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After nearly spoiling its undefeated Ivy League season at Brown on Friday night, the Princeton women’s basketball team rode into New Haven on Saturday looking to make a statement as it closed out a back-to-back road weekend in the Ivy League.
Statement made.
The No. 25 Princeton women’s basketball team fought back from the brink on Friday night, repelling the Brown Bears, 74-62, in Providence to remain undefeated in Ivy League play.
The Tigers (19-3, 9-0 Ivy) rode into Providence on a 13-game winning streak and were probably due for a letdown. Brown (13-9, 4-5), on the other hand, needed a win to cement its hold on fourth place in the Ivy League standings and a berth in Ivy Madness.
No. 25 Princeton women’s basketball notched a 67-54 win at archrival Penn Saturday. Tigers coach Carla Berube reflects on the clutch play of senior forward Ellie Mitchell, senior guard Chet Nweke’s emergence as a leader and more after the win for Princeton (18-3, 8-0 Ivy) over Penn (11-10, 3-5) with Ivy Hoops Online contributor George “Toothless Tiger” Clark:
For the second time in 24 hours, the No. 25 Princeton Tigers fought off a fierce challenge from an Ivy foe, defeating the Brown Bears, 76-63, on Saturday night at Jadwin Gymnasium.
The Princeton women’s basketball team held off a determined Yale squad on Friday night at Jadwin Gymnasium, 79-59, to stay undefeated in Ivy League play.
Princeton (16-3, 6-0 Ivy) entered the first back-to-back weekend of the Ivy League campaign sporting a shiny, new No. 25 ranking in both the AP Top 25 and Coaches polls, but that honor appeared to hang like a lead weight around the Tigers’ neck early in this contest.
Two weeks ago, Joe Lunardi of ESPN wrote that the Princeton men’s basketball team was on track to become the first team in history to earn a second Ivy League bid to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
“Conceivably, the Tigers could be 27-1 or thereabouts heading into the Ivy League championship game on Selection Sunday,” Lunardi wrote. “What would the committee do if Princeton drops that last game? Could the Ivy League really be a two-bid league? The answer from this seat is clearly ‘yes.’ And the uniqueness of it all is worth watching and even rooting for.”
It was déjà vu all over again for Princeton women’s basketball.
Three weeks ago, the Tigers opened their Ivy campaign with a resounding road win over the Cornell Big Red, 79-38, at Newman Arena in Ithaca. On Saturday afternoon at Jadwin Gym, Princeton delivered a carbon-copy performance, dominating the Big Red in every facet of the game en route to a 85-47 win.
The contrast in demeanor could not have been starker.
Trailing 3-2 at the 8:23 mark of the first quarter, Columbia coach Megan Griffith gathered her team while officials reviewed a play to check for possible head contact. Griffith smiled broadly, exuding confidence as she leaned into her team’s huddle. Her players listened and nodded while she spoke, their arms wrapped around each other in a tight circle.
On the other sideline, a grim-looking Carla Berube paced while her Princeton players stood apart from each other, hands of their hips.
Was there meaning in this moment? Did Griffith’s sureness foretell an upset or was she simply trying to radiate belief in her team in the biggest game of the Ivy League season so far?
Ivy Hoops Online contributor George “Toothless Tiger” Clark brings us the postgame press conference after a 80-65 win for Princeton women’s basketball (14-3, 4-0 Ivy) over Columbia (12-5, 3-1) in a key matchup in the Ivy League championship race Saturday. Senior guard Chet Nweke, sophomore guard Madison St. Rose, freshman guard Skye Belker and coach Carla Berube held court at the presser after engineering the win on the court at Jadwin Gym:
Ivy Hoops Online contributor Rob Browne recaps the action:
The Tigers, winners of nine straight, claimed sole possession of first place in the Ancient Eight, while the Lions, which had their own 10-game winning streak stopped, slipped into a three-way tie for second place with Harvard and Brown.
Princeton women’s basketball stole the ball 16 times from the Dartmouth Big Green en route to winning its eighth consecutive game, 63-40, at Leede Arena.
Once again, Princeton (13-3, 3-0 Ivy) controlled the affair from the opening tip, leading wire-to-wire for the third straight outing. Princeton has not yet trailed in an Ivy League contest.