The Princeton Tigers women’s basketball team probably wishes that third quarters could be dropped from the NCAA Tournament.
For the second year in a row, the Tigers squandered a first-half lead in the Big Dance, losing on Wednesday night in the opening game of the 2025 NCAA Tournament to fellow No. 11 seed Iowa State, 68-63, in a play-in game at Purcell Pavilion on the Notre Dame campus in South Bend, Ind.
A year ago, facing yhen-No. 8 West Virginia in the first round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament, the No. 9 Tigers took a two-point lead into the intermission before stumbling in the third quarter, 18-7, and dropping the game, 63-53, to the Mountaineers.
This year, the third-quarter collapse was even more monumental.
Nursing a 15-point lead after senior center Parker Hill netted a layup on Princeton’s first possession of the second half, the Tigers went cold, missing 10 straight shots and turning the ball over four times.
As the Tigers fell out of rhythm in the third stanza, the Cyclones found theirs.
A layup by sophomore center Audi Crooks started the Iowa State onslaught.
After a miss on the other end by Hill, Iowa State tried to get the ball to Crooks again in the paint. But Hill, fronting Crooks, deflected the pass into the corner. Perhaps thinking Crooks had touched the ball last, Skye Belker failed to retrieve the ball before it went out of bounds and the officials awarded possession back to Iowa State.
On the ensuing inbounds pass, the Tigers left sophomore Addy Brown open at the top of the key, and the Iowa State forward drilled a three to give the Cyclones momentum. Brown finished with 22 points on 9-for-16 shooting.
The Tigers needed a play to stop the bleeding, but Fadima Tall was tied up as she tried to go up for a layup. Moments later, Arianma Jackson hit another three for Iowa State, cutting Princeton’s lead to 40-33.
At that point, the Tigers probably needed a timeout to halt Iowa State’s 8-0 run, but coach Carla Berube decided to let her team play through adversity. Unfortunately for the Tigers, things only got worse.
After two free throws by Olivia Hutcherson, the Cyclones went on another run, sparked by a layup by Crooks. Fadima Tall sold out to steal an entry pass to Brown, but Brown gained control and went in for an uncontested layup to shave Princeton’s led to five, 42-37, with 5:48 to play in the third.
Moments later, Ashley Chea slipped, fell and coughed up the ball to Emily Ryan, who dribbled in for an attempted layup. Remarkably, Ryan missed the bunny, but with no Princeton defender in sight, Kelsey Joens picked up the loose change and deposited the ball for a bucket to make it 42-39.
Finally, Berube called timeout. But it was too late.
The Tigers continued to struggle to find any rhythm as Chea slipped on the floor again, recovered, and fired an errant three. The unanimous First Team All-Ivy guard paced Princeton with 15 points in the first half, but couldn’t find her range throughout the second half, going 0-for-4 in the final 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, ISU continued to surge. A mid-range jumper by Brown finally pushed the Cyclones into the lead, 43-42, at the 3:25 mark of the third quarter. The Cyclones never looked back.
A buzzer-beating layup by Ryan put the exclamation point on Iowa State’s emphatic third-quarter comeback as the Cyclones took a 52-47 lead into the final stanza. The Tiger were outscored 27-9 in the frame, including 16-2 in the paint.
In the fourth quarter, Crooks took over. The Cyclones committed to feeding their hulking First-Team All-Big 12 center, and she delivered layups over Parker Hill on four straight possessions to open the quarter. Although Hill admirably held Crooks to only nine first-half points, she inexplicably got no help in trying to defend Crooks in the second half. Crooks, who averages more than 23 points per game, tallied 27 in Wednesday night’s game.
Five straight points by Belker kept Princeton close, but the Tigers had no answer for Crooks or Brown, who finished with a combined 49 points in the contest.
A free throw by Tall, who led Princeton with 19 points, capped the scoring as Iowa State advanced, 68-63, to face No. 6 Michigan in a first-round matchup on Friday.
After the game, Berube gave credit to Iowa State.
“That third quarter was tough,” Berube said. “They came out of halftime and really took it to us and then they kind of sustained that through the rest of the game. Really proud of my team and my student-athletes and my staff for an incredible season.”
Berube also paid tribute to a talented and spirited senior class that contributed to three Ivy League championships during their time on campus.
“Making it to the NCAA Tournament is quite a feat in any year and definitely in a year where we’re young,” Berube said. “We had lost four starters from last year, but I thought Parker [Hill] and her class were amazing leaders and helped this young team along in playing some really great basketball. We’re certainly upset and sad that we’re not moving on, but it was a great season nonetheless.”
After playing her last game in a Princeton uniform, senior center Parker Hill told reporters what it meant to her to play at Princeton.
“I’ve loved the time that I’ve been here,” Hill said. “It always sucks to end your season and end on a loss and I think this game was winnable for us, which stings a little bit more, but, yeah, this program means a lot to me. I couldn’t be happier with where I ended up and I look forward to seeing what the rest of them do next year and the year after that.”
The win gave Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly, in his 37th year of coaching, his 800th career win, the third-highest total among active Division I coaches.
Asked after the game what it meant to help deliver Fennelly his 800th win, Brown praised her coach.
“It means a lot,” Brown told the ESPN broadcast crew. “I mean, he works so hard. He puts everything into it. He’s the hardest working guy I know. So it means a lot that we can get in this favor and keep moving in March.”
The third-quarter collapse overshadowed an outstanding first half for the Tigers, highlighted by a dominant second quarter that saw Princeton out score Iowa State by 27-7. It was the first time in 109 games that the Cyclones had been held to under 10 points in a quarter.
But the inability of this young Princeton team to maintain momentum in the second half of big games was a pattern for the season.
Five days ago, playing for a postseason bid at the Ivy League tournament, Princeton led Harvard by 13 in the second half before succumbing to Harmoni Turner and the Crimson, 70-67. In Princeton’s 58-50 loss at Columbia on January 20, the Tigers squandered a 10-point lead at the half in a disastrous third quarter. Several weeks later, playing at home, Princeton led Columbia by six at the end of the third quarter before fading in the fourth and losing 64-60.
Losses like these are bound to happen to a young team, and the good news for the Orange and Black is that most of this talented squad will be back next year with invaluable tournament experience under its belt.
So despair not, Tigers Nation. Despite letting a win on the biggest stage slip away this year, the future is bright for Berube and Princeton. With four returning starters along with a hopefully healthy Madison St. Rose, the Tigers are primed to be be a juggernaut next year and beyond.
Tough ending. But considering how far this young group came after losing star Madison St Rose at the beginning of the season we have much to look forward to. Great Job, Carla and team. I hope that Carla is a full Tiger now and stays with us for many years. She deserves an Honorary Class Membership.
They lost Madison St. Rose and still made the NCAA tourney. Princeton WBB should be proud.
The men’s team on the other hand… yeah.