Women's Basketball Weekly Release - Week 18

Complete Women's Basketball Weekly Release in pdf format

Photos courtesy of Dartmouth Athletics Communications and Harvard and Princeton Athletic Communications

PRINCETON, N.J. -- For the first time since the 2010-11 season, the Princeton women’s basketball team suffered a loss in Ivy League play. The Tigers are still in the driver’s seat for the Ivy title and the League’s automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament, however, holding a two-game lead over Harvard and Penn with three contests to play.

Princeton had won a League-record 33-straight Ivy games, breaking the mark of 32 set by Harvard from 1996-98 that was ended by the Tigers. The Crimson returned the favor, stopping Princeton's streak with a 58-55 win on Friday. Princeton is 56-2 in League play since Feb. 27, 2008, and both losses were to the Crimson, which previously defeated the Tigers, 73-67 on Feb. 4, 2011. But with three games to play in the 14-Game Tournament, Princeton still has the inside track on its fourth-straight Ivy title.

Harvard (17-8, 8-3 Ivy) needed the win over Princeton (19-6, 10-1 Ivy) to keep pace with Penn (15-10, 8-3 Ivy), which held a one-game lead on the Crimson going into Friday’s games. Harvard senior Victoria Lippert scored 21 points against the Tigers while hitting all 10 of her free throws, including four in the final 36 seconds of play after Princeton had cut the Harvard lead to one.

Penn, meanwhile, defeated Dartmouth (6-19, 4-7 Ivy), 55-45, to maintain its one-game lead on Harvard. Senior Brianna Bradford scored a career-high 17 points, while sophomore Kara Bonenberger grabbed a personal-best 15 rebounds in the win.

The next day, Harvard and Penn met up at Lavietes Pavilion in Cambridge, Mass. A win by the Quakers would give them a two-game lead on the Crimson with three to play, while a win by the home team would pull it into a tie for second-place. Harvard opened the game with a 7-0 run and never looked back, growing its lead to 20 points late in the first half before holding on to win, 67-54. Junior Christine Clark finished with 18 points and seven rebounds while shooting 7-of-10 from the floor, including 2-of-2 from downtown.

At the same time, Princeton began a new winning streak, holding off Dartmouth, 68-60. Senior Niveen Rasheed posted her second-straight double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds, while shooting 11-of-13 from the free throw line. Senior Megan Bowen finished with 21 points herself, setting a new career-high. Dartmouth freshman Lakin Roland had a career game, setting personal-bests in points (20) and rebounds (12) en route to her first career double-double.

Besides Harvard, the other team to go 2-0 on the week was Yale (12-14, 7-5 Ivy). The Bulldogs defeated Columbia, 66-49, and Cornell, 71-64. Yale has won five of its past six and stands two games behind Harvard and Penn for second-place. Junior Janna Graf scored a game-high 19 points against the Lions before recording a 16-point, nine-rebound, two-block, two-steal performance against the Big Red.

Cornell (11-14, 3-8 Ivy) went 0-2 on the week despite the efforts of junior Allyson DiMagno, who continued her record-setting season. DiMagno finished with 10 points and 14 rebounds in the Big Red’s 58-51 loss to Brown, before tallying 18 points and 13 rebounds against Yale. She now has 13 double-doubles on the year, the most since Columbia’s Judie Lomax posted 21 in 2009-10, and 288 rebounds, the most in program history, surpassing Rhonda Anderson (287, 1982-83). Senior Spencer Lane also recorded a double-double against Yale, the first of her career, setting personal-highs in points (20) and rebounds (12).

Brown (9-17, 3-9 Ivy) and Columbia (4-21, 2-9 Ivy) each went 1-1 on the week. The Bears defeated Cornell behind the efforts of sophomore Sophie Bikofsky, junior Lauren Clarke and senior Sheila Dixon, who combined for 38 points and 19 rebounds, before falling to the Lions, 58-55. In the win over the Bears, Columbia senior Tyler Simpson matched her career-high with 26 points while shooting 9-of-12 from the floor and 8-of-10 from the free throw line. The Lions' sweep of Brown is their first since the 2009-10 season.

Princeton can clinch its fourth-straight Ivy Championship this weekend with a home sweep of Yale and Brown. Penn will also face the Bulldogs and Bears, while Harvard will host Columbia and Cornell. Tuesday, March 5 features the Cornell-Dartmouth matchup that was postponed due to Nemo. The Big Green will then face the Big Red again on the weekend, along with Columbia.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Harvard needed two wins to tie Penn for second-place in the Ivy standings. Thanks to the play of junior Christine Clark (Tucson, Ariz.), the Crimson got what it was looking for, defeating Princeton, 58-55, and Penn, 67-54. Clark averaged 16.0 points and 4.5 rebounds in the two games while shooting 81.2 percent from the field (13-of-16), including four-of-four from downtown.

Clark hit all six of her field goals, including two three-pointers, in Harvard’s upset of Princeton. She then tallied a game-high 18 points in the Crimson’s victory over Penn along with seven rebounds. Harvard avenged an earlier loss to the Quakers and now holds the tie-breaker thanks to its win over the Tigers.

Clark earns her seventh career Player of the Week honor and is now tied for seventh all-time with, among others, Penn's Alyssa Baron and Princeton head coach Courtney Banghart. Clark is also tied for ninth in League history with her fourth Player of the Week award of the season. She's the second Ivy to earn at least four Player of the Week accolades this year, joining Princeton’s Niveen Rasheed (six). Clark is the first Crimson to earn four Player of the Week awards in a single season since Emma Markley in 2010.

Clark's Statistics for the Week

CO-ROOKIES OF THE WEEK
Harvard sophomore Temi Fagbenle (London) continued to impress in her first season in a Crimson uniform, averaging 11.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.5 blocks during her team’s 2-0 week. She finished with nine points and nine rebounds against Princeton, including three points, two rebounds and an assist in the final five minutes of the game. Her assist set up Victoria Lippert’s three-pointer with 2:24 remaining that gave the lead back to Harvard after Princeton had gone ahead by two. The Crimson never trailed again from that point. Fagbenle then posted 14 points, seven rebounds and three assists in her team’s win over Penn.

Fagbenle’s honor gives Harvard 17 awards this season, setting a new Ivy League record and breaking the previous mark of 15, set by Princeton in 2009-10. Fagbenle takes home her ninth Rookie of the Week award of the season, tying her for second all-time in League history. She is the first to earn nine Rookie of the Week honors in a single season since Rasheed in 2010, and the first Crimson to accomplish the feat since Allison Feaster in 1995.

Fagbenle's Statistics for the Week

Dartmouth freshman Lakin Roland (Jeffersonville, Ind.) earns her second Rookie of the Week honor of the season, as she previously received the award on Jan. 14. Roland finished with 10 points, four rebounds, one assist and two steals in a tough loss to Penn, and then, in the first start of her career, had a career day, registering personal-bests in points (20) and rebounds (12) en route to her first career double-double.

Roland is the second Big Green to earn at least two Rookie of the Week awards this season, joining sophomore Abbey Schmitt, who is a three-time recipient of the honor (Nov. 12, Dec. 3, Feb. 11).

Roland's Statistics for the Week

HONOR ROLL
Brianna Bradford, Penn (Sr., G – Laurel, Md.)
17 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 54.5 FG%, 50.0 3FG%, 100.0 FT% at Dartmouth
11 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal, 60.0 FG%, 75.0 3FG%, 100.0 FT% at Harvard

Allyson DiMagno, Cornell (Jr., G – Fairport, N.Y.)
10 points, 14 rebounds, 3 steals, 100.0 FT% at Brown
18 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists at Yale

Sheila Dixon, Brown (Sr., G – Schenectady, N.Y.)
14 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 50.0 FG% vs. Cornell
20 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 1 block vs. Columbia

Janna Graf, Yale (Jr., G – Mission Woods, Kan.)
19 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 60.0 FG%, 66.7 3FG% vs. Columbia
16 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 100.0 FT% vs. Cornell

Victoria Lippert, Harvard (Sr., G – San Diego)
21 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, 100 FT% vs. Princeton
9 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals vs. Penn

Niveen Rasheed, Princeton (Sr., G – Danville, Calif.)
13 points, 11 rebounds, 1 assist at Harvard
21 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 5 steals, 50.0 FG%, 84.6 FT% at Dartmouth

Keiera Ray, Penn (Fr., G – Aurora, Ill.)
13 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals at Dartmouth
14 points, 1 assist, 6 steals at Harvard

Tyler Simpson, Columbia (Sr., G – Lawrenceville, N.J.)
12 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal, 50.0 FG% at Yale
26 points, 1 rebound, 2 steals, 75.0 FG%, 80.0 FT% at Brown

Megan Vasquez, Yale (Sr., G – Merrick, N.Y.)
15 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 83.3 FT% vs. Columbia
18 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists vs. Cornell

Nicola Zimmer, Dartmouth (Jr., G – Chevy Chase, Md.)
16 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals, 54.5 FG%, 50.0 3FG%, 100.0 FT% vs. Penn
11 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist vs. Princeton

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Tuesday, March 5
*Cornell at Dartmouth, 6 pm

Friday, March 8
*Brown at Penn, 7 pm
*Dartmouth at Cornell, 7 pm
*Harvard at Columbia, 7 pm
*Yale at Princeton, 7 pm

Saturday, March 9
*Brown at Princeton, 6 pm
*Dartmouth at Columbia, 7 pm
*Harvard at Cornell, 7 pm
*Yale at Penn, 7 pm

Tuesday, March 12
*Princeton at Penn, 5 pm
*Columbia at Harvard, 7pm

KEY
*-Ivy League contest