The Princeton women’s basketball team returned to action after a 16-day exam and holiday break to defeat the Vermont Catamounts, 67-47, Saturday afternoon at Patrick Gymnasium in Burlington, Vt.
Once again, the Tigers proved to be rude guests, spoiling Vermont’s 16-game home winning streak. Earlier this season, Princeton snapped Middle Tennessee’s impressive 29-game home court winning streak. With the win, the Tigers moved to 9-3 on the season, while Vermont, the reigning champions of the America East Conference, fell to 8-6.
Any notion that the Tigers might be rusty from their lengthy layoff was quickly dispelled when Princeton raced out to an early 10-2 lead. The Tigers were led in scoring by super sophomore Madison St. Rose, who tallied 23 points on 9-for-16 shooting.
Emma Utterback, a 5-foot-8 graduate student guard from Greenwood, Ind., also netted 23 points for the Catamounts, but it wasn’t nearly enough for Vermont, who was picked to repeat as conference champions in the America East preseason media poll.
The Tigers used balanced scoring to distance themselves early on from the Catamounts. All five Princeton starters managed to get on the scoreboard when Parker Hill deposited a layup on an assist from senior co-captain Kaitlyn Chen with just under two minutes to play in the first quarter.
Chen led the Tigers with five assists, but she achieved a more notable landmark early in the third quarter when her mid-range jumper netted her 999th and 1000th career points in a Princeton uniform. Chen is the 28th player in the history of Princeton women’s basketball to surpass the 1,000-point threshold.
The Tigers flexed their muscles in the second quarter with a 15-3 run to end the first half. Back-to-back treys by St. Rose punctuated the run and sent the Tigers into the locker room with a 15-point lead, 37-22. Although Vermont led Princeton in rebounding at the break, 14-13, the Tigers’ stingy defense had forced the Catamounts into nine turnovers, including five steals. Meanwhile, the Tigers had taken good care of the ball themselves, turning it over only twice in the first half.
Princeton squashed any chance Vermont had to get back in the game early in the third quarter. Freshman guard Skye Belker swished a three to build the lead to 40-22. St. Rose extended the lead to 53-30 with another pair of back-to-back treys. Vermont was forced to call timeout with four minutes and change left in the quarter. The game was effectively over.
The fourth quarter proved to be largely uneventful as the Catamounts tried to claw their way back into the game. A jumper by freshman guard Mari Bickley gave Princeton its largest lead, 61-37, with 9:15 to go in the game. An 8-0 run by Vermont with most of Princeton’s starters watching from the bench made the final score slightly more respectable.
Princeton will wrap up its non-conference season and the calendar year with a clash against LeMoyne on Sunday afternoon in Syracuse, N.Y. A win would give the Tigers a five-game winning streak and some momentum as they head into the all-important Ivy League season.