Women's Basketball Weekly Release - Week 13

Complete Women's Basketball Weekly Release in pdf format

Photos courtesy of Cornell and Harvard Athletic Communications and Yale Sports Publicity

PRINCETON, N.J. -- The race for the Ivy League title enters full swing, as week 13 features the first full weekend of the 14-Game Tournament.

The Ancient Eight will face each other on back-to-back days for the first time this season. Brown and Yale will host Dartmouth and Harvard and Columbia and Cornell will take on Penn and Princeton. The Tigers (10-5, 1-0 Ivy) look to extend their regular season conference winning streak to 26 and 27 games. Princeton trails only No. 1 Baylor, which holds the Nation's best regular season conference winning streak (30).

In the final tune-up week before the full slate of League play, Cornell (10-6, 2-0 Ivy) moved to the top of the standings after a marathon 71-64 double-overtime win over Columbia (2-14, 0-2 Ivy). Senior Clare Fitzpatrick led five players in double figures with a game-high 23 points, shooting 7-of-15 from the field and 9-of-10 from the free throw line. Junior Allyson DiMagno finished with 13 points and 22 rebounds in 50 minutes of action, setting a school record for minutes played in a single game.

Fitzpatrick and DiMagno combined for eight points in the second overtime as the Big Red outscored the Lions 11-4 in the period. Columbia junior Courtney Bradford recorded her first double-double of the season and fifth of her career with 12 points and 11 rebounds in the loss.

Dartmouth (3-13, 1-1 Ivy) picked up its first League victory of the season, defeating Harvard (10-6, 1-1 Ivy), 58-45. Junior Nicola Zimmer tied her career-high with 18 points in the win, hitting 7-of-8 free throw shots, including all six attempts in the final 41 seconds of the contest. Crimson junior Christine Clark scored almost half of her team’s points, finishing with 22 on 9-of-12 shooting.

Yale (6-10, 1-1 Ivy) also got into the win column in Ivy play, defeating Brown (7-9, 1-1 Ivy), 59-47. Sophomore Sarah Halejian was a force to be reckoned with, finishing with game-highs in points (21) and rebounds (10) to lead the Bulldogs to victory. Sophomore Sophie Bikofsky and freshman Natalie Ball combined for 21 points, nine rebounds, three assists and four steals for the Bears.

In the final regular season non-conference game of 2012-13, Penn (7-8, 0-1 Ivy) fell to Temple in a Big 5 matchup, 59-51. The Quakers cut a 24-point deficit to eight with 1:08 remaining but were unable to get any closer, as the Owls held on for the win. Junior Alyssa Baron finished with 12 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals and sophomore Kara Bonenberger tallied 11 points, five rebounds, one assist, three blocks and one steal.

CO-PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
The bar was set high for the Player of the Week award, as Yale sophomore Sarah Halejian (Wyckoff, N.J.) and Cornell junior Allyson DiMagno (Fairport, N.Y.) each led their teams to victory with career performances.

Halejian recorded her first career double-double with career and game-highs in points (21) and rebounds (10). She shot 9-of-16 from the floor (56.2 percent) and also recorded three steals. Her points total matched the season-high for the Bulldogs, previously accomplished by Megan Vasquez on Nov. 21.

Halejian earns her first career Player of the Week award and her seventh Ivy League weekly award after taking home six Rookie of the Week honors last season.

Halejian's Statistics for the Week

DiMagno also posted a double-double, her League-leading eighth of the season. The junior finished with 13 points and a career-best 22 rebounds in Cornell’s double-overtime 71-64 win over Columbia. Her rebounds total is the most by an Ivy player in a single game since Columbia’s Judie Lomax tallied 27 on March 6, 2010 and the fourth-best in Cornell history. It also marks the most in a single game by a Big Red since the 1997-98 season.

DiMagno earns her second-straight Player of the Week honor and her third of the season. She is Cornell’s first three-time recipient of the award since Jeomi Maduka in 2007-08.

DiMagno's Statistics for the Week

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Harvard sophomore Temi Fagbenle (London) finished two points shy of a double-double, recording eight points and 10 rebounds in the Crimson’s 59-46 loss at Dartmouth. Fagbenle tallied her team-best fifth double-digit rebounding performance of the season.

Fagbenle earns her sixth Rookie of the Year award, tying her for ninth-place in Ivy League history. Her honor is Harvard’s 13th weekly award of the season, tying a program record, previously set in 2008-09. It also marks the second-highest single-season total in Ivy history behind Princeton’s 15 in 2009-10.

Fagbenle's Statistics for the Week

HONOR ROLL
Natalie Ball, Brown (Fr., F – Orlando, Fla.)
10 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks, 100.0 FT% vs. Yale

Sophie Bikofsky, Brown (So., G – Newton, Mass.)
11 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 50.0 FG%, 75.0 3FG%, 100.0 FT% vs. Yale

Kara Bonenberger, Penn (So, F – Walnutport, Pa.)
11 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 3 blocks vs. Temple

Courtney Bradford, Columbia (Jr., F – Alpharetta, Ga.)
12 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 46.2 FG% vs. Cornell

Christine Clark, Harvard (Jr., G – Tucson, Ariz.)
22 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 75.0 FG%, 80.0 FT% at Dartmouth

Nicola Zimmer, Dartmouth (Jr., G – Chevy Chase, Md.)
18 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals, 60.0 3FG%, 87.5 FT% vs. Harvard

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Friday, February 1
*Dartmouth at Brown, 6 pm
*Harvard at Yale, 7 pm
*Penn at Columbia, 7 pm
*Princeton at Cornell, 7 pm

Saturday, February 2
*Dartmouth at Yale, 6 pm
*Harvard at Brown, 6 pm
*Penn at Cornell, 7 pm
*Princeton at Columbia, 7 pm

KEY
*-Ivy League contest