LOS ANGELES – A stellar season for the Princeton women’s basketball team came to an abrupt end at Pauley Pavilion today as the No. 9 Tigers fell to No. 8 Oklahoma State, 82-68, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
“[This] was not the outcome we were hoping for,” said a disappointed coach Carla Berube in the postgame press conference for Princeton (26-4). “Of course, a ton of credit to Oklahoma State. They were really tough. They made things really, really hard for us on both ends of the floor.”
The larger Cowgirls (24-9) dominated the Tigers on the boards and in the paint, out muscling Princeton on the glass, 35-25, and outscoring the Tigers in the paint, 36-22.
“We struggled. We’re undersized. We know it,” said Berube. “That’s who we have been all year.”
Though both teams entered this contest–the first ever meeting between the two programs–with several similarities and very balanced scoring, the main difference turned out to be a single player, forward Achol Akot, who scored a career best 28 points on an amazingly efficient 12-for-15 shooting performance.
The 6-foot-1 junior transfer from Central Florida registered a double-double with ten rebounds, an assist and a steal in 35 minutes of playing time.
The Tigers simply couldn’t handle Akot, especially when low ball screens created mismatches for her against smaller Princeton defenders.
“They were setting a low ball screen that we at times tried to go over and stay with Wooten and Whiting and Timmer and then Gray,” explained Berube. “And sometimes we were trying to get underneath and sometimes we were trying to switch it. We’re trying all different things … They just made it really, really difficult. That is the bulk of their offense. It’s just ball screens. And they’re really, really good at it.”
The Tigers got off to a good start when Ashley Chea’s jumper from the left elbow found nothing but net. A Princeton stop followed by a finish under the basket by Olivia Hutcherson gave the Tigers an early 4-0 lead.
Oklahoma State responded with a 15-4 run, spearheaded by seven second-chance points on four offensive rebounds, a part of the game the Cowgirls emphasize and that Princeton was wary of coming into the contest.
Oklahoma State led 23-13 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, two consecutive Akot layups pushed OSU’s lead to 29-13, forcing Berube to call timeout with 7:39 remaining in the half.
Out of the timeout, Chea missed a three and OSU once again found a mismatch with five-foot-nine guard Skye Belker guarding Akot in the post. The Nigeria native tallied again to make it 31-13 in favor of the Cowgirls.
As the pace of the game accelerated, Princeton finally found some rhythm. A beautiful backdoor pass from Chea to Madison St. Rose netted two points for the Tigers. A St. Rose steal and dish to Hutcherson for an uncontested layup cut the lead to 31-19 with 5:15 to play in the second quarter.
Employing a full-court press, the Tigers got another backcourt steal, but Fadima Tall’s floater in the paint spun out and OSU responded with a transition three by sophomore guard Jadyn Wooten for a critical five-point swing.
Tall struggled for much of the game to find traction against OSU’s tight defense led by junior guard Stailee Heard.
“I could be wrong but I think that Tall is their X-factor,” remarked OSU coach Jacie Hoyt postgame. “I think she’s the one that makes them go. You’ve seen that down the stretch in close games. The job that Stailee did is really just phenomenal, to be able to shut her down that way.”
A Chea trey on Princeton’s next possession swung momentum back to the Tigers. Another Ash Splash at the end of the shot clock pulled the Tigers to within eight, 38-30, with 2:40 to play in the first half.
But the Tigers simply could not slow down the Cowgirls.
A corner three by senior guard Haleigh Timmer at the buzzer rattled in and out and in again to give Oklahoma State a healthy 48-33 lead at the end of the first half.
The Cowgirls were led at the intermission by Akot’s 18 points on 8-for-11 shooting, while the Tigers were led by Chea’s 11 points, including three-for-six from distance.
The key difference in the first half was rebounding. OSU pummeled the Tigers on the boards, 23-11, and outscored Princeton in the paint by a nearly identical number, 24-10.
In the third quarter, the Tigers made a furious push to get back in the game.
A mid-range jumper by Tall followed by a Belker triple sparked a 9-0 run, which forced Hoyt to call a timeout at the 7:31 mark.
Out of the timeout, the Tigers continued to build momentum. A St. Rose jumper from the free-throw line cut the margin to four, 48-44, with 5:21 to play in the third quarter.
But the Tigers would get no closer.
Another layup by Achot followed by a three by senior guard Micah Gray restored order for the Cowgirls. The senior sharpshooter tallied 16 points for Oklahoma State, including 4-for-9 from downtown.
A half-court heave by St. Rose at the third quarter buzzer rimmed in and out as Princeton faced an eight point deficit heading into the fourth quarter, 61-53.
In the final stanza, Princeton made a final push.
In a role reversal, the Tigers corralled three straight missed shots and found Belker on the fourth attempt for a huge three to cut the deficit to five, 61-56, with a little over nine minutes to go.
But Oklahoma State didn’t flinch.
Back-to-back buckets by Wooten pushed the Cowgirls’ lead to nine, and from there Oklahoma State coasted to victory, 82-68.
The loss brought an end to the Princeton career of St. Rose, who tallied a team high 17 points, four rebounds, two assists, and two steals in her final game wearing the Orange and Black.
The native of Old Bridge, N.J. finished her Princeton career with 1,215 points, good enough for 15th place on the all-time Princeton scoring list, just behind Blake Dietrich’s 1,233 points.
“I had an incredible season and incredible journey with this program,” St. Rose reflected postgame. “I found teammates and made them my family, just outside of basketball, I love these girls so much because we have so much joy in everything we do, and we are so passionate about basketball in general … I had a great supporting system around me, and that’s what I’m going to miss, the togetherness and closeness that I love so much.”
Berube likewise praised her star senior.
“She has just set such a great standard of what it means to love this game, to love the uniform that you put on every day, the love that you have for your teammates,” reflected Berube. “[She’s] just an incredible human, incredible work ethic that she brings every single day; the joy that she is to have around … I’ve felt so grateful and I feel so lucky to have coached her during her career.”
The loss doesn’t diminish an outstanding season for Princeton that restored the Tigers to the top of the Ivy League standings.
The Tigers defeated six power conference opponents, staged eight fourth quarter comebacks, earned a top-25 national ranking for 12 weeks, won an Ivy League regular season title outright, cut down the nets at Ivy Madness for the sixth time in the eight-year history of Ivy Madness, and earned a seventh consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament.
The one hill the Tigers could not climb?
Beating a Big XII opponent.
“It’s three years in a row we’ve come up against a Big XII opponent,” remarked Berube about Princeton’s three consecutive losses at the Big Dance to West Virginia in 2024, Iowa State last year, and now Oklahoma State. “There’s a toughness about the Big XII, and they played with great toughness and made things really, really difficult, especially in the first half, for us to even execute an offense well.”
The good news for Princeton is that a strong nucleus of talent is returning next year in the form of soon to be seniors Tall, Belker, Chea and Hutcherson.
“I think with these four juniors coming back as really, really experienced players and great leaders … this next group is going to be just as good. I think Maddie and Taylor [Charles] left an awesome legacy of what the standard is for Princeton basketball, and yeah, looking forward to coaching this group and like they said, they just love the game of basketball and they love playing it together. And I think you can see it on the court, win or lose. They always stay really connected and supportive of each other.”
Belker echoes her coach’s sentiments.
“I’m really excited with a lot of people coming back,” said the Los Angeles native who scored 14 points today in front of family and friends. “We’re going to use this season and this season’s experience and have that under our belt, and losses like today are what motivate us in the next season.”
