2025-26 Ivy League preview

As a bonus, there was another dramatic race for the fourth and final Ivy League Tournament spot, with Penn getting in over Brown on a tiebreaker for the second straight year.

So what’s next for the mid-major league that keeps raising the bar?

“I just think we stay the path,” Penn head coach Mike McLaughlin told The IX Basketball on Oct. 3. “… I feel like we’re constantly having to explain to everyone that Ivy League basketball is good. … Ivy basketball on the women’s side is sitting in a really good place.”

This season, the eight Ivy teams bring back a median of 75.0% of their minutes, according to The IX Basketball’s calculations. That’s the highest share since before the COVID-19 pandemic. But only six of the 14 All-Ivy honorees from last season (and two of the five first-teamers) return. That’s the fewest since 2021-22, when the league returned from the pandemic.

That combination of continuity and turnover means there are a lot of role players who could get their opportunity to step up. That should produce an exciting season up and down the league standings.

“The nice thing about the Ivy League is that we’re typically developing our players for the course of their undergraduate four years,” Princeton head coach Carla Berube told The IX Basketball on Oct. 7. “And so we’ve got some good players, great players that are, I think, emerging on the scene.”

“This is a ‘next guy up’ type of league,” Brown head coach Monique LeBlanc told The IX Basketball on Oct. 8. “The next player for all these programs is always ready and always keeps the level just as high or higher. … So I think the league is absolutely going for three bids again, and I think it’s going to be … another awesome season, lots of great talent and really high-level programs. And I just don’t want it to come down to a tiebreaker.”

Let’s break down each team’s outlook for the 2025-26 season, starting at the top of the preseason poll. Many statistics are from the teams’ websites; all other data sources are hyperlinked. (Note: There may be small differences across sources because Ivy League teams occasionally play Division III or NAIA opponents, and certain sources only count games against Division I opponents. The statistics below the team names include all opponents.)

You can read about every team or skip to your favorite using the following links:

Brown | Columbia | Cornell | Dartmouth | Harvard | Penn | Princeton | Yale

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Princeton

2024-25 record: 21-8 (12-2 Ivy, 2nd in regular season)
Preseason ranking: 1st (17 out of 21 first-place votes, 163 total points)
Percentage of minutes returning: 74.7% (5th-highest in the league)
Percentage of points returning: 72.8% (3rd-highest in the league)

Top returners:

• Madison St. Rose, SR guard (played only four games in 2024-25 due to injury; 14.8 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 1.7 SPG in 2023-24)
• Skye Belker, JR guard (13.0 PPG, 2.8 APG, 37.9% 3-point shooting in 2024-25)
• Ashley Chea, JR guard (12.6 PPG, 3.6 APG, 36.2% 3-point shooting)

Last season was a down year by Princeton’s standards, as the Tigers failed to win a regular-season or conference tournament title for the first time since 2017. Still, after losing Ivy League Player of the Year candidate Madison St. Rose to a torn ACL in the fourth game of the season, a young Tigers roster improved dramatically throughout the season. That was enough to make their sixth straight NCAA Tournament and give four players who are back this season their first NCAA Tournament minutes.

In a sense, they’re a year ahead of several Ivy teams that graduated major players in 2025 and are reloading. They bring back four NCAA Tournament starters plus St. Rose and look ready to win championships again.

One big reason why is that Princeton has arguably the best backcourt in the league, with St. Rose healthy for her senior season alongside juniors Ashley Chea and Skye Belker. Each of them averaged at least 12 points per game and earned All-Ivy honors in their most recent healthy season.

“We’ve got some great playmakers,” Berube said. “That’s what all three of them can do is make plays for their teammates, but [they] also can really score the basketball. So when you have both those attributes, good things are gonna happen.”

Behind that trio, junior Olivia Hutcherson — who took on key defensive matchups last season as a starter — and sophomores Cristina Parrella and Toby Nweke give Berube enviable perimeter depth.

The questions about Princeton are mostly about the frontcourt. Junior guard/forward Fadima Tall, who started at power forward last season, is the anchor. But Princeton has an uncharacteristically small roster — in both height and number — after five players graduated and one transferred. Only three of Princeton’s 11 players are listed exclusively as forwards, and they combined for just 226 minutes and 43 shots last season.

Berube said 6’2 senior forward Taylor Charles, who is tied for the team’s tallest player, has had a strong preseason. But the Tigers will also look to play more small ball, possibly reminiscent of the years when 6’1 forward and three-time Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year Ellie Mitchell played center.

“Not to say we’re not putting the ball in the post … but I think definitely our strengths are on the perimeter and what we can do with the basketball there, whether it is getting to the rim, coming off ball-screen action or hand-off action or back cuts, things like that,” Berube said. “I think we really want to move that basketball and we want to not be stagnant.”

The Tigers have also redoubled their efforts defensively after finishing the 2024-25 season ranked in the 77th percentile nationally in points allowed per 100 possessions. That was their lowest ranking in that category since 2018-19, the year before Berube arrived, and was disappointing for a program whose identity is all about defense.

“The ‘Get Stops’ mantra was not where it needed to be [last season],” Berube said. “And so [this fall] I think we really put an emphasis on the defense and how we want to play it and how … we need to practice it every day. So I think that it’s still a huge work in progress, but I like how hard we’re working at it and kind of where we are right now.”

That defensive intensity should make Princeton a scary matchup for any opponent this season. The Tigers are ranked 25th in The IX Basketball’s preseason national top 25, one of just two mid-majors to make the cut.

Columbia

2024-25 record: 24-7 (13-1 Ivy, 1st)
Preseason ranking: 2nd (3 first-place votes, 147 points)
Percentage of minutes returning: 68.8% (7th)
Percentage of points returning: 63.4% (6th)

Top returners: 

• Riley Weiss, JR guard (17.8 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 37.6% 3-point shooting in 2024-25)
• Perri Page, SR guard/forward (7.3 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 1.3 SPG)
• Susie Rafiu, SR forward (6.9 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 49.2% field-goal percentage)

Last season, Columbia won its first outright Ivy regular-season title and got the first NCAA Tournament win in its Division I history. The Lions have now won at least a share of three straight regular-season titles under head coach Megan Griffith, who rebuilt a program that was one of the worst in the country when she arrived in 2016.

The Lions will look to keep rewriting the program’s record books this season despite graduating two huge contributors, Kitty Henderson and Cecelia Collins. Henderson is the winningest player in program history with a 100-27 record, and Collins, who transferred in as a junior, won 47 games in two seasons. Last season, they led the team in assists and were the second- and third-leading scorers.

That’s a lot for anyone to replace, but Columbia will lean on leading scorer and first-team All-Ivy selection Riley Weiss, who is taking on a larger leadership role as a junior. It also brings back leading rebounder and defensive anchor Perri Page for her senior season.

“Riley is on a [superstar] trajectory, but the kids around that superstar, to me, are the ones that matter the most,” Griffith told The IX Basketball on Oct. 24. “And that’s where Kitty and Cece were so valuable. … Perri is going to be thrust into a very similar role. It’s like, how consistent can she show up every day for us, every game for us? And I think our success is largely going to be on the shoulders of that.”

Around Weiss, Columbia has a deep backcourt. In her second season at Columbia after transferring from Mississippi, junior point guard Marija Avlijas is ready to be the floor general. Guards Mia Broom and Nasi Simmons and guard/forward María Arrebola each return as sophomores after playing at least 250 minutes as first-years. And junior guard Fliss Henderson, who missed last season with an injury but started 27 games as a first-year, is back, too, making it five straight seasons Columbia has had at least one Henderson on the roster.

“Having Fliss back is great,” senior forward Susie Rafiu told reporters at Columbia’s media day on Thursday. “On and off the court, she’s a great presence. Leadership-wise, she’s always speaking [and] holding people to [our] standards. … She’s aggressive, she works hard, so all around, she’s just lifting up the whole program.”

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Even with all those perimeter options, the Lions will also play through their frontcourt more this season because it’s the tallest and deepest Griffith has had. It starts with the 5’11 Page and the 6’1 Rafiu, who are co-captains and have started a combined 74 career games. Page told reporters at Ivy League media day on Tuesday that she’s aiming to average a double-double this season.

In addition, 6’2 sophomore Marta Jaama was set to be Columbia’s sixth player last season before tearing her ACL in Game 1. Griffith also added 6’3 Missouri transfer Hilke Feldrappe and said both Feldrappe and Page could play on the wing in bigger lineups.

“It’s kind of an evolving style for us,” Griffith said. “We just haven’t had this opportunity before, and it’s been fun to play around with it. And we will definitely not just be going with two traditional bigs. … So you are going to see some fun combinations.”

As successful as the Lions were last season, they didn’t achieve all their goals — namely, winning their first Ivy Madness title. They hope to lean on the momentum from last season and a senior class that’s helped elevate the program every year to finally lift that trophy.

Harvard

2024-25 record: 24-5 (11-3 Ivy, 3rd)
Preseason ranking: 3rd (1 first-place vote, 126 points)
Percentage of minutes returning: 69.3% (6th)
Percentage of points returning: 49.0% (7th)

Top returners:

• Saniyah Glenn-Bello, SR guard (6.4 PPG, 3.9 RPG in 2024-25)
• Abigail Wright, JR forward (5.4 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 52.3% field-goal percentage)
• Gabby Anderson, SR guard (3.9 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 1.7 SPG)

Behind Ivy League Player of the Year Harmoni Turner, Harvard won the Ivy League Tournament last season and made the program’s first NCAA Tournament since 2007. It was a breakthrough season in many ways, including beating Princeton and Columbia a total of three times after only doing so twice in the previous four seasons.

Though Turner and guard/forward Elena Rodriguez graduated in the spring, Harvard hopes to use what it learned about becoming a championship team to keep pushing the program forward.

“We’ve talked a lot about not defending anything, but attacking everything … and just being relentless in, I think, our pursuit of excellence and sustaining this success,” head coach Carrie Moore told reporters on Oct. 15. “I want the championship to add to their level of competitiveness. And I think for the most part, it has. … It’s been great for them to really understand what it takes.”

Harvard’s defense will likely continue to be stingy and aggressive under Moore. It allowed just 78.4 points per 100 possessions last season, the third-fewest in the country, and its full-court press forced opponents into 20.3 turnovers per game. Senior guards Gabby Anderson and Saniyah Glenn-Bello return to keep the pressure high and set the tone defensively.

“[Gabby] is the engine right now that oftentimes is making us go,” Moore said. “Our identity is what we do defensively. She is a pillar of that end for us. And so it’s been great to hear her voice more and see how she makes other players better.”

But there are more questions about Harvard’s offense, which loses more than half of its total points from last season. No returner averaged even 7 points per game last season, whereas Turner scored 22.5 points per game and Rodriguez scored 11.7.

Scoring will be by committee, but Moore is hoping Glenn-Bello and forward Katie Krupa have career-best seasons as seniors. Glenn-Bello is expected to have the ball in her hands more this season and get downhill. She took 19 shots in an exhibition game against Providence, Moore said on Wednesday, which is seven more than she’s ever taken in an official game.

Krupa’s minutes and production fell by about half last season after she’d averaged 11.3 points per game on 43.1% 3-point shooting as a sophomore. Moore said Krupa’s defense improved in the offseason, which will get her more minutes — and more chances to make her mark offensively.

Alongside Krupa, junior forward Abigail Wright will be counted on as a scorer and a physical presence. Both players can also help facilitate the offense as forwards.

Moore has also been encouraged by junior point guard Karlee White’s offense and poise in preseason. White and sophomore point guard Lydia Chatira will likely play together at times and hunt their shots more this season.

Overall, the roster is the largest Moore has had at Harvard, giving her plenty of options. There is enough depth that even ESPN top-100 recruits like sophomore Hana Belibi and first-year Aubrey Shaw are battling to crack the rotation. Moore expects to play about 10 of her 16 players, and she’ll lean on analytics to help her make some of those decisions. 

“There’s great opportunity for [players] to really step up, and now they know the standard,” Moore said on Oct. 15, referencing last season’s championship. “And so maybe it’s a little bit easier now, in this year, to do that. And as long as we can compete and [have] that gritty aspect that’s a core value of ours … I think we’ll be fine. I really do.”

Penn

2024-25 record: 15-13 (6-8 Ivy, T-4th)
Preseason ranking: 4th (106 points)
Percentage of minutes returning: 77.0% (3rd)
Percentage of points returning: 71.3% (4th)

Top returners: 

• Mataya Gayle, JR guard (12.3 PPG, 4.3 APG, 3.6 RPG in 2024-25)
• Katie Collins, SO forward (10.0 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 1.6 BPG, Ivy League Rookie of the Year)
• Simone Sawyer, SR guard (6.8 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 1.3 SPG)

Though the Quakers graduated leading scorer and first-team All-Ivy honoree Stina Almqvist, they have strength in numbers for 2025-26. They bring back 13 players, which is the most in the league, and 77.0% of their minutes from last season.

The returners include not one but two former Ivy League Rookies of the Year in junior guard Mataya Gayle and sophomore forward Katie Collins. That duo will lead the way for Penn, which is looking to take the next step toward contending for championships again. The Quakers finished first or second in the league every season from 2013-14 through 2019-20, but they’ve since lost in the Ivy League Tournament semifinals as the No. 4 seed in three straight years.

“We have a ways to go, I think, to get to where we were last year,” McLaughlin told reporters after Penn’s open scrimmage on Oct. 4. “But our ceiling, I think, could be higher.”

“I feel a change in us this year, the intensity level,” Gayle told City of Basketball Love. “This is the most intense, the most excited I’ve been towards a season.”

Both Gayle and Collins have taken clear steps forward in the offseason, according to McLaughlin. After being an honorable mention All-Ivy selection last season, Gayle has improved her jump shot, gotten better defensively and become a more confident on-court leader.

“This kid is ready. She’s going to have a huge year,” McLaughlin said. “She’s going to score it, she’s going to assist it, you’re going to see her rebound the ball better, you’re going to see her in big spots being significantly further along. … She’s taken massive growth, [and] I just love where the kid is mentally.”

Collins made 33.7% of her threes on 3.1 attempts per game last season, but she further developed her shot in the offseason. That should make her even more of a threat as a stretch four. She also added strength and has gotten more comfortable playing on the perimeter “with some motion and some movement,” McLaughlin told The IX Basketball.

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But whether Penn can climb up the Ivy standings will ultimately depend on how many players step up around Gayle and Collins. In the frontcourt, junior center Tina Njike is expected to pair with Collins after averaging just 6.4 minutes per game last season. But McLaughlin isn’t sure what the rotation looks like behind them.

On the perimeter, Penn has more options but similar questions. Junior Ese Ogbevire will likely play a big role after missing her entire sophomore season with a torn ACL. As a first-year, she averaged 4.7 points per game, but she showed her potential with 14 points in an upset of Harvard that got Penn into Ivy Madness. Seniors Saniah Caldwell and Simone Sawyer provide experience, leadership and defense. Sarah Miller debuted for the Japanese national team this summer, which could help her make a sophomore leap. Junior Abby Sharpe has battled injuries but shown flashes of how good she can be. And first-years Sarah Gordon and Ruke Ogbevire (Ese’s sister) will also likely make an immediate impact.

“[We want] to try to build on the depth that we have to give these kids an opportunity to play, and they really have to step up and play,” McLaughlin said. “I know that sounds very ‘coach speech,’ but the reality is, I’m still trying to figure out what we have.”

Brown

2024-25 record: 12-15 (6-8 Ivy, T-4th)
Preseason ranking: 5th (84 points)
Percentage of minutes returning: 75.4% (4th)
Percentage of points returning: 75.0% (2nd)

Top returners:

• Grace Arnolie, SR guard (14.8 PPG, 3.7 APG, 1.6 SPG in 2024-25)
• Gia Powell, SO guard (8.7 PPG, 1.5 RPG, 1.1 APG)
• Alyssa Moreland, SR forward (7.8 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 2.7 SPG in 13 games)

“Something that is really burned into them is the tiebreakers,” LeBlanc said about her returners. “Like, how could it not be?”

That’s because the Bears lost a tiebreaker that would’ve sent them to the Ivy League Tournament in each of the past two seasons. The 2025 tournament was held at Brown, adding to the sting.

This year, Brown will look to make the tournament for the first time since 2017 with a blend of old and new. The 16-player roster includes six seniors but also two transfers and four first-years.

Senior guard Grace Arnolie and senior forward Alyssa Moreland are the team’s leaders and two of the Ivy League’s top players. “I think with [Alyssa], we have a Defensive Player of the Year candidate, and I think with Grace, we have a Player of the Year candidate,” LeBlanc said. “So we have a lot of confidence in those guys.”

Arnolie, a three-time All-Ivy honoree, has played more point guard as her career has gone along and will have the ball in her hands often this season. She ranked in the top 10 leaguewide in minutes per game in each of the past two seasons, but LeBlanc said her conditioning is even better now.

“I think she’s at her peak fitness level,” LeBlanc said. “… She knows this is her last hurrah. I think she wanted to do everything she could do to be ready, and she did that. So, yeah, she just looks great.”

Around Arnolie, seniors Beth Nelson and Mackenzie Leahy and junior Olivia Young all return. That perimeter quartet combined to start 67 games last season and helped Brown have one of the highest 3-point rates in the country. The Bears will also mix in junior transfer Charlotte Climenhage, sophomore transfer Monét Witherspoon and first-year Charlotte Adams-Lopez.

However, the Bears expect to be without sophomore guard Gia Powell until at least Ivy League play. She was their third-leading scorer last season before suffering a season-ending injury in February.

The frontcourt is similarly deep, as Moreland and senior Ada Anamekwe return after missing half and all of the 2024-25 season, respectively, with injuries. Playing important minutes in their absence, Aima Ofunrein shot 52.0% from the field as a first-year. The Bears also add first-year Morgan Ross, who LeBlanc said is “making things happen” in preseason.

“We’ve got some playmaking ability in that group,” LeBlanc said. “… Thinking about Alyssa in particular, she’s a pretty good passer. She plays with a lot of force. I want her to be just like [Phoenix Mercury star] Alyssa Thomas. …

“Ada and Aima and Lyss all have an ability to get to the rim, and so [we want to be] getting them in some different spots — not just on rolls to the rim, but other places where they can catch and attack.”

As the Bears blend old and new, they’re emphasizing spacing the floor, taking care of the ball and communicating on defense. Those details could all make a big difference in the race for an Ivy League Tournament spot. And as the Bears get their newcomers up to speed with their returners, the hope is that the newcomers never feel the pain of missing out on a tiebreaker.

Dartmouth

2024-25 record: 8-19 (2-12 Ivy, 8th)
Preseason ranking: 6th (46 points)
Percentage of minutes returning: 77.6% (2nd)
Percentage of points returning: 68.9% (5th)

Top returners:

• Zeynep Ozel, SO guard (7.3 PPG, 2.3 APG in 2024-25)
• Clare Meyer, SR forward (6.7 PPG, 4.8 RPG)
• Olivia Austin, SO forward (6.2 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 48.3% field-goal percentage)

Dartmouth has finished last or tied for last in the league in three straight years, but it has won more games overall and in conference play each year. Last season, the Big Green even started Ivy play with wins at Brown and Penn before struggling the rest of the way.

With 12 returners this year, the goal is to keep progressing. Ideally, that produces a top-four finish, but if not, they want to take the steps to get there in 2026-27, when they’ll host the Ivy League Tournament.

“We don’t want to be the doormat of the league,” head coach Linda Cimino told The IX Basketball on Oct. 2. “We don’t want to finish last. … We want to try to get to [Ivy Madness] this year. But if we don’t, then next year we want to be in.”

Cimino expects this year’s team to be more versatile and deeper than the teams she had in her first two seasons. That will allow her to play different styles depending on the situation.

In preseason, Cimino has emphasized finishing, rebounding and limiting turnovers. Dartmouth particularly struggled with the first two last season, ranking in the bottom 10% nationally in effective field goal percentage and total rebounding rate.

Dartmouth is also figuring out how to replace its leading scorer in Victoria Page and its defensive leader in Doreen Ariik, both of whom graduated.

“Last year … it was kind of Tori’s team in terms of scoring and leadership, and I think it’s kind of up for grabs this year,” Cimino said. “… Everybody has that opportunity to step up and contribute. And I think we’ll probably be more balanced this year than we were last year because of that.”

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Two players who’ve stood out in preseason are sophomore forward Olivia Austin and junior guard Alexandra Eldredge, both of whom were starters last season. Austin is the team’s strongest player and has improved her confidence, post moves and finishing, Cimino said.

“My favorite thing about her is she doesn’t even know how good she is,” Cimino said. “… Once she just breaks open, she’s gonna be a really hard guard. … She could be one of the better defenders and scorers in our league.”

Eldredge, now healthy after hurting her back late last season, is Dartmouth’s best defender and has improved her shooting. Sophomore point guard Zeynep Ozel has also shot well after playing 3×3 for Turkey’s Under-21 team this summer.

Rounding out the returning starters is 6’3 senior forward Clare Meyer, who Cimino hopes will be a difference-maker with her interior scoring and passing. Junior forward Cate MacDonald will also get minutes in the post, while junior Nina Minicozzi and first-year Emma Olausson will bolster the backcourt.

Cimino has also been impressed with the leadership of tri-captains Eldredge, senior Olivia Lawlor and senior Brooke Hollawell. They’ve helped the four first-years get acclimated quickly, which is huge because the Ivy League has no summer workouts and Dartmouth doesn’t start its fall term until mid-September.

With strong leadership, a point guard with a year of experience and upperclassmen in key spots, Dartmouth has some crucial ingredients to continue building the program back up.

Cornell

2024-25 record: 7-20 (3-11 Ivy, T-6th)
Preseason ranking: 7th (45 points)
Percentage of minutes returning: 87.3% (1st)
Percentage of points returning: 78.9% (1st)

Top returners:

• Emily Pape, SR forward (10.6 PPG, 5.7 RPG in 2024-25)
• Rachel Kaus, JR guard/forward (9.6 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 48.2% field-goal percentage)
• Clarke Jackson, JR guard (7.1 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 1.7 APG)

In its second year under head coach Emily Garner, Cornell is looking to take a sophomore leap. But Garner knows progress isn’t always linear — even when a team returns as much as the Big Red do.

“Year 1, it’s kind of the honeymoon phase,” Garner told The IX Basketball on Oct. 10. “Everything’s new. Everything’s exciting. … Everybody expects there to be this huge growth [or] leap from Year 1 to Year 2. And the reality is this is still new for our players. This is still new for our system. … So I think Year 2 is, in a lot of ways, where you really dig in and figure out what your identity truly is.”

The Big Red bring back 87% of their minutes from last season, about 10 percentage points higher than any other Ivy League team. Forward and leading scorer Summer Parker-Hall graduated, but everyone else who averaged even 1 point per game is back.

In Year 2, Garner is adding more schemes on top of the base she implemented last season, and she wants her team to play faster. With the players more comfortable in her system, she can let them play more freely and make reads, rather than always calling sets. She is also looking to improve the team’s turnover rate and 3-point shooting after each ranked in the bottom quartile nationally last season.

Senior forward Emily Pape will anchor the Big Red after being their second-leading scorer and leading rebounder last season. She’ll partner with junior guard/forward Rachel Kaus, who was Cornell’s third-leading scorer despite coming off the bench in 24 of 27 games.

“[Emily’s] consistency this preseason has been awesome,” Garner said. “I think she’s the one that is kind of just hungry. She goes out there [and] works her butt off every single day. I think she’s added layers to her ability to pass, to make reads within our offense, and honestly also within her rebounding. So I think her work ethic really sets the tone.”

Guard/forward Ally Pape, Emily’s sister, also joins the team this season as a first-year. Garner said the younger Pape is ready to contribute right away, whether on the wing or at forward.

“You see that chemistry kind of show itself daily,” Garner said about the Papes. “I think they have a lot of fun together, but they find each other in ways [that are] pretty special.”

On the perimeter, Cornell brings back four guards who started at least 16 games last season: junior Clarke Jackson (27 starts), sophomore Kelsey Langston (20), sophomore Paige Engels (17) and junior Azareya Kilgoe (16). Garner said Jackson and Langston have notably improved on offense, which would be huge for a team that scored just 52.7 points per game last season.

Cornell is hosting Ivy Madness in March, and though most people aren’t picking the Big Red to be there, their goal is to crash their own party.

“That’s our end goal is to get to that place,” Garner said. “Do we talk about it daily? No. Is it on the players’ minds a lot? Yes. … [And] we know the work we have to do to get there.”

Yale

2024-25 record: 4-23 (3-11 Ivy, T-6th)
Preseason ranking: 8th (39 points)
Percentage of minutes returning: 56.6% (8th)
Percentage of points returning: 45.4% (8th)

Top returners:

• Kiley Capstraw, SR forward (5.8 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 2.6 APG in 2024-25)
• Ciniya Moore, SO guard (5.6 PPG, 1.4 RPG)
• Marisa Chapman, SO guard (4.8 PPG, 4.4 RPG)

After graduations and a few players leaving the team, Yale returns the lowest shares of minutes and points in the Ivy League. It also adds two junior transfers and five first-years. With all that newness, the team’s foreign tour this summer came at an opportune time.

Thanks largely to that trip, Yale’s chemistry has been noticeably better in preseason, head coach Dalila Eshe told The IX Basketball on Oct. 9. The Bulldogs are also farther along installing their systems, which has allowed them to play live sooner. That can only help as they try to turn the page from a difficult 2024-25 season in which they lost 21 of 22 games during a three-month stretch.

Eshe also said “pretty much every guard” has improved their shooting, especially sophomore Magdalena Schmidt. That’s crucial for a team that scored only 53.2 points per game last season and whose 3-point percentage of 22.9% ranked fifth-worst nationally.

“We are in an incredible place,” Eshe said. “Some of the things that they do naturally on the court with each other when we have little scrimmages and stuff [are] really, really exciting to watch. … The foreign tour did exactly what we needed it to do.”

In preseason, Eshe is emphasizing pace and rebounding. Last season, the Bulldogs often tried to slow games down, but Eshe thought they played better at a faster tempo. They also ranked in just the 26th percentile nationally in total rebounding rate.

The Bulldogs should be better rebounders this season in part because they have more size. Last season, 6’3 senior Grace Thybulle was the only player taller than 6’, but this year, four players are. The tallest is 6’5 junior and Michigan State transfer Mary Meng.

“We have six post players, which … makes me happy,” said Eshe, who played the post at Florida and is 6’3. “I’m not the tallest one at practice every day. That also makes me happy.”

Among those post players is 5’11 senior captain Kiley Capstraw, who Eshe will use at forward at times in a four-out offense. Capstraw played guard throughout her first three seasons, but Eshe envisions her scoring more in transition as a stretch four this year. Capstraw had a challenging junior season, averaging about half as many points as she did as a sophomore. But she told The IX Basketball in August that she has turned a corner mentally and is excited to compete again.

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Yale will also lean heavily on its sophomores. Guards Ke’iara Odume and Ciniya Moore each led the team in scoring in one game on the foreign tour. And Marisa Chapman is slated to start at point guard and use her knack for rebounding to push the pace.

Overall, Eshe is optimistic about what Yale can be this season, with a mix of new talent and returners who’ve taken steps forward.

“I have a lot of confidence in this team,” she said. “… Individually and as a team, I want to reach for the stars at the end of the day. I don’t want … ‘safe’ goals. I want us to stretch ourselves, and that’s kind of what we’re all reaching for right now.”