Women's Basketball Weekly Release - Week 15

Complete Women's Basketball Weekly Release in pdf format

Photos courtesy of Dartmouth Athletics Communications and Princeton Athletic Communications

PRINCETON, N.J. -- The Princeton Tigers won their 29th-straight conference game in emphatic fashion, clinching another 2-0 Ivy sweep with a 99-53 win at Yale on Sunday in New Haven, Conn.

The Tigers set a program-record in points with their performance against the Bulldogs, while posting the most points in a single game by an Ivy team since Dartmouth had 102 against Texas Southern on Dec. 19, 2006, and the most points in a League game since Cornell had 99 in an overtime win over Harvard on March 3, 1995. Princeton’s conference winning streak is second only in the country to No. 1 Baylor, which has won 34-straight regular-season conference games.

Princeton (14-5) also defeated Brown, 68-37, to improve to 5-0 in Ivy play and maintain its spot at the top of the standings. Senior Megan Bowan scored a team-high 12 points and fellow classmate Lauren Polansky tallied a game-high seven assists against the Bears, while junior Kristen Helmstetter (18 points, career-high 10 rebounds) and senior Niveen Rasheed (29 points, 12 rebounds) each recorded double-doubles against Yale. It marked the first career double-double for Helmstetter and the 30th for Rasheed.

Winter storm Nemo found the Northeast, changing the schedules for all the teams, while forcing the two squads tied for second-place, Dartmouth (6-13, 4-1 Ivy) and Harvard (13-6, 4-1 Ivy), to play just one game over the weekend. Both teams pulled out victories as the Big Green defeated Columbia (2-17, 0-5 Ivy), 62-52, and Harvard held off Cornell (10-9, 2-3 Ivy) in overtime, 69-60.

Dartmouth won its fourth-straight game, its longest Ivy winning streak since 2008-09, when the Big Green went 13-1 in Ivy play en route to winning the League. Senior Faziah Steen and sophomores Tia Dawson and Abbey Schmitt combined for 40 points as Dartmouth shot 52.2 percent from the field (24-of-46) while limiting the Lions (2-17, 0-5 Ivy) to 30.5 from the floor (18-of-59).

Cornell trailed by 10 points in the second half before storming back to tie Harvard, 51-51 with 2:02 remaining. After Crimson junior Christine Clark hit a layup with 1:35 to go to put Harvard up by two, Big Red senior Clare Fitzpatrick rebounded teammate Shelby Lyman’s missed three-point attempt and scored to send the game to overtime tied at 53.

In the extra session, however, Harvard senior Victoria Lippert scored six of her 19 points and the Crimson hit all 10 of its free throws to pull out the victory. Cornell was led by junior Allyson DiMagno, who matched her career-high with 20 points while grabbing 14 rebounds for her League-leading ninth double-double of the season.

Yale (7-13, 2-4 Ivy) and Penn (10-9, 3-2 Ivy) each went 1-1 on the week, as the Bulldogs defeated the Quakers, 65-56 before falling to Princeton, while Penn earned a road victory at Brown (7-13, 1-5 Ivy), 65-48.

The Bulldogs were led by senior Megan Vasquez, who averaged 13.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists in the two games while shooting 12-of-13 from the free throw line, including a 10-of-10 performance in Yale’s win over Penn. Quakers’ freshman Keiera Ray continued her strong play, scoring 13 points against the Bulldogs and 12 at Brown in just 16 minutes of action.

The race for the Ivy League title will sharpen into focus this week, as first-place Princeton will take on each of the teams tied for second. The Tigers will host Dartmouth on Friday and Harvard on Saturday. Penn will also take on the Big Green and Crimson, while Columbia and Cornell will host Brown and Yale.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Princeton senior guard Niveen Rasheed (Danville, Calif.) continued her climb up the record books, earning the 11th Player of the Week honor of her career, tying her with Harvard’s Hana Peljto (2001-04) for third-place all-time in Ivy League history. Rasheed takes home her fourth weekly accolade of the season, marking the second-straight season she has earned four Player of the Week awards.

Rasheed averaged 19.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 4.0 steals while shooting 51.5 percent from the field (17-of-33) in a 2-0 week for Princeton. She flirted with a triple-double in the Tigers’ win over Brown, finishing with 10 points, nine rebounds and six steals, then poured in a career-high 29 points while grabbing 12 rebounds in her team’s record-setting win over Yale, marking the 30th double-double of her career.

Rasheed's Statistics for the Week

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
For the third time this season, Dartmouth sophomore Abbey Schmitt (Winnetka, Ill.) took home Rookie of the Week honors (Nov. 12, Dec. 3). Schmitt recorded her second career double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Big Green to a win over Columbia. Schmitt shot 6-of-9 from the floor (66.7 percent) and hit 5-of-7 from the charity stripe (71.4 percent) in the win. She also recorded two steals.

Schmitt is Dartmouth’s first three-time Rookie of the Week recipient since Brittany Smith received the award seven times in 2007-08.

Schmitt's Statistics for the Week

HONOR ROLL
Courtney Bradford, Columbia (Jr., F – Alpharetta, Ga.)
9 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 66.7 FG% at Dartmouth

Allyson DiMagno, Cornell (Jr., G – Fairport, N.Y.)
20 points, 14 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 46.7 FG%, 75.0 FT% at Harvard

Sheila Dixon, Brown (Sr., G – Schenectady, N.Y.)
17 points, 7 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block, 40.0 3FG% vs. Princeton
6 points, 4 rebounds vs. Penn

Temi Fagbenle, Harvard (So., F – London)
12 points, 6 rebounds, 1 block, 54.5 FG% vs. Cornell

Victoria Lippert, Harvard (Sr., G – San Diego)
19 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 54.5 FG%, 50.0 3FG%, 100.0 FT% vs. Cornell

Keiera Ray, Penn (Fr., G – Aurora, Ill.)
13 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals, 83.3 FT% at Yale
12 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 100.0 FT% at Brown

Megan Vasquez, Yale (Sr., G – Merrick, N.Y.)
15 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 100.0 FT% vs. Penn
11 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists vs. Princeton

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Friday, February 15
*Brown at Columbia, 7 pm
*Dartmouth at Princeton, 7 pm
*Harvard at Penn, 7 pm
*Yale at Cornell, 7 pm

Saturday, February 16
*Brown at Cornell, 7 pm
*Dartmouth at Penn, 7 pm
*Harvard at Princeton, 7 pm
*Yale at Columbia, 7 pm

KEY
*-Ivy League contest