Before this weekend, Dartmouth, Harvard and Penn stood in a precarious three-way tie for first place in the Ivy League. However, two unexpected upsets paved the way for the Big Green to take sole possession of the lead.
Brown 75, Harvard 56
Freshman Barbara Maloni chipped in a game-high 30 points for the host Bears (6-18, 1-9), helping them upset the Crimson (14-7, 7-2) and grab their first win in the Ivy League on Friday.
Harvard dominated the first half. Brown hit only 25 percent of their field goals, but due to 14 turnovers, the Crimson led by a score of only 26-24.
Harvard was still turnover-prone in the second frame, making another 14 blunders for 28 total in the game.
Brown went on a rampage in the second frame. The squad picked up its shooting for 51.6 percent in the second half, capitalizing on Harvard's mistakes.
By the end of the game, they had pulled off a seemingly impossible win against one of the best teams in the league.
Besides Maloni, Brown sophomore Rada Pavichevich helped lead her team with a career-high 23 points, downing four of seven treys.
For Harvard, freshman Kate Ides led team in scoring with 14 points.
Penn 74, Cornell 65
The Quakers (16-7, 7-2) took home this victory from host Cornell (11-11, 3-7) on Friday to keep a temporary hold on their first-place tie with Dartmouth.
The Big Red played strong during the first half and took advantage of poor Penn shooting. At the break, the scoreboard showed a 34-31 Cornell advantage.
Penn came out fired up in the second half behind the leadership of junior Diana Caramanico, limiting Cornell to 10-of-28 shooting in the frame and taking home the win.
Senior Mandy West led scoring for Penn with a game-high 23 points. Caramanico scored 21 to become Penn's leading female scorer of all time. She also grabbed 18 boards for a double-double.
Deborah Stevens, a sophomore, led scoring for the Big Red with 17 points.
Princeton 62, Columbia 44
The Tigers (6-17, 3-6) broke a three-game losing streak with a win on the road against the Lions (5-16, 4-6) in a battle against the fifth and sixth place Ivy squads.
The teams were even at the start of the game, but Princeton soon picked up the pace, going on a seven-minute 16-8 run. They walked off the court at halftime with a 27-20 lead.
In the beginning of the second half, the Tigers increased their lead to double digits and never looked back. In the final five minutes of the game, Princeton downed 10 of 14 field goals to seal their victory.
Princeton senior Maggie Langlas led scoring in the game with 16 points, while freshman Shaunte Edmonds of Columbia scored a team-high 13 points.
Columbia 70, Penn 67
The second key upset of the weekend occurred on Saturday when the host Lions shocked Penn with a down-to-the-wire victory. Columbia knocked the Quakers out of their first place tie with the Big Green and into a tie with Harvard for second place.
The first half of the game stayed close, with neither team enjoying more than an eight-point lead throughout. Penn had taken a 40-35 lead at the halftime break.
Columbia was down by as many as 11 points in the second half, but it was not fazed by the deficit, and gradually reduced it. The Quakers led until the 3:49 mark when two Columbia free throws tied the game at 59-59. From that point on, it was touch-and-go as the teams swapped baskets and waited for the clock to decide the victor.
In the last minute of the game, Columbia capitalized on three Penn fouls, making three of six shots from the charity stripe to gain their final three-point lead.
Columbia's Shaunte Edmunds along with senior Catherine Turbidy led scoring with 15 points apiece, with Edmunds grabbing 11 rebounds.
For Penn, Mandy West led scoring with 18 points. Caramanico was held to only 12 points for the game.
Harvard 70, Yale 68
The Crimson able to eke out a victory in this overtime thriller against Yale (9-14, 5-5) in New Haven, despite coming off Friday's disheartening upset.
Yale was able to stay close to Harvard in the first half, and at halftime they only trailed the Crimson by two points with a score of 34-32.
In the second frame, the Bulldogs were able to take a lead with 11 minutes left. However, the game remained tight, and with 55 ticks left, Harvard sophomore Jennifer Monti tied the score at 60 on a jumper, taking the game into overtime.
Yale took a quick lead in overtime play with a trey by freshman Maria Smear, but Monti scored five rapid points to build the deadly two-point lead over the Bulldogs.
Monti led scoring for the Crimson with 14 points, and Yale junior Lily Glick had a game-high 18 points and 13 rebounds.
Princeton 46, Cornell 42
The Tigers held on to vanquish the Cornell Big Red for a sweep of their two games this weekend on the road, gaining their first winning streak of the season with a second consecutive win.
Princeton, led by a strong performance from sophomore Lauren Rigney, came out strong after the Columbia win. It moved quickly to a 20-7 lead with 7:09 remaining in the first half, and kept a substantial 27-16 lead at the half.
Cornell would not go down easy. The squad went on a 10-2 run in the second half, giving them a 34-33 lead with twelve minutes to go.
The last twelve minutes proved to be the most exciting, as the lead seesawed between the two teams. In the end, Cornell, down by four and in possession of the ball with 10 seconds remaining, made a costly turnover and Princeton grabbed another victory.
Rigney's 13 points was the game-high score, followed by Cornell seniors Kristie Riccio and Jumana Salti with 12 points each.
Next weekend, Dartmouth faces the challenge of Penn on the road in a crucial game to decide the Ivy League champion. The Big Green also travels to Princeton, as does Harvard.
The Crimson will then face Penn on Saturday in another major game. Brown and Yale are also on the road, meeting Cornell and Columbia.
