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With only four games left in the regular season, the Yale women’s basketball team (13–9, 6–4 Ivy) is entering its final stretch at full throttle. The outcomes of this weekend’s two matches will be critical for the Bulldogs who will look to maintain their high position in the conference rankings and secure a place in the postseason.

The Elis hope to regain their usual top form after a narrow home loss against Columbia (17–4, 8–1 Ivy) last Saturday. The Blue and White will travel to Philadelphia on Friday to face off against Penn (9–12, 4–5 Ivy) at the Palestra at 6 p.m. The next day, the team will head south to New Jersey and aim to give top-ranked Princeton (17–4, 9–0 Ivy) its first conference loss of the season. 

“Our biggest team goal is to win an Ivy League championship,” center Camilla Emsbo ’23 said. “Right now, we’re positioned in third … So we’re trying to maintain that position at least, [to] have the opportunity to fight for the Ivy League title.”

Only the top four teams in the conference qualify to compete in the Ivy League’s postseason tournament, also dubbed “Ivy Madness.” The Bulldogs currently sit third in the conference behind the Tigers and the Lions. Harvard (12–10, 6–4 Ivy) is close behind Yale in fourth after strong performances this season. 

The last time Yale faced off against this weekend’s opponents was in late January. The Elis had a strong outing against the Quakers on Jan. 22, winning 63–53 by showing off the squad’s defense and maximizing their bench’s depth. Yale lost narrowly against Princeton on Jan. 28. After starting strong, the Blue and White were unable to maintain their momentum and fell short of shutting down the Tigers’ second-half offensive surge. 

“This past week, we’ve been mostly focused on fixing our own deficiencies and working out what we can do for ourselves, like for our offense,” captain and guard Roxanne Nesbitt ’22 said. “Historically, the Penn-Princeton weekend is one of the toughest weekends [of the season], but we’re really excited for the challenge, especially since we lost to Princeton last time and we know we can beat them.”

Despite being ranked second in the Ivy preseason poll, the Quakers had a tough start to their season. Penn opened conference play with a couple of wins, but was later worn down by a five-game losing streak that began in mid-January and lasted until early February. 

However, the Quakers have bounced back since then and will be heading into the matchup against Yale on a two-game winning streak. The team’s most recent victory was an overtime 87–78 nail-biter against Harvard last Saturday, which stopped the Crimson from advancing in the rankings and helped Yale stay in third. The win also allowed Penn to sweep this week’s Ivy awards. 

Princeton, the reigning Ivy League champion, has had a stellar and undefeated season so far. Out of the team’s nine conference wins, six have been achieved with at least a 20-point margin of victory. The Tigers most recently pounced on Dartmouth last Saturday, winning in dominant fashion in a 70–48 game. 

Despite Princeton’s strong track record, Yale’s matchup against the Tigers looks to be a highly-contested thriller. Out of all their Ivy League opponents, the Tigers came closest to losing their undefeated season against the Bulldogs. Princeton’s match against Yale was their conference game with the lowest margin of victory this season.

“We want to sweep Penn and Princeton,” forward Mackenzie Egger ’25 said. “I think sweeping Penn will [help] get us into the Ivy Tournament and Ivy Madness, which is our main goal. Princeton is [also] such a threat, but [it’s just a matter of] staying on [key players], being able to score and putting the ball in the hole.”

This weekend will be a clash of stars, as the squads’ leaders look to give it all on the court. Penn’s formidable offense is led by team top scorers junior guard Kayla Padilla and first-year forward Jordan Obi, the latter of whom is ranked eighth in the conference in scoring and clinched her third Ivy Rookie of the Week honor on Monday. The dangerous duo of guards from Princeton, senior captain Abby Meyers and junior Julia Cunningham, is also one that Yale will have to keep an eye on. Meyers currently leads the league in scoring, while Cunningham is tied with Yale’s Emsbo in fourth place.

The Bulldogs are currently going through a stagnant stretch and will be hitting the road with a two-game losing streak. However, heading into this weekend, they are still determined in their quest for the championship title. 

“Going into our final games … we want to win it and we want to be playing in the postseason,” Nesbitt said. “We don’t have many games left, especially for me as a senior, so we’re looking to have fun playing with each other. Our mentality is that we’re excited to get the opportunity to play and we want to play the best basketball possible.”

This year’s Ivy Madness is set to take place from Mar. 11-13 at Harvard’s Lavietes Pavilion.