Women's Basketball Weekly Release - Week 10

Complete Women's Basketball Weekly Release in pdf format

Photos courtesy of Harvard and Princeton Athletic Communications

PRINCETON, N.J. -- Princeton closed out 2012 with a victory and Harvard opened the new year with a pair of wins, as both teams maintained their spots at the top of the Ivy League women’s basketball standings, at 8-5 and 9-5, respectively.

The Tigers took down a solid Drexel team, 74-59, behind 22 points from senior Niveen Rasheed and 13 points from junior Kristen Helmstetter. Princeton improved to 5-0 at home thanks to a 26-of-30 performance from the free throw line, its highest total from the charity stripe since hitting 30 against Yale on Feb. 2, 2007.

Harvard defeated in-state rival UMass, 85-59, and Rhode Island, 63-56. Junior Christine Clark averaged 20.0 points and 4.5 rebounds in the two games, while senior Victoria Lippert averaged 14.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.5 steals in the two games. Harvard’s 9-5 mark is its third-best non-conference record under head coach Kathy Delaney-Smith and the fifth-best non-conference record in program history.

Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth and Yale each went 1-1 on the week. The Bears defeated Army, 48-45, before falling to another Patriot League team, Lafayette, 56-32. Junior Lauren Clarke averaged 12.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists and hit all eight of her free throws in the two games.

The Big Red fell at Bucknell, 64-39, before rebounding to defeat Buffalo, 70-43, its largest margin of victory since an 81-54 win over Ithaca on Nov. 15, 2009. Senior Clare Fitzpatrick finished with 26 points in the two games, including the 1,000th of her career on her second bucket against Buffalo. She is the 12th player in Cornell history to reach 1,000 points and the seventh to register 1,000 points and 500 rebounds. Not to be outdone, junior Allyson DiMagno posted her League-leading sixth double-double of the season, with 10 points and 16 rebounds in Cornell’s win over the Bulls.

Dartmouth saw its losing streak increase to 12 games with a 64-52 loss against Holy Cross, before ending its skid with a 57-55 win over UMass. Sophomore center Tia Dawson averaged 12.0 rebounds in the two games, including her first double-double of the season, and seventh of her career, when she posted 12 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Big Green to a win over the Minutewomen.

Yale saw a pair of players average double-figures in its two games, as junior Janna Graf (16.0) and sophomore Sarah Halejian (12.0) each played well as the Bulldogs fell at Sacred Heart, 67-62, before beating Bucknell, 82-62. Graf is averaging 15.3 points per game in her last six contests and is shooting 44.1 percent from the field (30-of-68) and 46.5 percent from downtown (20-of-43) during that stretch.

Penn and Columbia each dropped their only game of the week. The Quakers fell to Big Five rival Saint Joseph’s, 66-53, despite 12 points from junior Alyssa Baron and 11 points, seven rebounds, two assists and one steal from sophomore Kathleen Roche. Lions sophomore Miwa Tachibana scored a career-high 12 points in just 15 minutes of play as Columbia fell at Cal State Fullerton, 61-49.

CO-PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Sometimes one ain’t enough, Jack, you better make it two. Harvard junior Christine Clark (Tucson, Ariz.) and Princeton senior Niveen Rasheed (Danville, Calif.) were each instrumental in their teams’ success last week and share Player of the Week honors.

Clark finished with 19 and 21 points, respectively, in the Crimson’s wins over UMass and Rhode Island. She became the 18th member of Harvard’s 1,000-point club during the game against the Minutewomen and now has 1,028 points for her career, 17th in program history. At Rhode Island, with her team trailing by one with 4:40 remaining, Clark scored nine of Harvard’s final 16 points to secure the win.

Clark earns her second Player of the Week award this season (Nov. 26) and the fifth of her career. Her honor gives Harvard six Player of the Week accolades this season, as senior Victoria Lippert (Nov. 19, Dec. 3) and sophomore Temi Fagbenle (Dec. 17, Dec. 31) have also received the award twice.

Clark's Statistics for the Week

Rasheed takes home her second Player of the Week honor in three weeks and the ninth of her career, tying her for fifth-place on the Ivy League all-time list with Brown’s Martina Jerant (1992-95).

Rasheed recorded game-highs in points (22) and rebounds (eight) to lead Princeton a comfortable win over Drexel, 74-59. Rasheed shot 46.7 percent from the field (7-of-15) and 88.9 percent from the charity stripe (8-of-9), setting a season-best in free throws made. She turned the ball over just once in 33 minutes of action as Princeton improved to 3-0 when Rasheed recorded one turnover.

Rasheed's Statistics for the Week

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Harvard sophomore Temi Fagbenle (London) picked up her League-leading seventh weekly award and her League-best fifth Rookie of the Week honor, as she was also named Player of the Week twice (Dec. 17, Dec. 31). Fagbenle averaged 10.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.5 blocks in two games as Harvard defeated UMass and Rhode Island. The sophomore posted 12 points and six boards against the Minutewomen, before coming one point shy of a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds against Rhode Island. It marked her first double-digit rebounding performance that was not accompanied by a double-digit scoring performance.

Fagbenle’s award gives Harvard 11 weekly awards this season, as the Crimson has earned an honor each week they competed. It’s the most awards for a team in one season since Princeton had 15 in 2009-10, and most for a Harvard squad since it earned 13 in 2008-09.

Although Fagbenle earned Player and Rookie of the Week twice this season, Harvard is the first team to sweep the weekly awards with two different players since Yale on Jan. 30, 2012, when Janna Graf was named Player of the Week and Sarah Halejian received Rookie of the Week. It marks the first time Harvard has accomplished the feat since March 2, 2009, when Emily Tay was named Player of the Week and Brogan Berry took home Rookie of the Week.

Fagbenle's Statistics for the Week

Ivy League action kicks off this week, as Harvard will host Dartmouth and Princeton will host Penn on Saturday. The non-conference slate this week will feature a heavy dose of the Patriot League, as Columbia will face Lehigh on Monday and Lafayette on Wednesday, while Brown will take on Holy Cross and Princeton will host Navy on Tuesday.

HONOR ROLL
Lauren Clarke, Brown (Jr., G – Colts Neck, N.J.)
13 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 100.0 3FG%, 100.0 FT% vs. Army
11 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 100.0 FT% at Lafayette

Tia Dawson, Dartmouth (So., C – Cedar Rapids, Iowa)
3 points, 11 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block vs. Holy Cross
12 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 100.0 FT% at UMass

Allyson DiMagno, Cornell (Jr., G – Fairport, N.Y.)
14 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, 50.0 FG%, 100.0 3FG%, 100.0 FT% at Bucknell
10 points, 16 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 50.0 FG%, 75.0 FT% vs. Buffalo

Clare Fitzpatrick, Cornell (Sr., F – Southbury, Conn.)
11 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals, 75.0 FT% at Bucknell
15 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 62.5 FG%, 83.3 FT% vs. Buffalo

Janna Graf, Yale (Jr., G – Mission Woods, Kan.)
18 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, 46.7 FG%, 57.1 3FG% at Sacred Heart
14 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 44.4 FG%, 100.0 FT% vs. Bucknell

Sarah Halejian, Yale (So., G – Wyckoff, N.J.)
9 points, 1 rebound, 3 assists, 2 steals at Sacred Heart
15 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 58.3 FG% vs. Bucknell

Kathleen Roche, Penn (So., G – River Forest, Ill.)
11 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 66.7 FG%, 75.0 3FG% vs. Saint Joseph’s

Miwa Tachibana, Columbia (So., G – Los Angeles)
12 points, 100.0 FT% at Cal State Fullerton

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Monday, January 7
Columbia at Lehigh, 11:30 am

Tuesday, January 8
Brown at Holy Cross, 11:30 am
Morgan State at Penn, 5 pm
Navy at Princeton, 7 pm

Wednesday, January 9
Lafayette at Columbia, 7 pm

Saturday, January 12
*Dartmouth at Harvard, 2 pm
*Penn at Princeton, 3:30 pm

Sunday, January 13
Daemen at Cornell, 1pm

KEY
*-Ivy League contest