Penn Women Leave No Doubt As Ivy Champions

Though 2017 marked the first year with an Ivy League Tournament, the situation felt mighty familiar to Princeton and Penn. By a combination of scheduling and fate, the Quakers and Tigers entered the final day of the regular season tied in the standings twice in the last three years — meaning their season-ending head-to-head contest was a de facto playoff game. Despite playing on the road at Jadwin Gymnasium, Penn won both times, punching its ticket to the NCAA tournament. Continue reading “Penn Women Leave No Doubt As Ivy Champions” →

Ivy League Tournament Quadrupleheader Is Good For Fans

When I was a freshman writing for The Daily Princetonian in the fall of 2009, I was given the women’s basketball beat. It was hardly a marquee assignment at the time; I only ended up there because the men’s beat I really wanted was taken by seniors. After the meeting, a fellow freshman was complaining that he was assigned to cover volleyball, a sport he knew nothing about. I offered to switch assignments; he declined. Continue reading “Ivy League Tournament Quadrupleheader Is Good For Fans” →

Ivy Tournament Not Just About Princeton-Penn

(Please read Kevin Whitaker’s excellent previews on Penn-Princeton and Yale-Harvard before proceeding:)

Wide-eyed and full of smiles, the Brown women’s basketball team arrived at The Palestra with their phones in hand to take in everything about their experience at the inaugural Ivy League Tournament Friday.

The Ivy League tried to make their tournament a bit unique by setting up The Palestra for open practices (like the NCAA Tournament does) the day before the controversial proceedings begin tomorrow. As you’d expect, most of the attention has gone to the men’s side of the draw, mostly the 237th all-time meeting between Penn and Princeton Saturday afternoon, which should have a near full house for one of the most storied college basketball rivalries in America.

What can be wrong with that? Well, depends on your perspective. In any other year, undefeated (in Ivy play) Princeton would be sitting around waiting for Sunday night to see where (likely as a No. 12 or No. 13 seed) they would try to continue the Ivy’s run of NCAA Tournament upsets next week. Now, they face a sometimes dangerous Penn team on its home floor, and if they get past that, possibly an in-form Harvard team that the Tigers barely defeated twice this season.

Continue reading “Ivy Tournament Not Just About Princeton-Penn” →