After dropping its first Ivy contest and home game of the season Feiday night to Columbia, the Princeton women’s basketball team redeemed itself Saturday by battling past Cornell, 72-61, in the second game of a back-to-back weekend at Jadwin Gymnasium.
The win, combined with Columbia’s surprising loss at Penn, catapulted Princeton (18-2, 6-1) back into sole possession of first place in the Ivy standings at the halfway mark of the Ivy League season.
The loss dropped Cornell (8-12, 3-4 Ivy) into a tie with Penn for fifth place, one spot removed from qualifying for postseason play in the Ivy League Tournament, which the Big Red will host in Ithaca in March.
After jumping out to an early 7-2 lead, the Tigers struggled to put distance between themselves and the pesky Big Red.
The Tigers led by only two, 18-16, at the end of the first quarter behind Olivia Hutcherson’s eight points on 4-for-4 shooting.
Hutcherson finished with 20 points, tying a career high. The junior forward from Johns Creek, Ga. also grabbed seven rebounds, all in the first half.
In the second quarter, the Tigers cooled off, missing 11 of their first 13 shots.
Meanwhile, Cornell found offense from Rachel Kaus, who twice converted acrobatic reverse layups in the paint. Kaus led all scorers with 12 first-half points and finished with a team-high 20 points on 8-for-12 shooting.
A Skye Belker triple broke Princeton’s dry spell with 1:24 to go in the first half, and the two teams ran to the locker room tied at 25-25.
Despite leading for 74% of the first half, the Tigers had nothing to show for it.
In the third quarter, the Big Red came out on fire, hitting ten of eleven shots, including three triples by Emily Pape, to take a 41-37 lead with 5:14 to play in the stanza.
Pape finished with 14 points, including four triples, all in the second half.
But a shot-clock-buzzer-beating jumper from the elbow by Hutcherson tied the game at 41.
Moments later, a line-drive triple by Skye Belker ended the third quarter scoring with Princeton on top by two, 48-46.
Belker continued her hot shooting in the fourth quarter, swishing her fifth trey of the game to give Princeton its largest lead to that point, 53-46, with 9:01 to play.
The smooth shooting guard from Los Angeles tallied eight points in the final stanza and finished with 20 points and five assists, a team high.
The Tigers closed out the game by outscoring Cornell 24-15 in the fourth quarter to earn their 16th straight triumph over the Big Red.
Here are three Tiger Takeaways from Princeton’s eventful weekend:
1. Princeton’s loss on Friday to Columbia will end up being a positive in the long run.
The Tigers came into the weekend undefeated at home and in Ivy League play. They were ranked No. 19 in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll, No. 1 in the College Insider Womens Mid Major Top 25, and No. 39 in the NET.
They also had a 15-game winning streak, third-longest in the nation.
They left the weekend with all of those standings lost or diminished.
Despite this, it will turn out to be a good thing for these Tigers to have faced adversity before the postseason begins.
Until this weekend, the Tigers had barely experienced adversity. Yes, they had often trailed late in games. And, yes, they had stared near-certain defeat in the face when they travelled to Fairfax, Va. to play A-10 power George Mason.
Yet this team of destiny had found the will to rally in nearly every adverse situation they faced. And in the end, they had emerged victorious and smiley-faced, except for the road trip to College Park to face nationally-ranked Maryland way back in November.
After getting punched in the face by Columbia on Friday night, there were no smiley faces on Princeton’s bench. There were only bruises, both physically and figuratively.
Until this weekend, the Tigers had been living large, basking in the glory of success and national admiration.
But at the same time, for much of the season, the Tigers have been playing under enormous pressure, carrying a target on their backs and offering every opponent they played an opportunity to score a tasty, quad-one win.
After scrapping out single-digit wins over Penn, Harvard and Brown in recent weeks, Carla Berube’s squad looked worn from bearing the burden of the building expectations being placed upon them by their followers and their own coaching staff.
The humbling loss to Columbia should release some of that pressure.
The Tigers no longer have to worry about impressing the pollsters or the pundits. Instead, they now have the opportunity to be fueled by anger and a drive for redemption.
In 13 days, the Tigers will face Columbia in a rematch at Levien Gym in Morningside Heights.
Though they can’t afford to overlook a talented Penn squad coming into Jadwin next weekend, this Tigers team needs to prepare itself mentally, emotionally and physically to deliver a heavy does of payback to the Lions on their home court on Feb. 13, just as they did two years ago in the championship game of the 2024 Ivy League Tournament.
Beyond being motivated to seek revenge, the Tigers can and should learn from their humbling defeat on Friday.
The Tigers were out-muscled by Columbia in the paint on Friday night, a result that shouldn’t sit well with Princeton’s trilogy of front court warriors, Olivia Hutcherson, Fadima Tall and Taylor Charles.
And Princeton’s guards didn’t fight hard enough in response to Columbia’s pressure on the perimeter.
The Lions stuck like glue to Ashley Chea, who missed all eight of her field goal attempts on Friday night.
Chea had a much better performance against Cornell today, tallying 14 points and dishing five assists.
Hopefully, the talented sharpshooter learned that she needs to embrace the challenge of facing pressure and fight through it to earn more open looks for herself and her teammates.
If we have learned anything about the 2025-26 Tigers, it’s that they are a resilient bunch who will not shrink from a challenge.
In many ways, Princeton wrenching defeat on Friday echoes a similar loss suffered on Feb. 24, 2024, when Columbia handed Princeton its first Ivy loss of the season and snapped the Tigers’ 15-game winning streak. A team led by Kaitlyn Chen, Chet Nweke and Ellie Mitchell responded to adversity by winning their next five games and cutting down the nets at Ivy Madness on Columbia’s home court.
This year’s squad can mimic the 2023-24 championship team by regrouping, refocusing and recommitting to the central tasks ahead: winning an Ivy League regular season title, winning the Ivy League Tournament, and making a run in the NCAA Tournament.
2. Madison St. Rose’s uncertain injury status is a real concern for the Tigers.
It’s no coincidence that Princeton’s fortunes turned south against on Friday night against Columbia once Madison St. Rose tweaked her knee and left the game early in the third quarter.
Until St. Rose crumbled to the floor grabbing her right knee, she had led all scorers with 17 points.
Princeton’s leading scorer sat out Saturday’s game versus Cornell. She has now missed two of Princeton’s last four games and nearly half of another due to concerns over re-injuring her right knee.
The Tigers are already severely shorthanded with only 11 rostered players.
In addition to St. Rose, several other members of Berube’s squad have already endured injuries this season and missed games, including the team’s leading rebounder, Fadima Tall.
For the Tigers to maintain the dream of reclaiming Ivy supremacy, St. Rose must heal and return to action soon, hopefully at full force.
Fortunately, Berube seems to believe her senior co-captain will be able to do exactly that.
In her postgame press conference on Friday night, Berube expressed confidence that her playmaking guard will return to action soon. She also said St. Rose will be evaluated on Monday by a medical team to determine whether her knee suffered a setback.
Orange and Black nation will await the results with bated breath.
3. Eadie does it.
An important positive development for Princeton is the continued development of Emily Eadie as an impactful backup post player.
Eadie made the most of her seven minutes on Saturday, tallying four points on 2-for-3 shooting.
The sophomore forward from Newport Beach, Cal., also asserted herself on the defensive glass, grabbing three big rebounds and dishing an assist.
Eadie’s improving play provides a vital safety valve for Berube, especially during the grind of back-to-back Ivy League weekends.