Ivy League gears up for a weekend of conference competition in women’s hoops

Last weekend’s action in the Ivy League gave a clear idea of the landscape in the women’s basketball conference.

Princeton (21-2, 9-0 Ivy) continued its amazing season, tallying up two more wins at Yale and Brown. Against the Bulldogs, Tigers Niveen Rasheed and Lauren Edwards combined for 35 points in a 65-44 win over Yale.

The next day, Princeton thumped Brown 64-38. With that win, its 21st of the season, the team tied a school record. The Tigers have played above the Ancient Eight all season, and the win over Brown marks the team’s 16th consecutive victory, all of which have been by double digits.

The only team with a realistic chance of catching up to Princeton is Harvard (16-7, 7-2 Ivy), which won both its games the past weekend. Crimson freshman Victoria Lippert played spectacularly against Cornell, lighting up the offense for 20 points and 10 rebounds. Her efforts gave Harvard a convincing 74-53 win over the struggling Big Red.

Lippert continued her hot streak the next day, dropping a career-high 28 points against Columbia, shooting 11-for-13 from the court. The Light Blue-Crimson game was a battle for clear second in the league and the 69-67 win put Harvard on top. Center Emma Markley posted a near triple-double in the Columbia matchup, scoring 12 points, grabbing 10 rebounds, and recording seven blocks.

Those two performances were enough to give Harvard the win and sole possession of second place in the Ancient Eight.

Columbia (15-9, 6-4 Ivy) split its weekend doubleheader for the fourth consecutive week, surviving an overtime thriller against Dartmouth, before falling in a close match to Harvard.

Columbia’s 66-59 win over Dartmouth, which came on Pink Zone Night, was a game of many milestones. Guard Melissa Shafer scored a career-high 15 points—12 of which came in the first half—to lead the Lions’ offensive attack. Center Lauren Dwyer was active defensively with a career-high seven blocks. The game also marked the first time since 1991 that Columbia has swept its season series against Dartmouth. Most importantly though, with the win, Columbia is assured of its first-ever winning season.

Unfortunately, Columbia couldn’t capitalize on the momentum, and fell to Harvard the next day. Forward Judie Lomax scored 17 points, grabbed eight rebounds, and had five steals in the losing effort. For Lomax’s efforts in the Dartmouth and Harvard games, she won her fifth Player of the Week award of the season.

Yale (11-13, 6-4 Ivy), the other third-place team, had two very contrasting games. The Bulldogs scored a season-low 44 points in a 65-44 loss to the first-place Tigers. In that game, no Bulldogs player scored in double digits and the team committed 24 turnovers.

The next day, the team spectacularly rebounded with a 70-38 trouncing over Penn. Yale freshman Megan Vasquez led the way with 12 points and five assists.

The reigning champion Dartmouth (9-13, 4-4 Ivy) lost an overtime thriller to Columbia, but defeated Cornell the next day 67-64. Four Big Green players scored in double figures in the win.

Brown (7-17, 4-6 Ivy) split its games. Brown defeated Penn 54-42 before losing to Princeton 64-38 the next day. Against Penn, Brown’s Natalie Bonds posted a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.

Cornell (6-17, 1-9 Ivy) lost to Harvard and Dartmouth. Versus Dartmouth, Lauren Benson, Cornell’s all-time assists leader, recorded 11 more assists to bring her up to 134 this year. Virginia McMunigal scored a game-high 19 points, but it wasn’t enough to help the Big Red beat the league leaders.

Penn’s nightmare season continued with two more losses. The Quakers (1-22, 0-9 Ivy) lost 54-42 to Brown and 70-38 to Yale.

Next week marks the second-to-last doubleheader weekend of the season. Friday will see the likes of Harvard challenging Brown, Columbia facing off against Penn, Princeton hosting Cornell and Dartmouth visiting Yale. Saturday, the Ancient Eight shuffles around again as the Lions visit the Tigers, Dartmouth travels to Providence, Penn hosts Cornell, and Yale welcomes the top-ranked Crimson to New Haven.