PRINCETON, N.J. -- Defending champions Princeton and Penn have been selected to repeat in the 2019-20 Ivy League Women’s Basketball Preseason Poll.
The Tigers and Quakers each garnered 125 points, with Princeton receiving 10 first-place votes and Penn earning seven. Harvard and Yale were picked to return to the Ivy League Women’s Basketball Tournament with 95 and 90 points, respectively, while Cornell (60), Columbia (47), Dartmouth (47) and Brown (23) rounded out the rest of the poll.
The 2020 Ivy League Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments will be held on the campus of Harvard University at Lavietes Pavilion March 13-15. The League’s unique four-team tournament format has only enhanced the excitement of the regular season as three teams tied for fourth-place last season, with Cornell earning the final spot to Ivy Madness on the final day of the regular season thanks to tiebreakers over Dartmouth and Yale.
For the fifth-straight year, the Ivy League finished the season ranked in the top-11 as a conference out of 32 in the NCAA conference RPI. The League saw three teams receive postseason berths for the sixth time in the past seven seasons, with Princeton and Penn taking automatic bids to the NCAA and WNIT, respectively, and Harvard joining the Quakers in the WNIT.
Penn and Princeton – which have combined to claim the last 10 Ivy League championships – shared the trophy last season with matching 12-2 Ivy records. It marked the seventh Ivy title for the Tigers in the last 10 years, and the fourth for Penn in the last six seasons.
After splitting the 2018-19 season series 1-1, Princeton won the rubber match in the Ivy Madness championship contest to earn the League’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, where they earned an 11 seed. Penn and Princeton have met in the championship games of all three Ivy League Women’s Basketball Tournaments.
Princeton returns a pair of first-team All-Ivy recipients from a season ago in two-time reigning Ivy League Player of the Year
Bella Alarie and junior guard
Carlie Littlefield. The Tigers will be competing under the leadership of first-year head coach
Carla Berube, who replaces former Dartmouth women’s basketball standout
Courtney Banghart, now the head coach at UNC.
Penn, meanwhile, brings back three of its five starters from last year, highlighted by junior
Eleah Parker, last year’s Defensive Player of the Year and unanimous first-team All-Ivy selection. Three-time Ivy League Coach of the Year
Mike McLaughlin sits at 586 career wins and looks to become the second Ivy coach to surpass 600, joining Harvard’s
Kathy Delaney-Smith.
The Crimson looks to senior
Jeannie Boehm and junior
Jadyn Bush to lead the team to its fourth-straight Ivy Madness. Boehm ranked third in the League in blocked shots and sixth in rebounding last season, while Bush was first in field-goal percentage, second in rebounding and eighth in free throw percentage.
Yale will be led by first-team All-Ivy performer
Roxy Barahman, who hopes to guide the Bulldogs back to Ivy Madness after coming up just short last season. Yale also returns six-time Rookie of the Week
Camilla Emsbo, who ranked third in the League in blocks and fourth rebounding.
Cornell, which won three of its final four regular season games to earn a bid to Ivy Madness, brings back all of its starters from a season ago, including senior
Laura Bagwell-Katalinich, who was named to the All-Ivy first team last season.
Columbia and Dartmouth tied for sixth in the preseason poll; both teams are looking to earn an Ivy Madness spot for the first time. The Lions bring back all five starters, highlighted by last season’s Rookie of the Year
Sienna Durr, while Dartmouth, which placed fifth in 2017-18 and tied for fourth last year, will have to replace its top two scorers. Brown will look to bounce back with
Justine Gaziano leading the way; the senior ranked second in the League in scoring last season and currently sits in 39
th-place on the Ivy League’s all-time scoring list.
2019-20 IVY LEAGUE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL PRESEASON POLL
Predicted Order of Finish
| 1. |
Princeton (10) |
125 |
| 1. |
Penn (7) |
125 |
| 3. |
Harvard |
95 |
| 4. |
Yale |
90 |
| 5. |
Cornell |
60 |
| 6. |
Columbia |
47 |
| 6. |
Dartmouth |
47 |
| 8. |
Brown |
23 |