Another sluggish start finally got the best of No. 25 Princeton women’s basketball, which dropped a nail-biter to Rhode Island, 60-58, at the Ryan Center in Kingston, R.I. Sunday.
Coming off a thrilling, double-overtime win over Seton Hall on Wednesday night, the Tigers were due for a letdown against a Rhode Island squad that has dueled the Tigers intensely over the past three seasons.
Once again, the Tigers got out to a slow start, missing 10 of 12 shots to start the game. Meanwhile, senior guard Dee Dee Davis couldn’t miss for the Rams. The senior from the Bronx scored 12 consecutive points for the home team on 3-for-3 shooting from three in the second quarter. Davis led all scorers in the game with 21 points on 8-for-16 shooting.
Trailing most of the game, the Tigers finally found their footing in the fourth quarter, taking a 45-42 lead on two free throws by sophomore guard Madison St. Rose with 8:17 to go in the game. The free throws came as a result of a technical foul called on Rhode Island redshirt sophomore forward Hawa Komara.
The technical foul came at a pivotal time and could have tipped the game decisively in favor of Princeton had the Tigers converted on the possession they were awarded after the St. Rose free throws. But the Tigers could only work the ball for a contested corner three attempt by freshman guard Ashley Chea, which not only missed but led to a runout layup by Davis. Had Chea hit the shot, Princeton would have led by six. Instead, they led tenuously by only one.
Over the final five minutes, the Rams slowly churned out the win, taking a page from the Princeton playbook. Teisha Hyman, a 5-foot-8 guard from White Plains, N.Y., came up big for Rhode Island down the stretch. The graduate student tallied nine points in the final stanza, including a clutch jumper that broke a 56-56 tie with 32 seconds to go in the game.
Trailing 58-56, Princeton had a chance to tie or take the lead. But the Tigers, who struggled all day in the halfcourt set, couldn’t generate a good look. Instead, with time running out, Ellie Mitchell couldn’t handle a pass down low and fumbled the ball out of bounds. The Tigers were forced to foul, and Rhode Island junior guard Sophie Phillips calmly canned both free throws to put the game away.
Or so it seemed.
An already bonkers weekend for Ivy hoops somehow got crazier. Trailing by four with only 15 seconds on the clock, the Tigers consumed 10 seconds before St. Rose launched an errant three. Junior forward Parker Hill grabbed the rebound and laid it in to make it 60-58 with 0.7 seconds left on the clock.
It would take an Elian collapse to save the Tigers. Remarkably, it almost happened when senior center Tenin Magassa fouled St. Rose while the Rams were trying to inbound the ball. Amazingly, the Tigers had the ball again with 0.3 seconds to go and trailing by two.
After a timeout, the Tigers tried to throw the ball to Parker Hill in the paint, but the ball was knocked out of bounds. After a lengthy review, the officials determined that the game was over. There would be no miracle this time.
The Tigers were led by St. Rose, who had a nice bounceback game for the Tigers with 17 points, including 4-for-5 shooting from deep. In fact, St. Rose was the only Tiger to hit from beyond the arc, a key reason Princeton lost this game. The rest of the team went 0-for-8 from that range.
Another problem for Princeton Sunday was its inability to score in the halfcourt. The Tigers looked sluggish when they weren’t in transition. The Rams played the Tigers tight in the halfcourt, and the Tigers couldn’t move the ball around efficiently enough to generate open looks. Senior co-captain Kaitlyn Chen was largely held in check, scoring only seven points on 3-for-10 shooting.
With the loss, the Tigers fall to 5-3 and likely will drop out of the national rankings. They’ll look to get back on track when they take on Quinnipiac at Jadwin Gym Wednesday night. Interestingly, the Bobcats are coming off a dramatic, buzzer-beating win over Rhode Island on Thursday night. The Tigers will need a better start if they want to avoid their first two-game losing streak of the season.