Kaitlyn Chen put the Princeton women’s basketball team on her back and carried the Tigers over the finish line on Monday night in a thrilling 61-58 triumph over the Villanova Wildcats at Finneran Pavilion.
The senior guard rallied her team from a five-point fourth-quarter deficit, scoring a career-high 31 points, more than half of Princeton’s total output.
For Villanova, it was a second straight heartbreaking defeat after the Wildcats dropped a rugged Big 5 clash with St. Joseph’s, 73-68, at Hagan Arena on Saturday night.
The game see-sawed in the first half with Princeton running out to an early 7-2 lead.. The Wildcats struck back with a 12-5 run to take a 22-16 lead at the end of the first quarter.
After Princeton ceded the first bucket of the second stanza to Villanova, Madison St. Rose filled her bingo card with a jumper, a trey, and two free throws to bring the Tigers to within one, 24-23. The sophomore guard from Old Bridge, N.J. finished the game with 12 points, an assist and two steals.
Villanova responded with an 8-0 run of their own to take a 35-30 lead into the locker room at the intermission. The Wildcats were paced by Lucy Olsen, a second-team All-Big East guard from Collegeville, Penn., who tallied 10 first-half points despite sitting for much of the second quarter with two fouls. Olsen averages 21 points per game this season, third-best in the nation.
In the second half, the Tigers came out determined to wrestle the game away from Villanova. The Tigers outrebounded their hosts 26-12 in the half, led by senior forward Ellie Mitchell, who hauled in a game-high 19 rebounds.
Meanwhile, Chen used her playmaking ability to turn the tide in favor of the Tigers. The co-captain drained a trey and then intercepted a pass and drove the lane to tie the game at 35. A nifty turnaround jumper by freshman guard Skye Belker gave the Tigers the lead, 37-35, with 7:22 to go in the third quarter. An Olsen drive and scoop shot ended the Villanova drought and tied the game at 37.
As the third quarter see-sawed, the game appeared to be settling into a shooting matchup between Chen and Olsen. Ultimately, Chen would win the contest.
The fourth quarter began with Princeton holding a tenuous two-point lead, 49-47. While the Tigers were dominating on the boards, they were struggling to convert jump shots, managing only 20-for-59 shooting early in the fourth quarter.
Taking advantage of a Princeton scoring drought, the Wildcats retook the lead on a layup by forward Christina Dalce, 54-49, with 6:45 left on the clock. The 6-foot-2 junior from Edison, N.J. presented a challenge all night for the Tigers, registering a double-double for the Wildcats with 16 points and 12 rebounds.
But Chen refused to let the game slip away for Princeton. The reigning Ivy League Player of the Year took the game over by scoring eight straight points for the Tigers, punctuated by an insane baseline drive that somehow found the bottom of the net while Chen was taken to the floor by a Wildcat defender. Chen converted the and-one free throw to put the Tigers ahead, 57-56, with two minutes to play.
Neither team could score after that until Mitchell, a 47% free-throw shooter, made one of two from the line after Villanova was forced to foul with 13 seconds on the clock.
Why Princeton chose to inbound the ball to their worst free throw shooter is a puzzler, but it all worked out when aenior guard Chet Nweke outpositioned Dalce for a crucial offensive rebound on Mitchell’s missed foul shot. Once again, Villanova was forced to foul and Nweke sank one of two free throws to put the Tigers up three with 12 seconds to play. Nweke’s free throw was the only bench point of the game for Princeton.
Needing a three to tie, Villanova worked the ball to Olsen who fired up an errant trey. Nweke grabbed the rebound and the game appeared to be over. But Nweke’s momentum carried her foot over the end line, and the officials awarded the ball back to Villanova with 5.8 seconds to play – more than enough time for Olsen to launch another three.
Olsen’s off-balance shot missed badly, but amazingly, St. Rose managed to hit Olsen’s arm, giving the nation’s third m-leading scorer three free throws. Olsen’s third opportunity in 10 seconds to knot the game failed when the junior guard missed her first foul shot. The Tigers would hold on for another huge road triumph.
With the win, Princeton improved to 7-3 on the season and 2-0 against Big East foes. The Tigers return to action Wednesday night against another power program, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, in a battle for New Jersey supremacy at Jadwin Gym. A Tigers win would provide Princeton with a rare season sweep of its in-state rival by both the men’s and women’s teams.