Women's Basketball Weekly Release - Week 17

Complete Women's Basketball Weekly Release in pdf format

Photos courtesy of Harvard, Penn and Princeton Athletic Communications

PRINCETON, N.J. -- Another week, another Player of the Week award for Princeton senior Niveen Rasheed, who takes home her sixth such honor of the season, tying for second-place all-time in League history, and 13th of her career, taking over sole possession of second-place in League history.

For the second-straight week, Princeton shares the Player of the Week award with Penn, as Quakers junior Alyssa Baron was this week’s recipient along with Rasheed, who earned the award along with Quaker freshman Keiera Ray on Feb. 18. For Baron, it marks her seventh career Player of the Week honor and moves her into a four-way tie for seventh-place in the Ivy records book with, among others, Princeton head coach Courtney Banghart, who was a standout for Dartmouth from 1997-2000.

Both Princeton (18-5, 9-0 Ivy) and Penn (14-9, 7-2 Ivy) swept Cornell and Columbia and maintained their spots as No. 1 and No. 2 in the Ivy League standings. But Harvard (15-8, 6-3 Ivy) also went 2-0 on the week to stay within a game of the Quakers. The Crimson will be looking to avenge its earler loss to Penn when it hosts the Quakers on Saturday, March 2 at 6:00 p.m.

Last weekend, Princeton defeated Columbia (3-20, 1-8 Ivy), 98-36, and Cornell (11-12, 3-6 Ivy), 59-34, and now has won 33-straight Ivy games, breaking the all-time League record of 32, previously set by Harvard from 1995-96 through 1997-98. The Tigers’ streak is second in the nation to No. 1 Baylor, which has won 37-straight regular-season conference games as of Feb. 24. Not to be outdone, Penn also defeated the Big Red and the Lions last week, by scores of 67-40 and 66-48, respectively.

Harvard’s 2-0 week included wins over Brown (8-16, 2-8 Ivy), 77-71, and Yale (10-14, 5-5 Ivy), 69-66. Crimson senior Victoria Lippert averaged 21.5 points and 5.5 rebounds, while junior Christine Clark contributed 18.0 points and 8.0 rebounds in the two games, including her first double-double of the year with 20 points and a career-high 13 rebounds against the Bulldogs.

Yale fell to Harvard by three points despite a career game for Bulldog sophomore Sarah Halejian, who set personal-bests in points (29), field goals (12) and field goal percentage (80.0). In one of the best single-game performances in the 40-year history of Yale women’s basketball, Halejian finished just shy of Yale's single-game scoring record of 30.

Halejian was 12-of-15 from the floor, including 4-of-4 from downtown, and scored 22 of her points in the second half, which by itself would have been enough to surpass her previous career-high of 21 points. Halejian’s field goal percentage tied the second-highest single-game total with a minimum of 10 attempts in Yale history, matching Melissa Colborne, who went 8-for-10 at Columbia on Feb. 1, 2008.

Princeton and Penn will take to the road to face Harvard and Dartmouth (6-17, 4-5 Ivy) this weekend. The Quakers can move closer to the League’s automatic WNIT bid with a sweep and a win over the Crimson, which stands a game behind Penn in third-place. Brown and Yale will host Cornell and Columbia.

CO-PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Princeton senior Niveen Rasheed (Danville, Calif.) earns her fourth-straight Player of the Week award after averaging 14.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 4.5 steals while shooting 55.6 percent from the field (10-of-18) in a pair of Tiger wins. Rasheed flirted with a quadruple-double in each game, finishing with 15 points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals against Columbia and 14 points, six rebounds, five assists and five steals against Cornell.

Rasheed has been named Player of the Week a career-high six times this season, the most in League history since Columbia’s Judie Lomax earned the award on six occasions in 2010. It also marks Rasheed’s 13th career Player of the Week honor, the most in League history since Harvard’s Allison Feaster finished with an Ivy-record 21 from 1995-98.

Rasheed's Statistics for the Week

Penn junior Alyssa Baron (Miami) posted similar numbers while facing the same teams with the same results for the Quakers, who also went 2-0 on the week. Baron led her team in scoring, rebounding and assists in each contest, averaging 16.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 2.5 steals in the process. She flirted with a triple-double against Cornell, with 11 points, eight rebounds, six assists and a steal, and then flirted with a quadruple-double versus Columbia, with 21 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and four steals. For the week, she shot 72.2 percent (13-of-18) from the floor, including 9-of-11 against the Lions.

Baron receives her first Player of the Week award of the season to become the second current player to earn the seventh of her career, joining Rasheed, who took home her seventh Player of the Week honor on Jan. 16, 2012.

Baron's Statistics for the Week

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Not to be outdone, Harvard sophomore Temi Fagbenle (London) earned her eighth Rookie of the Week award, the most since Rasheed received nine in 2010. Fagbenle averaged 12.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.0 steal in two wins for the Crimson. She posted her fifth double-double of the year with 17 points and 12 rebounds against Brown, while shooting 88.9 percent (8-of-9) from the field.

Fagbenle is the first Crimson to take home eight Rookie of the Week honors since Feaster earned the award nine times in 1995. Harvard now has 15 weekly awards this season, matching the Ivy record set by Princeton in 2009-10.

Fagbenle's Statistics for the Week

HONOR ROLL
Christine Clark, Harvard (Jr., G – Tucson, Ariz.)
16 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, 90.0 FT% vs. Brown)
20 points, 13 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 53.8 FG%, 100.0 FT% vs. Yale

Allyson DiMagno, Cornell (Jr., G – Fairport, N.Y.)
12 points, 5 rebounds, 100.0 FT% at Penn
11 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 83.3 FT% at Princeton

Sheila Dixon, Brown (Sr., G – Schenectady, N.Y.)
13 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 100.0 FT% at Harvard
14 points, 2 rebounds, 7 assists, 6 steals, 50.0 FG%, 100.0 3FG%, 100.0 FT% at Dartmouth

Sarah Halejian, Yale (So., G – Wyckoff, N.J.)
14 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 50.0 FG%, 50.0 3FG% at Dartmouth
29 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 80.0 FG%, 100.0 3FG% at Harvard

Victoria Lippert, Harvard (Sr., G – San Diego)
24 points, 6 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 50.0 FG% vs. Brown
19 points, 6 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 47.1 FG% vs. Yale

Michelle Miller, Princeton (Fr., G – Pasadena, Calif.)
21 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 53.8 FG%, 62.5 3FG%, 100.0 FT% vs. Columbia
3 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist vs. Cornell

Keiera Ray, Penn (Fr., G – Aurora, Ill.)
9 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 80.0 FT% vs. Cornell
12 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 66.7 3FG%, 100.0 FT% vs. Columbia

Taylor Ward, Columbia (Jr., G – Oregon City, Ore.)
6 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 2 steals, 1 block at Princeton
13 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 45.5 FG%, 42.9 3FG% at Penn

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

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

KEY
*-Ivy League contest