Jan. 29, 2007

NEW HAVEN, Conn.--Stephanie Marciano had the weekend of her basketball life. She had career games against Harvard and Dartmouth to lead Yale to its first sweep of the Crimson and Big Green since 1993-94. Marciano's coming-out party was made complete on Monday when she was named Ivy League Player of the Week for the first time in her career.

Against Harvard on Friday night, Marciano posted a career-high 16 points, all in the second half. She made three free throws with 7:58 remaining to ignite a personal 11-point run and increase Yale's lead from 42-41 to 53-47. After the Crimson cut the lead to two with under a minute left, Marciano drained a three-pointer from the left wing with the shot clock expiring that made it 57-52 and sealed the win.

She was even better on Saturday night. Marciano hit a trey to open the game, and ended with a career-high 22 points. Once again, she sank a clutch three-pointer late in the game to seal the Yale victory. With the Bulldogs trailing 50-48 with 3:20 remaining, Marciano's three while falling down from right in front of the Yale bench gave the Bulldogs a lead they would not relinquish. She notched another trey on the Bulldogs' next possession.

Marciano's career-high entering the weekend, where she averaged 19 points per game, was 14 points against Cornell on March 4, 2005. She improved her scoring average from 6.0 ppg to 7.4 ppg.

This is the second Ivy League weekly honor of Marciano's career. She was named Ivy League Rookie of the Week on March 8, 2005, after that 14-point performance at Cornell. Marciano is the third Bulldog to win a weekly award this season. Erica Davis was named Player of the Week on Jan. 2, and Melissa Colborne has been named Rookie of the Week six times.

The Bulldogs are in second place with a 3-1 Ivy League record (10-8 overall). The team hits the road this weekend for matchups with preseason favorite Princeton Friday at 7 p.m. and Penn Saturday at 7 p.m.

Report filed by Joe Clifford, Yale Sports Publicity