You never know who’s going to come up big for the Princeton women’s basketball team this season.
On Saturday afternoon in the Music City, it was Olivia Hutcherson.
The junior forward from Johns Creek, Ga. tallied a game high 19 points, all in the second half, to lead the Tigers to a wire-to-wire win over the Belmont Bruins in Nashville, Tenn., 70-58.
The meeting was the first ever between two programs picked in the preseason to win their conferences.
Belmont, a member of the Missouri Valley Conference, came into the game with a 4-4 record that included tough losses at Oklahoma, Tennessee and Ohio State, along with wins over Dayton and a 22-point rout of Brown, 83-61.
The Tigers, making their fourth visit below the Mason-Dixon line this season, brought a six-game winning streak, a NET ranking of 32, and the top ranking in College Insider’s women’s Mid Major Top 25 poll into the contest.
But this anticipated slugfest of two mighty mid-majors looked like a sluggish-fest in the early going, as both teams turned the ball over early and often and missed shots.
Things went poorly for the home team from the get-go.
After winning the opening tip, the Bruins’ Avery Strickland was called for a charge. It was the first of seven first-quarter turnovers for Belmont.
The Tigers got on the scoreboard on its first possession when Madison St. Rose used a crossover dribble to find space at the left elbow. The senior co-captain rose up and drained a mid-range jumper to put the Tigers in front, 2-0.
St. Rose finished with 15 points, six rebounds and an assist before fouling out late in the contest.
Meanwhile, Carla Berube’s club used its signature suffocating defense to frustrate and speed up Belmont, which came up empty on its first six possessions.
The Tigers weren’t much better.
Aside from two three-pointers and a layup by Ashley Chea, the Tigers missed nine of 12 field-goal attempts and turned the ball over four times in the opening stanza.
Despite the sloppy play, Princeton led 15-8 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, back-to-back three-pointers by Toby Nweke sparked a Princeton run and gave the Tigers a 12-point lead, 28-16, with just over six minutes to play in the half.
The sophomore sharpshooter from Woodbine, Md. provided valuable points off the bench for the Tigers after coming up empty from the field in her last outing versus Seton Hall.
But Belmont responded.
Taking advantage of a size-advantage in the post, the Bruins worked the ball to Hilary Fuller, a 6-foot-2 forward from Brisbane, Australia, who tallied back-to-back buckets to bring Belmont to within five at the intermission, 36-31.
Fuller led Belmont in scoring, finishing with 17 points on 7-for-14 shooting.
In the third quarter, Hutcherson simply took over the game.
After failing to connect on all four of her first-half field-goal attempts, the junior forward found her finishing touch in the second half.
Hutcherson began her scoring spree by converting a reverse layup on an outlet pass from Chea at the 8:23 mark of the third quarter. Hutcherson then converted two more layups on back-to-back assists from Fadima Tall.
Meanwhile, Princeton’s defense mauled the Bruins, getting ten consecutive stops to open the third quarter. A layup by Tall with 5:21 left in the third gave the Tigers a fifteen point lead, 46-31, their largest of the game.
Belmont finally stopped the bleeding when Claire Hyde hit a three pointer with just over four minutes to play in the frame. Back-to-back treys by Tuti Jones further slashed the Tigers lead to 51-42 with 1:23 to go in the third.
A Hutcherson jumper closed out the third quarter scoring for the Tigers, who took an eight-point lead into the fourth quarter, 53-45.
Of Princeton’s 17 third quarter points, ten were tallied by Hutcherson.
In the final stanza, Belmont continued to pound the ball inside to Fuller, trying to exploit their size advantage in the paint. The sophomore big opened the scoring with a layup over Tall, who with three fouls, couldn’t afford to play overly aggressive defense.
But the Tigers responded with a clutch Hutcherson jumper from the free-throw line that banked in off the glass.
The defensive stopper simply could not be stopped in the second half, hitting seven of 11 field goal attempts in the third and fourth quarters.
A three-pointer by Tall with 6:22 to go put the Tigers back up by eight, 62-54, and from there the Tigers cruised to victory.
Speaking of Tall, the junior forward appeared to largely be back to regular strength in this contest, registering a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds in 30 minutes of playing time.
The Tigers were simply a different team when Tall was on the floor. The 6-foot-1 forward conducted a two-person game with Hutcherson throughout much of the fourth quarter, consistently finding her fellow forward in the paint with brilliant entry passes for layups.
But the star of the game was Hutcherson, who seemingly rebounded every Princeton miss in the fourth quarter and finished with her first career double-double after scoring 19 points and grabbing 11 rebounds, a career high.
With the win, Princeton improved to 9-1 and notched yet another win over a high quality opponent on the road. The Tigers seem poised to pick up more votes and possibly an official ranking when the Associated Press Top 25 and Coaches Polls are released on Monday.
The Tigers will return home for a big, in-state rivalry matchup with Rutgers at Jadwin Gymnasium on Dec. 10.
Things don’t get any easier for Belmont (4-5) as the Bruins will travel to Lexington to take on the Kentucky Wildcats on Dec. 14.