NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale women's basketball team brings an eight-game winning streak to New England this weekend, taking on a pair of Ivy League opponents. The Bulldogs face Harvard Friday (5:00 p.m.,
NESN, ESPN+) before heading to Dartmouth Saturday (4:00 p.m.,
ESPN+).
Last Weekend
Yale (14-3, 4-0 Ivy League) enjoyed a weekend sweep of the Ivy League's New York teams last weekend, winning 85-60 at Columbia Friday and then rallying for a 74-67 win at Cornell. Senior guard
Roxy Barahman (Calabasas, Calif.) led Yale in scoring each night, scoring 20 at Columbia and 26 at Cornell. Senior forward/guard
Megan Gorman (Vero Beach, Fla.), Yale's captain, reached double-digit totals in three categories for the weekend: 11 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists.
Comeback Queens
Saturday's comeback from a 16 point deficit for a win at Cornell marked the third time this season that the Bulldogs have rallied from a deficit of 10 or more points. Here are their biggest comebacks so far:
- 17 points (7:22, 3rd) -- vs. Providence Nov. 5 (completed Dec. 3), won 82-79
- 16 points (9:35, 3rd) -- at Cornell Feb. 1, won 74-67
- 11 points (4:12, 2nd) -- vs. Mercer Jan. 2, won 68-60
Record-Tying Winning Streak
Yale has won eight in a row, tying for the longest win streak in school history. The only other time Yale won eight games in a row was Feb. 9 through Mar. 2, 1980.
The Bulldogs are tied for the 17th longest active win streak in the country. Gonzaga's 20 game winning streak is the longest.
School Winning Percentage Record in Jeopardy
Yale's 14-3 mark is the best record after 17 games in school history. The Bulldogs' .824 winning percentage puts them on pace to break the school record. In terms of winning percentage, here are Yale's top seasons:
- .750 (15-5, 1976-77)
- .722 (13-5, 1975-76)
- .667 (12-6, 1974-75)
- .654 (17-9, 1979-80)
- .615 (16-10, 1993-94)
Bracketology
The latest edition of ESPN's "Bracketology with Charlie Creme" projects Yale to make the NCAA Tournament as a No. 12 seed. Creme has the Bulldogs facing No. 5 seed Florida State in Iowa City, Iowa.
RPI and the Ivy League
Yale has moved up to No. 36 in the latest NCAA RPI rankings -- which happens to be the same RPI ranking that Princeton had back in 2016, when the Tigers became the only Ivy League team to make the NCAA Tournament as an at-large selection.
Here is how the Ivy League teams rank in the latest edition of the NCAA RPI rankings:
19. Princeton
36. Yale
104. Penn
123. Harvard
138. Cornell
169. Dartmouth
176. Columbia
227. Brown
Road Warriors
Yale ends a stretch of five straight road games this weekend. The Bulldogs are 7-2 in road games and 1-0 in neutral site games. Since the start of 2008-09, here are Yale's top combined road and neutral site win totals:
- 11 (2017-18)
- 9 (2018-19, 2011-12)
- 8 (2019-20, 2016-17)
Barahman Player of the Week
Senior guard
Roxy Barahman (Calabasas, Calif.), who averaged 23.0 points and 5.0 assists per game in the sweep at Columbia and Cornell last weekend, has been named Ivy League Player of the Week. This is the second time in three weeks that Barahman has earned Player of the Week.
Barahman's weekend started with a team-high 20 points and five assists (tied for the team high) in the 85-60 win at Columbia. A Lakers fan who has trained at Mamba Academy, Barahman wore purple sneakers in memory of Kobe Bryant that night. On Saturday at Cornell she had a team-high 26 points and five assists as the Bulldogs rallied from a 16 point deficit to beat the Big Red 74-67.
For the season Barahman is:
- 1st in the Ivy League in steals (2.4 per game)
- 3rd in the Ivy League in scoring (16.9 points per game)
- 4th in the Ivy League in assists (3.8 per game)
- 4th in the Ivy League in assist/turnover ratio (1.5)
- 5th in the Ivy League in free throw percentage (.701)
- 10th in the Ivy League in field goal percentage (.410)
Scouting Harvard
Harvard (11-6, 2-2 Ivy League) is 5-4 since starting the season 6-2. The Crimson leads the Ivy League in defensive rebounding (29.7 per game). First-year guard Lola Mullaney leads the team in scoring (15.3 points per game, sixth in the Ivy League).
Yale assistant coach
Emma Golen is a 2013 Harvard grad. She played forward, earning the team's most improved player award in 2011-12 and serving as team captain in 2012-13. The Crimson went 77-40 overall and 42-14 in the Ivy League during her career, playing in the WNIT three times and advancing to the second round twice.
Scouting Dartmouth
Dartmouth (7-10, 1-3 Ivy League), which hosts Brown Friday, was 5-1 at Leede Arena before being swept by Princeton and Penn last weekend. Guard Annie McKenna leads the team in scoring (11.8 points per game) and assists (73).
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