Women's Basketball Weekly Release - Week 15

Complete Ivy League Women's Basketball Weekly Release in pdf format

Photos courtesy of Yale Sports Publicity and Penn Athletic Communications

PRINCETON, N.J. -- Yale moved back into second-place in the Ivy League standings with a little help from the team that knocked the Bulldogs out of second originally. Princeton’s 84-56 win over Harvard moved the Crimson into third-place, while Yale took its place at second thanks to a 2-0 record last week. Junior guard Megan Vazquez (Merrick, N.Y.) recorded 26.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.0 steal in the two wins and was named Ivy League Player of the Week.

Penn freshman Katy Allen (Waukesha, Wis.) helped guide the Quakers to a 1-1 week by scoring 13.0 points per game in the two contests. She also averaged 3.0 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.0 assist. For her efforts, she was named Ivy League Rookie of the Week.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Vazquez matched her career-high with 25 points in the Bulldogs’ 86-73 win over Cornell, the 500th career victory for head coach Chris Gobrecht. During that momentous victory, Vazquez surpassed 1,000 points for her career. She became the first Yale player to reach the 1,000-point milestone since Melissa Colborne during the 2008-09 season.

Vazquez was not finished, however, as she set a new personal-best the next night with 28 points in Yale’s 73-59 defeat of Columbia. For the week, Vazquez shot 62.1 percent from the field (18-of-29), 66.7 percent from downtown (10-of-15) and hit all seven of her free throws. She posted her career-best eighth game with 20 or more points this season and has 13 for her career. Vazquez earned her third Player of the Week award overall and first this season.

Vazquez's Statistics for the Week

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
After a quiet game in which she scored nine points on 4-of-8 shooting in Penn’s 66-52 loss at Harvard, Allen erupted for a personal-best 17 points to lead the Quakers to a 73-63 overtime win at Dartmouth. She shot 6-of-11 from the floor, including a career-high 4-of-6 from downtown and recorded four rebounds, two steals and one assist. Her three-pointer with 3:14 remaining in the extra session broke a 58-58 tie and propelled Penn to the 10-point victory. Allen became the second Quaker to receive Rookie of the Week honors this season, joining Kara Bonenberger, who was named Rookie of the Week on four occasions (Nov. 28; Dec. 5; Dec. 12; Dec. 26).

Allen's Statistics for the Week

Gobrecht became the fourth coach this season to reach 500 wins, joining Holy Cross coach Bill Gibbons (Dec. 3), DePaul head coach Doug Bruno (Dec. 31) and Kennesaw State head coach Colby Tilly (Jan. 7). Gobrecht currently ranks 22nd among active coaches for Division I coaching wins.

It was a weekend of milestones for the Ivy League. Yale hit 16 three-pointers against Cornell, tying the all-time Ivy League single-game mark, previously set twice by Harvard, against Rhode Island on Jan. 12, 1993 and against Vanderbilt on March 15, 1996. Three Ivy student-athletes surpassed the 1,000-point plateau, as Harvard junior Victoria Lippert and Princeton junior Niveen Rasheed joined Vazquez in that select group. Lippert scored 12 points in the Crimson’s 66-52 win over Penn to become the 16th member of Harvard's 1,000 point club, while Rasheed became the third Princeton player this season to reach the scoring feat, joining seniors Lauren Edwards (Nov. 14) and Devona Allgood (Dec. 31).

In other Ivy action, Princeton improved to 7-0 in League play with wins over Dartmouth, 72-41, and Harvard, 84-56. It marks the second-straight week that Princeton has defeated the team that was in second-place prior to its matchup with the Tigers. Brown improved to 5-3 in the conference standings with wins over Columbia, 72-63, and Cornell, 60-49. Yale sits in second-place with a 6-2 mark but Harvard, at 5-2, and Brown are each within a game of the Bulldogs.

"Inside Ivy League Basketball" returns for its ninth episode on Wednesday, Feb. 15, featuring interviews with Cornell junior guard Johnathan Gray, Brown women's basketball head coach Jean Marie Burr and Wall Street Journal reporter Jason Gay, who will give his perspective on the phenomenon of current New York Knicks point guard and former Harvard star Jeremy Lin.

“Inside Ivy League Basketball" is hosted by Dan Loney and Brian Seltzer and takes an in-depth look at all the news and notes surrounding Ivy men’s and women’s basketball on and off the courts during the 2011-12 season. The 12-episode show debuted Thursday, Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. on BlogTalkRadio.com (blogtalkradio.com/insideivyleaguebasketball) and is available on-demand via BlogTalkRadio and IvyLeagueSports.com.     

Each episode is packed with highlights, statistics and expert analysis in its 'Around the League' segment. With its interview segments 'Program Profile,' 'Student-Athlete Spotlight' and 'Alumni Focus,' the show will visit with past and present players, coaches and administrators who impact Ivy League basketball.

Fans and alumni can interact with the show via its social media platforms -- Facebook (Inside Ivy League Basketball) and Twitter (@insideivyhoops) -- as well as provide ideas and content for the show’s 'Twitter Talk/Facebook Fodder' segment.

HONOR ROLL
Brogan Berry, Harvard, Senior, Guard (Beavercreek, Ohio)
26 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist vs. Penn
21 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals vs. Princeton

Kara Bonenberger, Penn, Freshman, Forward (Walnutport, Pa.)
10 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block at Harvard
17 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals at Dartmouth

Sheila Dixon, Brown, Junior, Guard (Schenectady, N.Y.)
20 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals vs. Columbia
16 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 5 steals, 2 blocks vs. Cornell

Sasha Dosenko, Dartmouth, Senior, Forward (Kiev, Ukraine)
15 points, 12 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 blocks vs. Princeton
14 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks vs. Penn

Taylor Flynn, Cornell, Junior, Guard (Floral Park, N.Y.)
13 points, 2 assists at Yale
16 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist at Brown

Niveen Rasheed, Princeton, Junior, Forward (Danville, Calif.)
15 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 4 steals at Dartmouth
24 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal at Harvard

Tyler Simpson, Columbia, Junior, Forward (Lawrenceville, N.J.)
26 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals at Brown
14 points, 10 rebounds, 1 steal at Yale

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Friday, February 17
*Harvard at Brown, 7 pm
*Dartmouth at Yale (YES), 7 pm
*Princeton at Columbia, 7 pm
*Penn at Cornell, 7 pm

Saturday, February 18
*Harvard at Yale, 7 pm
*Dartmouth at Brown, 7 pm
*Penn at Columbia, 7 pm
*Princeton at Cornell, 7 pm

KEY:
*-Ivy League contest