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A year ago, guard Roxy Barahman ’20, with seven seconds on the clock, fought through a double-team to nail a stunning buzzer-beater shot just past half-court. The three-pointer broke the tie with archrival Harvard, giving the Bulldogs a stunning 65–62 win.
Fast forward to today: As the Yale women’s basketball team prepares to take on Harvard this Friday, Barahman is still giving game-winning performances that sets her at the top of the Ivy League charts.
On Monday, Barahman was named Ivy Player of the Week for the second time in three weeks. She earned the award after averaging 23.0 points and 5.0 assists in the team’s sweep of Cornell and Columbia this past weekend. In Friday’s matchup against the Lions, the senior scored 20 points and contributed five assists, tying the team high. At the Cornell game the following evening, she added a team high of 26 points and helped the Elis rally back from a 16-point deficit. Barahman’s contributions in recent games have helped her team establish the first 4–0 start to Ivy play since 2014. In addition, the Bulldogs (14–3,4–0 Ivy) have now tied a school record in achieving eight straight wins.
“Roxy clearly is a team leader in her production — she knows how to fill up a stat sheet, whether that be points, assists, steals, rebounds,” said captain and forward Megan Gorman ’20. “Roxy’s competitive fire has been a driving force behind our success this year. She simply refuses to lose and knows how to step up when it matters most. She is made for big moments and pushes the rest of us to be ready for them when they arrive.”
In her first year, Barahman played three double-digit scoring games. By her sophomore year she ranked fourth in the Ivy League for both assists and steals and averaged 13.5 points a game. Last season, she was a first team All-Ivy selection and ranked 47th in the nation in points per game. On March 1, 2019, Barahman became only the 22nd player in Yale history to score 1,000 points, after a game against the Big Red.
The native of Calabasas, California, graduated from Oaks Christian High School. A fan of the Lakers, she trained in past summers at the Mamba Academy, founded by the late Lakers legend, Kobe Bryant. In the win against Columbia on Friday evening, Barahman wore purple shoes in honor of Bryant.
“I have definitely worked a lot on my game, especially over the summers with my trainer A.J. Moye at Mamba Academy,” Barahman said. “I’ve been developing my game all around, both offensively and defensively, and I believe I’ve progressed a lot especially on the defensive end. It’s my last shot at an Ivy League title and I’m hoping to accomplish that this year. While I’m proud of my individual successes, I’m really looking to help my team win a title this year and get a chance to play in the Ivy League tournament and a postseason tournament as well.”
With their four conference wins, the Elis currently sit atop the Ivy League rankings, but they have yet to play the two defending champions and preseason poll favorites Princeton and Penn. With a place in the Ancient Eight tournament on the line in her final year at Yale, Barahman has maintained her play at a consistently high level. She is currently first in the conference for steals, third for scoring, fourth for assists and fifth in free-throw percentage.
“Roxy is one of the most passionate and fierce competitors I’ve ever seen play,” guard Ellen Margaret Andrews ’21 said. “She believes in herself, but believes in her teammates even more, which always makes us feel like we can come out on top. Beyond that, she plays the game with such joy. She welcomes pressure, but at the end of the day she just wants us to have fun and give our best on the court. She’s really an incredible leader and friend.”
The Bulldogs travel to Cambridge on Friday to take on longtime rival Harvard. They will be in Hanover, New Hampshire, the following afternoon to play Dartmouth.
Sophie Kane| sophie.kane@yale.edu