Princeton Athletics announced Friday that standout junior shooting guard Madison St. Rose will miss the remainder of the 2024-25 basketball season due to an anterior cruciate ligament tear in her left knee.
St. Rose suffered the injury last week in the fourth quarter of a road contest against Quinnipiac, which the Tigers lost, 74-66.
The extent of the injury was not immediately known, and fans of St. Rose have been waiting with a sense of dread for several days for more definitive news on the junior’s status.
St. Rose did not play in Princeton’s stirring win at Seton Hall last night, an ominous hint that her injury might be serious.
Princeton coach Carla Berube released a statement Friday expressing optimism that St. Rose will make a full recovery:
“We are heartbroken for Maddie and her season ending injury. She was playing some of the best basketball of her career. We know that Maddie will attack her rehab and recovery like she does every practice and game with grit, toughness and an undeniable work ethic. Our training staff, coaching staff and team will be with her every step of the way, and we can’t wait to see her back on the hardwood next year. Until then, she will continue to be a tremendous leader and teammate for our young team this season.”
St. Rose has been one of the Ivy League’s brightest stars from the beginning of her collegiate career. As a freshman during the 2022-23 season, she played in all 30 of Princeton’s games, averaged 8.8 points per game and was named Ivy League Rookie of the Year.
As a sophomore last season, St. Rose started every game for Princeton and nearly doubled her scoring output to 14.8 points per game. She was an All-Ivy League Second Team selection and was considered a prime contender this season for Ivy League Player of the Year honors.
In four games this season, St. Rose had increased her scoring to 17 points per game, best on the team, and emerged as a key rebounding force, securing a team high 7.8 boards per game. She also led the Tigers with 1.8 steals per game.
Under NCAA rules, a student athlete with a season-ending injury who plays in less than 30% of her team’s games should be eligible to apply for a redshirt. The problem in this case is that Ivy League rules do not allow graduate students to compete in varsity athletics, so assuming St. Rose remains on track to graduate in the spring of 2026, she’ll be forced to transfer outside the Ivy League for her fourth year of collegiate eligibility.
This is pretty devastating news for Princeton women’s basketball. St. Rose is a transcendent basketball talent who has inspired her teammates and followers with a powerful yet graceful style of play and a winning demeanor.
She was named a team captain this season by Berube and was expected to lead a young Tigers group throughout the 2024-25 campaign both on and off the court.
During a preseason interview with Ivy Hoops Online, Berube described lofty expectations for the 5-foot-10 guard from Old Bridge, N.J.
“She’s a three-level scorer. She impacts the game in a lot of different ways, from her defense to her rebounding ability — we’re getting on her to crash the offensive boards more now that Chet [Nweke] and Ellie [Mitchell] are not in there wreaking havoc,” Berube said. “But she’s just a confident player [who] makes her teammates around her better around her. And we want her to just keep elevating her game … She’s such a great passer as well, and looking to make plays for her teammates. But yeah, we’re going to run some things for her for sure. She’s just such a great scorer. But she’s able to make plays and impact the game in a really positive way in a lot of different ways.”
In Princeton’s first game without their superstar, the Tigers showed incredible resiliency on the road last night, upsetting the Seton Hall Pirates of the Big East, 78-75.
Skye Belker, who dazzled in the backcourt as a freshman last year, filled the void by scoring a game-high 21 points, including 4-for-5 from three-point distance. Clearly, Belker’s role on this Tigers team will increase in the absence of St. Rose, as will that of Ashley Chea, who has entered the starting lineup this season after coming off the bench last year to play key minutes for the five-time defending Ivy League Tournament champions.
The loss of St. Rose also opens the door for Mari Bickley, another outstanding recruit from the Class of ’27, to get more playing time. Bickley showed flashes of brilliance last season, especially in a closely contested road tilt at UCLA in which she scored a career-high 10 points in only nine minutes of playing time.
The 5-foot 10 guard from Akron, Ohio has not quite broken through yet this season, although she did hit a key three last night to put the Tigers in front for good early in the second period.
Cristina Parrella, a sharpshooting freshman guard from Closter, N.J., will also be called upon to play more minutes in the backcourt with St. Rose out of the lineup.
Overall, it will take a complete team effort to fill St. Rose’s sizable sneakers. The coaching staff will also have their work cut out for it.
Meanwhile, St. Rose will continue to help her team from the sideline, and her infectious will to win will undoubtedly continue to inspire confidence on a roster filled with talent and pride.