at their best, playing in Hanover to keep their shot at the Ivy League Tournament alive, and they started a new winning streak over Dartmouth emphatically, 66-37.

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Assessing the Ivy women’s hoops race with three games left in the regular season

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Another eventful weekend of women’s hoops games has set the table for a dramatic conclusion to the Ivy League season. 

The Columbia Lions (19-5, 10-1 Ivy) seized control of the race for the regular season title with another come-from-behind win over the Princeton Tigers, 64-60, at Jadwin Gymnasium on Saturday. The Lions completed a rare series sweep of the Tigers and put themselves in position to earn a third consecutive Ivy League title and the program’s first outright championship. 

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Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball’s 79-78 overtime loss to Harvard

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Penn’s flickering postseason aspirations were officially snuffed out on Saturday night after the Quakers endured another heartbreaking loss, this time in overtime to Harvard at the Palestra, 79-78.

The Quakers (7-17, 3-8 Ivy) managed to lose despite having free-throw shooters heading to the line with a three-point lead twice in the final 11 seconds of regulation. But both junior wing Ethan Roberts and senior wing George Smith missed their one-and-one front ends.

Harvard (10-14, 5-6) forced overtime after Penn guard Sam Brown deflected a Crimson home run pass into the arms of senior guard Evan Nelson, who drained a contested three over Brown’s outstretched arms with a second to play.

The Crimson took the lead for good when freshman Robert Hinton converted two free throws with 26 seconds to play in overtime. Penn missed three game-winning shot attempts in the final 12 seconds of OT, with senior big man Nick Spinoso missing a desperation hook shot off the front rim just before the buzzer sounded.

Here’s what we learned from another devastating defeat:

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Penn women’s basketball stops Cornell in must-win game

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With both sides playing to preserve a chance at a spot in Ivy Madness, the Penn women’s basketball team overcame a resurgent Cornell on Saturday in West Philly, 68-63.
“We always like to make things interesting,” Penn senior Stina Almqvist told ESPN+ after her 25 points led the Quakers to the win. “We know we have our backs against the wall. We really want to make the tournament.”

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LISTEN: Princeton men’s basketball tops Harvard, 76-71

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Ivy Hoops Online correspondent George “Toothless Tiger” Clark recaps a 76-71 win Friday for Princeton (17-8, 6-4 Ivy) over Harvard (9-14, 4-6) at Jadwin Gym:

Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball’s 88-75 win over Dartmouth

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In a season that’s been filled with painful finishes, Penn delivered a moment of unabashed joy at the Palestra on Friday night against Dartmouth.

The Quakers used a 15-0 run in the second half to power past the Big Green, 88-75. It didn’t matter one bit to Penn (7-16, 3-7 Ivy) that Dartmouth (12-11, 6-4) entered the game in second place in the Ivy League or already had a win in hand over the Quakers. Penn delivered one of its most aesthetically pleasing performances of the season.

That aforementioned 15-0 run shattered what was a 53-53 game with just inside 14 minutes to play. Sophomore Sam Brown — the game’s biggest story — scored what proved to be the game-winning basket when he drained a mid-range jumper in the middle of the lane over the Big Green’s Ryan Cornish, then added a layup and an assist.

Senior George Smith drained the dagger with an open three from the left wing.

It’s all happy Quakeaways, starting with how …

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Elegy for the Killer Ps

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Not so long ago, the Princeton Tigers and the Penn Quakers – the Killer Ps – ruled the realm of Ivy League men’s basketball.  

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