Sports shorts: Basketball teams in first place; three new Ivy titles

Published in the Feb. 9, 2011, Issue

With three games remaining on the Ivy League slate, the Princeton MEN’S and WOMEN’S BASKETBALL teams are at the top of the standings – and closing in on bids to the NCAA Championships. Each swept weekend games against Cornell and Columbia and received key assists from rival Yale on Feb. 26. The Bulldog men edged Harvard, 70-69, helping Princeton take a half-game lead in the standings. The Yale women, with a 78-64 win over Harvard, moved into second place, a half-game ahead of the Crimson, and gave the Tiger women a two-game lead. The Princeton women host Harvard March 5, while the Tiger and Crimson men face off in Cambridge the same night.

WOMEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING captured its second straight Ivy League title, beating out Harvard in the championship meet at DeNunzio Pool Feb. 24-26. Swimmer of the Meet Megan Waters ’11 won three individual events and four relays.

MEN’S and WOMEN’S TRACK AND FIELD each repeated as champions at the Ivy Indoor Heptagonals, held at The Armory in New York City Feb. 26-27. The Princeton men set a meet record with 215 points, 43 more than their nearest competitors. Performer of the Meet Donn Cabral ’12 led the Tigers, winning the 3,000-meter run and the 5,000-meter run. The Princeton women edged second-place Columbia by five points. Distance star Ashley Higginson ’11 won two events, including the 3,000-meter run, which put Princeton back in the lead after a late Columbia surge.

On opening day, MEN’S LACROSSE started well, taking a 4-1 lead at Hofstra in the first eight minutes. But the Tigers were unable to sustain their hot scoring and fell 11-9 to the Pride Feb. 26.

MEN’S HOCKEY split its final two regular-season games, edging No. 14 Rensselaer 4-3 Feb. 25 but falling 5-0 at No. 5 Union Feb. 26. The Tigers finished in a three-way tie for fourth place in the ECAC.

Sabrina King ’01 was named the new head coach of WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL Feb. 11, succeeding Jolie Ward, who resigned after two seasons to become the head coach at New York University.

MEN’S SQUASH finished third in the nation, defeating Rochester 5-4 in the consolation match of the College Squash Association Championships in Cambridge, Mass., Feb. 27. WOMEN’S SQUASH placed third in the Howe Cup, the sport’s collegiate championship, topping Trinity 5-4 in the consolation match at Jadwin Gym Feb. 20.

In other weekend action, WOMEN’S HOCKEY fell to Quinnipiac in the opening round of the ECAC playoffs at Baker Rink Feb. 25 and 26. … WOMEN’S TENNIS split a pair of weekend matches, losing to Virginia Commonwealth and beating Penn State. … MEN’S TENNIS swept NJIT, 7-0, at Jadwin Gym Feb. 27. … WOMEN’S WATER POLO placed third in the ECAC Championships Feb. 27, beating Harvard in the consolation game.