Ivy League women’s basketball has been dormant since April 1, when Columbia hoisted the WBIT trophy. But as the teams have rested, recovered and moved into offseason workouts, a lot has changed.
Some of those changes have happened within programs, as players and coaches have moved in and out. Plenty of external changes have also affected the Ivy League, from NCAA rule changes to WNBA roster decisions.
The biggest news arguably came from the Ivy League champion, Princeton. After head coach Carla Berube took the same job at Northwestern in March, associate head coach Lauren Gosselin was promoted in April to succeed her. Then, with her Ivy League eligibility used up, senior guard and first-team All-Ivy honoree Madison St. Rose announced she’d transfer to Notre Dame for her graduate season.
Here’s a rundown of the news in and around the Ivy League this offseason. Read every section or click the links below to skip to specific sections:
- Who’s transferring out?
- Who’s transferring in?
- Ivy Leaguers in the WNBA
- How rules changes could affect the Ivy League
- Sarah Lessig doubles up on championships
- Even more news and notes
Who’s transferring out?
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ivy League canceled the 2020-21 season. As a result, many players over the next several years graduated with eligibility left. And because the conference doesn’t allow graduate students to compete, those players had to transfer elsewhere if they wanted to continue playing.
That swell of graduate transfers has subsided now, but some players still graduate with eligibility remaining. Usually, that’s because of a season-long injury or a player barely getting any minutes in a season.
Five Ivy Leaguers in the class of 2026 who have eligibility remaining entered the transfer portal to continue playing as graduate transfers. Three have committed to new programs: St. Rose to Notre Dame, Brown forward Ada Anamekwe to Mercer and Penn forward Helena Lasic to the University of Windsor in her native Canada.
In addition, six undergraduates with remaining Ivy League eligibility entered the transfer portal. However, only two have committed to new programs, so the other four could potentially still return to their Ivy teams.
By comparison, only six total undergraduates in the previous five offseasons committed to play at other programs, according to data gathered by The IX Basketball each year.
| Ivy team | Name | Grad or undergrad? | Destination |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brown | Ada Anamekwe | Grad | Mercer |
| Dartmouth | Olivia Lawlor | Grad | ? |
| Penn | Helena Lasic | Grad | University of Windsor (Canada) |
| Princeton | Madison St. Rose | Grad | Notre Dame |
| Yale | Lola Lesmond | Grad | ? |
| Columbia | Vasiliki Cholopoulou | Undergrad | ? |
| Columbia | Emily Montes | Undergrad | ? |
| Columbia | Shay Shippen | Undergrad | Montana |
| Dartmouth | Nina Minicozzi | Undergrad | ? |
| Penn | Sarah Miller | Undergrad | UC Irvine |
| Penn | Ruke Ogbevire | Undergrad | ? |
Who’s transferring in?
On the flip side, the Ivy League will welcome four incoming transfers, which is a relatively large number for the conference.
Columbia is adding its fifth transfer in the past four offseasons with New York native Mary Ashley Stevenson, a forward who previously played at Purdue and Stanford. Lions head coach Megan Griffith has had considerable success with transfers: Guards Cecelia Collins and Jaida Patrick became All-Ivy players, and forward Hilke Feldrappe stepped up in the Lions’ WBIT title run this season with two starters injured.
Penn is adding two transfers, forward Candice Lienafa from Davidson and guard Christina Pham from Fairfield. This is the first time since 2022 that the Quakers have taken a transfer, though they’d been one of the more active Ivy League teams in the portal in the decade prior.
Yale signed former Oregon State guard Cloe Vecina, giving the Bulldogs a league-high four transfers in the past three offseasons under head coach Dalila Eshe. The two transfers Eshe added in 2025, forwards Luisa Vydrova from UTEP and Mary Meng from Michigan State, were both difference-makers last season. That gave Eshe a template to show transfer recruits like Vecina.
| Name | Previous team | Ivy team | Entering academic year | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mary Ashley Stevenson | Stanford | Columbia | Junior | Forward |
| Candice Lienafa | Davidson | Penn | Junior | Forward |
| Christina Pham | Fairfield | Penn | Sophomore | Guard |
| Cloe Vecina | Oregon State | Yale | Junior | Guard |
Over the past 10 years, the Ivy League has gradually taken more transfers, according to The IX Basketball’s data. From the 2012 through 2016 offseasons, the eight Ivy League teams combined to sign an average of 0.8 transfers per year. That increased to 1.8 per year between 2017 and 2021, as NCAA transfer rules relaxed, more Division I players entered the portal, and Ivy League teams lost lots of experience during the pandemic. And from 2022 through 2026, there have been an average of 3.4 incoming transfers per year leaguewide.
As a result, there will be 12 players who have transferred into the Ivy League at any point in their careers on rosters next season. That’s the most of any season dating back to 2014-15 and likely ever.
The only Ivy League team that has not taken a transfer since 2012 is Princeton. Every other team has added at least two transfers, and Columbia and Penn have each had a league-high seven.
Ivy Leaguers in the WNBA
Two Ivy League alums made WNBA rosters for the opening day of the regular season. Harvard alum Temi Fagbenle signed with the expansion Toronto Tempo in the offseason, and Princeton grad Kaitlyn Chen is in her second season with the Golden State Valkyries. This is the 11th straight season that at least one Ivy alum has appeared in a WNBA game.
Chen made a splash on opening night, scoring a career-high 14 points in a win over the Seattle Storm. Afterward, Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase credited Chen for her work in the offseason, including training with the Valkyries staff between stints with USK Praha in the Czech Republic and in Athletes Unlimited in Nashville, Tennessee.
Penn alum Jordan Obi, who played for Kentucky last season as a graduate transfer, was drafted 44th overall by the Las Vegas Aces in April but was cut before the season opener. She was the Quakers’ first-ever draft pick, and her selection made it four straight drafts in which at least one Ivy League alum was selected — an unprecedented run for the league.
| Player | Year drafted | Round | Overall pick | WNBA team | College (Graduate transfer) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Allison Feaster | 1998 | 1 | 5 | Los Angeles Sparks | Harvard |
| Temi Fagbenle | 2016 | 3 | 35 | Minnesota Lynx | Harvard (USC) |
| Leslie Robinson | 2018 | 3 | 34 | New York Liberty | Princeton |
| Bella Alarie | 2020 | 1 | 5 | Dallas Wings | Princeton |
| Abby Meyers | 2023 | 1 | 11 | Dallas Wings | Princeton (Maryland) |
| McKenzie Forbes | 2024 | 3 | 28 | Los Angeles Sparks | Harvard (USC) |
| Abbey Hsu | 2024 | 3 | 34 | Connecticut Sun | Columbia |
| Kaitlyn Davis | 2024 | 3 | 35 | New York Liberty | Columbia (USC) |
| Kaitlyn Chen | 2025 | 3 | 30 | Golden State Valkyries | Princeton (Connecticut) |
| Harmoni Turner | 2025 | 3 | 35 | Las Vegas Aces | Harvard |
| Jordan Obi | 2026 | 3 | 44 | Las Vegas Aces | Penn (Kentucky) |
Harvard alum and 2025 Aces draftee Harmoni Turner also got another chance in the league this season. This winter, she averaged 15.5 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists for the French team Landerneau Bretagne Basket. She signed a training camp contract with the Connecticut Sun in April but was cut before the season opener for the second straight year.
There is also some Ivy League representation among WNBA coaches: Washington Mystics head coach Sydney Johnson is a Princeton men’s basketball alum and coached the Tigers from 2007 to 2011.
How rules changes could affect the Ivy League
Three proposed or adopted NCAA rules changes could be consequential for Ivy League teams: NCAA Tournament expansion, a change to foreign tours, and the “five in five” eligibility rule.
Starting in 2027, 76 teams will make the NCAA Tournament, up from 68. The tournament schedule will stay the same, but there will be more opening-round (previously called “First Four”) games.
The eight additional spots could be pivotal for the Ivy League, which has frequently had teams on the NCAA Tournament bubble in recent years. In 2023, for example, Columbia was one of the first four teams out. Columbia was on the bubble again last season before losing to Harvard in the Ivy League Tournament semifinals, and a 76-team field would’ve provided more margin for error.
We could also see more years like 2025, when Harvard, Columbia and Princeton all made the NCAA Tournament. That three-bid Ivy came by the slimmest of margins, but there’s more opportunity for that now.
When the Ivy League has gotten multiple bids in the last few years, the at-large team or teams have had to play in the opening round. That’s likely to continue under the 76-team setup, as the final 12 at-large teams in the field will all play in the opening round now, up from the final four at-large teams in the 68-team tournament.
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The NCAA also recently voted to allow Division I teams to take foreign tours every summer if they want to. Previously, they could travel once every four years.
Funding annual foreign tours would be a big ask for any Ivy athletic department, as they sponsor a wide variety of sports. But the rule change allows more flexibility for coaches in when they plan these trips.
Before the rule change, Columbia and Harvard announced that they would take foreign tours in August. Columbia will go to Japan, and Harvard will head to Croatia and Greece. Columbia’s most recent foreign tour was in 2022, while Harvard hasn’t been abroad in the summer since 2018.
The Lions typically play through their guards, but they leaned more on their frontcourt in 2025-26 with senior forwards Perri Page and Susie Rafiu anchoring the team. They will likely shift back to being more perimeter-oriented next season with Ivy League Player of the Year Riley Weiss, rising seniors Fliss Henderson and Marija Avlijas, and WBIT breakout star Mia Broom all returning. The foreign tour will give them extra practices to get acclimated, which took time last season.
Harvard’s time in Greece will be a homecoming for rising junior Lydia Chatira. The Crimson will also use the tour to help them build on the 2025-26 season, as they’ll bring back their top two scorers in rising senior guard Karlee White and rising senior forward Abigail Wright. Reigning Ivy League Rookie of the Year Olivia Jones will also return.
Another rule that could strongly impact the Ivy League is under NCAA consideration but has not been implemented. The “five in five” rule would give all student-athletes five years of eligibility to play five college seasons, starting right after they graduate high school or turn 19. The current system generally allows four seasons of competition in five years, but players can get waivers that grant exceptions to those rules.
If the rule passes, it would not override the Ivy League’s ban on graduate students competing. So Ivy League student-athletes would generally still play four seasons in four years at their Ivy League school, but they would all have eligibility remaining to use as graduate transfers, rather than only a few players graduating with eligibility left.
Non-Ivy League teams could get somewhat older and more experienced if they regularly have fifth-year players, putting Ivy League teams at a disadvantage. But in general, non-Ivy teams still won’t have the continuity that Ivy teams do because the Ivy League has many fewer transfers in and out.
Sarah Lessig doubles up on championships
For one of her first team meetings as Princeton’s head coach this spring, Lauren Gosselin added a special bullet point to the agenda: “Sarah softball.”
That referred to first-year forward Sarah Lessig, who joined the Princeton softball team after the basketball season ended in late March. Gosselin wanted the Tigers to go watch some softball games and cheer on Lessig.
Baseball had been Lessig’s “first love,” she told The IX Basketball last fall. She’d grown up going to her brother’s Little League practices, which her mom coached, and that made her want a team of her own. She went on to play on Garfield High’s baseball and softball teams, in addition to playing basketball and flag football and participating in local skateboarding competitions. Despite not playing organized basketball until age 12, she received college offers to play basketball, softball and flag football.
Lessig chose Princeton basketball, but she still held out hope of playing softball, too. After the basketball season ended, Lessig, Gosselin and softball head coach Lisa Van Ackeren met to discuss what was possible.
As it turned out, Gosselin said, the softball team had dealt with some injuries, and Van Ackeren was happy to add depth with a player of Lessig’s caliber.
“Lisa is amazing, and any opportunity for one of my players to learn from her is a gift,” Gosselin told The IX Basketball. “… So we just talked about, again, what that looks like for Sarah, with basketball, with softball, balancing that with school, and what the expectation Lisa has of her, obviously, joining a team midway through their season. …
“But Sarah is a connector. She’s super close with a bunch of the softball players already. … So I think she’s really enjoying it, and I’m glad that she gets to just tap into all the things that make Sarah special, and not just basketball.”
For the basketball team, Lessig appeared in 13 games and scored a total of 22 points in 54 minutes. Sometimes, Berube subbed her in to throw full-court inbounds passes, using her quarterback skills. The Tigers won the Ivy League regular-season and tournament titles and advanced to the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Listed as a utility player/outfielder, Lessig made her college softball debut in a doubleheader against Monmouth on April 15. In each game, she entered as a pinch runner and came around to score. Overall, she has appeared in 12 games, including the Ivy League Tournament championship game against Columbia. Though she hasn’t batted yet, she has scored six runs (which should make her an excellent Princeton sports trivia question for decades to come).
The Tigers are 33-13 overall and won the Ivy League regular-season and tournament titles. That makes Lessig a four-time champion across two college sports. The Tigers’ season will continue with an NCAA Tournament matchup against Stanford on Friday.
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Even more news and notes
- On April 7, the league announced that Penn will host the 2027 Ivy League Tournament. Under the previously set rotation, Dartmouth had been the final host school, but it “decided to forgo” its turn, partly so Penn could host at the Palestra during the building’s 100th anniversary season.
- The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jonathan Tannenwald reported that the league has not decided where the tournament will be in 2028 and beyond. It will not do another full rotation among all eight schools, but it could rotate among a smaller set of schools, have the No. 1 seed host each year or move to a neutral site.
- The number of international players in the Ivy League has been rising, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic. At least 10% of first-years in the college classes of 2024 through 2029 have been international. That trend is set to continue with the class of 2030 this fall. Though most Ivy teams haven’t posted their 2026-27 rosters yet, recruiting data from WBB Blog suggests that four of the 30 first-years leaguewide, or 13%, will be from outside the U.S. That’s down from last year’s peak of 21% but roughly in line with the five previous classes.
- Harvard alum Harmoni Turner will play for the Savannah Steel in the UPSHOT League, a professional league that is debuting this season with four teams in the Southeast United States. The Steel’s season opener is on Friday against the Greensboro Groove.
- Columbia’s Susie Rafiu played in two exhibition games with the Nigerian national team against WNBA competition. She played 27 total minutes, starting once, and had 8 points on 4-for-6 shooting, six rebounds and four steals. Her only missed shots were 3-pointers.
- Carla Berube’s coaching staff at Northwestern has some Ivy League ties. Former Princeton assistant coach Lauren Dillon followed Berube to Evanston and is now the Wildcats’ associate head coach. In addition, Allison Guth, who was Yale’s head coach from 2015 to 2022, was hired as chief of staff.
- Lauren Gosselin retained assistant coach Jordan Edwards at Princeton and promoted her to recruiting coordinator. Those two familiar coaches combined with four returning starters will give the Tigers plenty of continuity in 2026-27 despite Berube’s departure.
- Gosselin also hired Jenna Ross and Lindsay Werner as assistant coaches. Ross, then known as Jenna Johnson, had 15 points and six rebounds to help Utah beat the Tigers in the second round of the 2023 NCAA Tournament. Werner got her start in coaching at Ivy rival Harvard from 2019 to 2022.
Monumental Sports and Entertainment, the group that owns the Washington Mystics, holds a minority stake in The IX Basketball. The IX Basketball’s editorial operations are entirely independent of Monumental and all other business partners.
