Princeton University Athletics
No. 25 Princeton Women's Basketball Picked to Win Ivy League
November 04, 2015 | Women's Basketball
IVY LEAGUE PRESEASON POLL RELEASE
PRINCETON, N.J. – Coming off a historic 2014-15 campaign, the 25th-ranked Princeton University women's basketball team has been picked to win the Ivy League for a record sixth-straight year.
Garnering 16 first-place votes, Princeton earned 135 points to top the league's preseason poll. Penn earned the only other first-place vote, finishing second with 115 points. Harvard rounded out the top three with 94 points.
Placing fourth, Yale secured 76 points, followed by Cornell (64) and Dartmouth (60) in fifth and sixth, respectively. Brown was slotted seventh with 42 points with Columbia picked to finish eighth with 26 points.
Since the poll began in 1999-00 only five Ivy programs have ever received 16 first-place votes. Harvard was the first team to accomplish the feat during the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons. Dartmouth earned 16 first-place nods in 2005-06, while the Tigers last received the distinction prior to the 2010-11 campaign.
Posting a 31-1 overall record, which included an unblemished 30-0 regular season a year ago, Princeton is the first Ivy program to earn a preseason national ranking, coming in 25th in the first USA Today Coaches Poll, while receiving votes in the Associated Press Top-25.
During their 2014-15 run, the Tigers earned the highest-ever rankings for an Ivy team, climbing as high as No. 13 in the AP and USA Today polls. The Tigers' 30-0 campaign was also the best in league history, surpassing the 1970-71 Penn men's team's mark of 28-0.
Capturing its fifth Ivy title in six years, Princeton earned the highest-ever NCAA seeding in the conference's history (No. 8) and became just the second Ivy team to record a tournament win with an 80-70 first round victory over ninth-seeded Green Bay.
The Tigers closed out the year ranked second in the nation in three-point percentage (40.5), third in field goal percentage (49.1), 12th in assists (16.9) and 19th in scoring (75.8). Princeton also sat second in the country in field goal defense (34.2), sixth in rebounding margin (+11.2) and points allowed (52.6), and seventh in three-point defense (26.3).
As part of their record-setting campaign, the Tigers set new program benchmarks for points (2,424), scoring average (75.8), field goals made (921), field goal percentage (.491), rebounds (1,338), blocks (143), and assists (541).
Princeton will open the season at home on Friday, Nov. 13 against American University.
2015-16 IVY LEAGUE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL PRESEASON POLL
1. Princeton (16) – 135
2. Penn (1) – 115
3. Harvard – 94
4. Yale – 76
5. Cornell – 64
6. Dartmouth – 60
7. Brown – 42
8. Columbia – 26