Women's Basketball Weekly Release - Week 11

Complete Women's Basketball Weekly Release in pdf format

Photos courtesy of Harvard and Princeton Athletic Communications and Dartmouth Athletics Communications.

PRINCETON, N.J. -- The 2012-13 Ivy League women’s basketball officially kicked off on Saturday, and no surprise, the two teams at the top of the standings entering the week won their Ivy openers in convincing fashion, setting up what should be an exciting 14-game tournament.

Princeton (10-5, 1-0 Ivy) won its 25th-straight conference game, currently the second-longest streak in the country, behind Baylor (26). The Tigers defeated Penn (7-6, 0-1 Ivy), 77-47. Princeton racked up 28 assists on its 32 field goals, the highest single-game total for an Ivy squad this season and two shy of the Princeton single-game record of 30, set against Wagner on Dec. 3, 1994. Sophomore Blake Dietrick contributed a career-best nine assists, along with eight points, six rebounds and two steals.

Senior Megan Bowen shot 7-of-10 from the field en route to a team-high 14 points, while junior Kristen Helmstetter hit all three of her three pointers and finished with 12 points and seven assists. Senior Niveen Rasheed had a solid all-around game, posting 10 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Harvard (10-5, 1-0 Ivy) earned an 88-66 win over Dartmouth (2-13, 0-1 Ivy), behind 22 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals from junior Christine Clark, who shot 8-of-11 from the field. Senior Victoria Lippert finished with 19 points and seven rebounds and freshman Shilpa Tummala, in just eight minutes of play, scored a career-best 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting, including 2-of-2 from downtown.

It was a relatively quiet week for the Ivy League women’s basketball teams, as seven squads combined to play eight games. Princeton went 2-0 on the week, thanks to its win over Penn and a victory over two-time defending Patriot League champion Navy, 70-50. Rasheed posted 18 points and 11 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the season and the 28th of her career. The Quakers finished 1-1, defeating Morgan State, 79-73, before falling to the Tigers. Junior Alyssa Baron averaged 21.5 points in the two games, including a season-best 28 against the Bears, the highest single-game total in the Ivy League this season.

Columbia and Brown combined to go 0-3 against the Patriot League, as the Lions fell to Lehigh, 58-33, and Lafayette, 49-47, while the Bears suffered an 83-66 setback to Holy Cross, despite 16 points and a career-best seven assists from junior Lauren Clarke. Columbia senior Brittany Simmons posted her first career double-double, recording 16 points and 10 rebounds against the Leopards. Cornell picked up a 75-55 win over Division II school Daemen in its only game of the week. Four players scored in double figures for the Big Red, led by junior Allyson DiMagno’s 17 points. She and senior Clare Fitzpatrick (15 points) each shot 7-of-9 from the field.

CO-PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
For the second-straight week, Princeton and Harvard share Player of the Week honors. Crimson junior Christine Clark (Tucson, Ariz) and Tigers’ junior Kristen Helmstetter (Bridgewater, N.J.) took home the honors a week after it went to Clark and Princeton senior Niveen Rasheed.

Clark posted 22 points in 26 minutes of play as Harvard defeated Dartmouth, 88-66. She shot 8-of-11 from the field and hit all five of her free throws en route to her second-straight 20-point effort and fourth of the season. Clark also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds while recording two assists and two steals.

Clark scored seven of her 22 points during a 12-0 run for the Crimson in the second half that blew the game open. Clark earns her third Player of the Week award and the sixth of her career, moving her into a tie for 10th-place on the Ivy League all-time Player of the Week list. Harvard has now earned 12 weekly awards in 2012-13, the most for a team in one season since Princeton had 15 in 2009-10, and most for a Harvard squad since it earned 13 in 2008-09.

Clark's Statistics for the Week

Helmstetter was a key figure in her team’s 2-0 week, averaging 13.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists while shooting a stellar 83.3 percent from the field as Princeton defeated Navy, 70-50, and Penn, 77-47. Against the two-time defending Patriot League champions and preseason favorite Midshipmen, Helmstetter posted 14 points, six rebounds and one assist while shooting 85.7 (6-of-7) from the field. In the Tigers’ Ivy opener, Helmstetter shot 4-of-5 from the floor (80.0) and hit all three of her three-pointers en route to 12 points. She also recorded a career-high tying seven assists.

Helmstetter takes home her first career Player of the Week award and joins Rasheed, who has earned the award twice this season.

Helmstetter's Statistics for the Week

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Dartmouth freshman Lakin Roland (Jeffersonville, Ind.) had a career day in Dartmouth’s loss at Harvard. The freshman came off the bench to score a career-high 13 points while setting personal bests in field goals (four) and free throws (five). Roland shot 4-of-7 from the field and 5-of-5 from the charity stripe.

Roland earns her first career Ivy League weekly award and joins Abbey Schmitt, who has received Rookie of the Week twice this season (Nov. 12, Dec. 3).

Roland's Statistics for the Week

Only five games will take place this week, including the first League contests for Brown, Columbia, Cornell and Yale. On Saturday, the Big Red will host the Lions at noon and the Bulldogs will face the Bears at 4:00 p.m. In the final non-conference action for the Ivy League, Brown will place NJIT on Tuesday and Yale will travel to Bryant and Penn will host Villanova on Wednesday.

HONOR ROLL
Alyssa Baron, Penn (Jr., G – Miami)
28 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 69.2 FG%, 75.0 3FG% vs. Morgan State
15 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 60.0 3FG%, 100.0 FT% at Princeton

Lauren Clarke, Brown (Jr., G – Colts Neck, N.J.)
14 points, 2 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals, 45.5 FG%, 50.0 3FG% at Holy Cross

Blake Dietrick, Princeton (So., G – Wellesley, Mass.)
13 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal vs. Navy
8 points, 6 rebounds, 9 assists, 2 steals vs. Penn

Clare Fitzpatrick, Cornell (Sr., F – Southbury, Conn.)
15 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 77.8 FG% vs. Daemen

Victoria Lippert, Harvard (Sr., G – San Diego)
19 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 57.1 3FG%, 100.0 FT% vs. Dartmouth

Michelle Miller, Princeton (Fr., G – Pasadena, Calif.)
11 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 50.0 FG%, 50.0 3FG% vs. Navy
8 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, 50.0 3FG% vs. Penn

Brittany Simmons, Columbia (Sr., G – McIntosh, Ala.)
2 points, 2 assists at Lehigh
16 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 80.0 FT% vs. Lafayette

Faziah Steen, Dartmouth (Sr., G – Detroit)
18 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 5 steals, 1 block, 46.7 FG%, 50.0 3FG% at Harvard

Shilpa Tummala, Harvard (Fr., G – Phoenix)
10 points, 100.0 FG%, 100.0 3FG% vs. Dartmouth

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Tuesday, January 15
NJIT at Brown, 11:30 am

Wednesday, January 16
Villanova at Penn, 7 pm
Yale at Bryant, 7 pm

Saturday, January 19
*-Columbia at Cornell, 12 pm
*-Brown at Yale, 4 pm

KEY
*-Ivy League contest