Princeton women’s basketball looked every bit like a team that had to endure a four-hour bus trip from Manhattan to Ithaca after a high-profile loss on Friday night, being outplayed and outhustled by Cornell over the opening 20 minutes of Saturday’s contest.
Whatever head coach Carla Berube said at halftime did the trick, as her No. 24 Tigers (20-3, 8-2 Ivy) found a second gear and dominated on both sides of the ball to erase an eight-point halftime deficit and cruise to a 59-38 victory over the Big Red (8-15, 3-7).
“I thought we could’ve played a little bit harder. I thought we could’ve executed a little bit better,” the winning coach said about her midgame messaging when asked by ESPN+. “We just needed to get the flow going offensively, hit the spots versus their very good zone and then we finally did that in the third and fourth quarter.”
With four games remaining in the regular season, Princeton remained tied for first place with Columbia, which defeated the Orange and Black the previous evening, and one game ahead of Brown and Harvard.
While the Tigers sit at the top of the conference standings, the team is presently holding the No. 2 seed based on the season sweep by the Lions.
Despite starting the Ancient Eight campaign with two straight wins, including the upset of Columbia at Levien Gymnasium, Emily Garner’s squad lost its seventh game in its last eight outings, including six at home, to drop to sixth place.
Both teams used tough defense to stifle any sustained offense in the opening quarter and Princeton finished the first 10 minutes with a slim 10-9 advantage.
Cornell finally broke free, using a triple from sophomore guard Paige Engels and a layup from senior forward Emily Pape to spark a 7-0 run that turned a four-point deficit into a 16-13 lead halfway through the second quarter.
After junior guard/forward Fadima Tall’s free throws made it a one-point game, a right elbow-triple from sophomore guard Audrey Chen, a driving layup from Engels and a fading right baseline jumper from first-year guard Willa Chinn sent the Big Red to the locker room up 23-15.
While Cornell only shot 34.6% (9-for-26) over the opening twenty minutes, it was better than Princeton, which connected on 18.5% (5-for-27) of its field goal attempts, including a 0-for-6 effort from beyond the arc.
The lone bright spot for the Orange and Black was their 71.4% (5-for-7) results from the free throw line.
In addition to limiting the production of the Tigers’ high-powered offense during the first two quarters, the Big Red battled Princeton to a tie on the glass with 19 rebounds apiece.
Cornell stretched its lead to double digits seconds into the third quarter when Chen found junior guard/forward Rachel Kaus streaking down the lane for a quick layup.
With the Big Red’s leading scorer finally getting on the board, the home crowd was in a celebratory mood. But that joy was short-lived.
A Tall layup over Kaus on the next possession sparked a 23-3 run, punctuated by three quarter-ending triples by junior guard Skye Belker and first-year guard Grace O’Sullivan, that left Princeton up 38-28 at the end of the third quarter.
Any hope Cornell had of getting back into the game were dashed when senior guard Madison St. Rose hit two driving layups to start a 13-3 run over the first four minutes of the final stanza to make it an insurmountable 20-point lead.
Over the decisive 20 minutes, the Tigers offense improved to 55.6% (15-for-27) from the field, including a 50% (3-for-6) result from three, 100% (11-for-11) from the free throw line and 13 points off turnovers.
Meanwhile, Princeton’s lock-down defense held Cornell to 25% (4-for-16) field goal shooting, with 16.7% (1-for-4) from beyond the arc, 60% (6-for-10) from the free throw line and zero points off turnovers.
The Tigers also won the battle of the boards in the second half 17-9 with a 25.5% advantage in total rebounding rate.
St. Rose finished the night with 15 points and seven rebounds, while Tall added 11 points and six boards.
Belker was the other Princeton player in double-digits with 12.
There were lots of bright spots for the Tigers on Saturday night, despite the difficult first half, but the lack of shooting efficiency from junior guard Ashley Chea and the absence of sophomore guard Toby Nweke, who is sixth on the team with 24.5 minutes per game in Ivy play, were noticeable concerns.
Chea, the 2025 First Team All-Ivy who shot a combined 25% (3-for-12) against Columbia and Penn, only had two points on 12.5% shooting (1-for-8), with her solo bucket coming at the 0:27-mark of the fourth quarter.
Nweke’s situation was not discussed during the broadcast.
Cornell was led by Engels and junior guard Clarke Jackson with eight points each, but Kaus and Pape, the team’s two leading scorers were held to only four points apiece.
Princeton returns to Jadwin Gym for a big game against third-place Brown next Saturday afternoon. The Tigers and Bears last met on Jan. 24, with the Orange and Black winning a tough battle 58-49.
On the same day, Cornell heads to Cambridge to take on Harvard, which beat the Big Red by 46 points in their first matchup and lost to Brown on Saturday evening.