Cornell, Harvard Dominate League While Penn and Brown Notch First Wins of Year

In a weekend full of nail biters and well-matched games, the recent action in the Ivy League has proved that many teams still have a few tricks up their sleeves.

After beating Dartmouth (5-3 Ivy) 58-55 in a remarkable comeback on Friday night, the Columbia women’s basketball team (5-3 Ivy) lost to Harvard (6-2 Ivy) 73-65 on Saturday in a valiant but ultimately fruitless attempt at extending their comeback. Crucial to the Lions’ success against Dartmouth was the performance of freshman Lauren Dwyer who reigned over the court with 21 points and eight rebounds and was named Ivy League Rookie of the Week for the fourth time this season.

The Lions and the Big Green, both 5-3 in conference play after the weekend, are currently tied for third place—putting them one game behind second-place Crimson and two behind league-leader Cornell (7-1 Ivy).

The Big Red extended their winning streak to six games, beating Harvard on Friday 85-61 and Dartmouth on Saturday 50-43. The team was helped greatly by junior Jeomi Maduka, who had double-doubles in both games and was named Ivy League Player of the Week for the third time this season.

While the other games this weekend did not shake up the standings as much, two teams, Brown and Penn, broke their season-long conference losing streaks. Now each team in the Ancient Eight has won at least one game.

Penn improved its record to 1-7, beating Yale 75-67, breaking a 15-game losing streak. The Bulldogs, who beat Princeton in New Haven on Friday night, 78-57, are now 4-4 in league play and have lost four of their last five games.

Brown also broke its Ivy League drought, beating the Quakers on Friday night 72-59 before losing to Princeton at home 70-56 on Saturday. The win brings Brown to a 1-7 record and into a last place tie with Penn, with Princeton in sixth place with a record of 2-5.

With the end of the season only three weeks away, the race for the automatic NCAA tournament bid is rapidly coming to a close. With games against Brown and Yale next weekend, Cornell feasibly could look to solidify its place atop the league and secure entry into the tournament.

The Lions, who will also play away games against the Bears and Bulldogs this weekend, will need to finish the season strong in their final six games as well as look for help from their rivals in the league to topple the Big Red from their seat atop the standings.