We’re only one week into the Ivy League hoops season and already one of the most significant matchups of the campaign is upon us.
On Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. ET, the high-flying Harvard Crimson will invade Jadwin Gymnasium to take on the six-time defending Ivy League champion Princeton Tigers.
Here are three insights into the importance of the game and some of the key factors that may play a role in determining the outcome:
1. The stakes are high for both teams
Although this is only the second game of a 14-round gauntlet in Ivy competition for both squads, the stakes couldn’t be higher for both teams.
Harvard enters the contest with a 10-game winning streak and a gaudy record of 12-1, best among Ivy teams. And yet for the Crimson, the matchup against the defending champions provides a chance to prove that Harvard is a real contender for the Ivy League title this season.
You may argue that with impressive wins already in hand over Indiana, Boston College, St. John’s and Northwestern, the Crimson have nothing to prove. But keep in mind that Harvard hasn’t beaten Princeton at Jadwin in 11 years. And the Tigers are currently riding a 24-game winning streak at home, the third-longest streak in the nation.
In addition, during the Carrie Moore coaching era, which started with the 2022-23 season, the Crimson are 2-10 against the Big Two of Princeton and Columbia. A win at Jadwin on Saturday would shatter a ceiling of sorts and unequivocally establish the Crimson as the team to beat in the Ivies this year.
In her midweek press conference on Wednesday, Harvard coach Carrie Moore acknowledged the importance of the game for her program.
“[T]his game in particular is just a great opportunity to . . . really see where we’re at,” Moore told reporters. ” … But no matter the outcome, I feel like it’s going to be . . . something that we’re going to learn from in a lot of different ways, that I think will propel us to be even better in our conference season. So yeah, excited for it.”
Finally, a win over Princeton would boost Harvard’s position in the polls and computer rankings. The Crimson currently sit in the 29th spot of the Associated Press Top 25 with 10 votes in the most recent poll. Defeating the Tigers would not only qualify as a coveted quad-1 win and boost Harvard’s NET rating of 37, it could also vault the Crimson into the AP Top 25 for the first in program history.
For Princeton, knocking off the Crimson would qualify as its best win of the season and give the Tigers a much needed boost in the NET rankings.
Princeton sits at No. 45 in the NET, which places the Tigers squarely on the bubble should they need an at-large berth to get into the field of 68. Remember, Columbia was snubbed from the NCAA Tournament in 2023 despite having a NET ranking of 47.
A win over Harvard would also provide validation and build confidence for a young Tigers squad that is still trying to establish itself as worthy of being selected in the preseason to repeat as Ivy League champions.
2. Containing Harmoni Turner will be a priority for Princeton
A forte of Princeton coach Carla Berube is her ability to come up with defensive schemes to limit or take away the other team’s best player.
Just ask Emily Pape of Cornell. The Big Red guard came into last Saturday’s matchup against Princeton averaging just under 14 points per game, eighth highest in the Ivy League. She left Jadwin with two points in Princeton’s 72-39 romp.
The task of containing Harmoni Turner will provide Princeton’s defense with its toughest assignment of the season. Turner averages 20.7 points per game, tops in the Ivies and 13th-highest in the nation.
Turner has already been recognized twice as the Ivy League Player of the Week this season and is a leading contender to win Ivy Player of the Year honors in March. Against Boston College, the senior guard was unstoppable, pouring in 41 points to set the all-time single-game scoring record at Harvard.
But the Crimson are vulnerable when opponents find a way to limit Turner. In Harvard’s sole loss of the season, Quinnipiac held Turner to nine points on 4-for-15 shooting.
The Crimson have only one other player ranking among the top 25 Ivy scorers – Elena Rodriguez, who averages 11.8 points per game. In contrast, Princeton has more balanced scoring with four players ranking in the Ivy top 25, including Ashley Chea (12.6 ppg), Skye Belker (12.5), Fadima Tall (9.4), and Tabitha Amanze (7.9).
Moore expects Princeton to use Olivia Hutcherson as a primary defender against Turner with other defenders switching and doubling whenever Turner gets activated.
“[I]t’s less about her . . . primary matchup, and more about who’s actually setting the ball screen, and [who] has to navigate her coming off the ball screen,” Moore said. “So we’re really going to try to find ways to really go at certain guys that we feel like she can . . . maybe turn the corner and attack . . . downhill against.”
3. Can Princeton handle Harvard’s pressure?
Princeton’s current five-game winning streak has come against teams that typically don’t apply full-court pressure. Harvard will almost certainly present a different look for the Tigers as the Crimson have been utilizing different forms of pressure throughout the season and achieving great success with it.
Harvard ranks first in the Ivies in team defense, allowing only 52.5 points per game. Moreover, the Crimson specialize in forcing turnovers, inducing 23 turnovers per game while giving the ball away itself only 12.8 times per game for an Ivy League-leading turnover margin of plus-10.15.
“I think the goal is always . . . we want teams to feel us right, like we want them to feel uncomfortable,” Moore told reporters. “And … whether it’s 94 feet away from the basket or 15 feet from the basket, we want to have a presence defensively.”
Princeton rarely employs a press and has struggled at times this season against teams that consistently apply pressure. Against Portland’s relentless pressure, for example, the Tigers turned the ball over 29 times, the most in recorded program history.
The Crimson are quite aware of how Princeton struggled with Portland, and Moore hopes to use that game to inspire her crew.
“[W]e’re going to show that film to our team, and in hopes that that they get really confident about what they can do in terms of flying around,” Moore said.
In addition to handling pressure, it will be important for Princeton’s bigs, Hill and Amanze, to secure with the ball when receiving entry passes and rebounding in the paint. Both centers have at times been susceptible to getting their pockets picked by defenders with quick hands. Harvard has been particularly adept in snatching the ball from opponents, leading the Ivy League with an average of 12.62 steals per game.
A key factor in all of this will be the health of Belker, Princeton’s most experienced and reliable ball-handler. Belker has been nursing a sore ankle, an injury she may have aggravated on Saturday in Princeton’s rout of Cornell. If Belker is unable to play or continues to be slowed by her tender ankle, Harvard may be able to exploit a young Tigers backcourt with its pressure.
The Ivy League championship won’t be determined on Saturday when Harvard and Princeton clash at Jadwin, but whoever wins this marquee matchup will stake an early claim to Ivy supremacy.