Home of the Roundball Poets
Steve Silverman
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Looking forward to a memorable year, Tigers!
Happy New Year!
— Princeton Tigers (@PUTIGERS) January 1, 2024
It’s been an extremely successful year for both the Princeton men’s and women’s basketball teams. As we turn the calendar from 2023 to 2024, here are three reflections on the state of both programs as we approach the beginning of the 2023-24 Ivy League regular season:
It was supposed to be a tune-up game for the beginning of the Ivy League season.
But the Le Moyne Dolphins of the Northeast Conference gave the Princeton women’s basketball team all it could handle Sunday in a 66-55 win for the Tigers at Ted Grant Court in Syracuse, N.Y.
The Princeton women’s basketball team returned to action after a 16-day exam and holiday break to defeat the Vermont Catamounts, 67-47, Saturday afternoon at Patrick Gymnasium in Burlington, Vt.
Once again, the Tigers proved to be rude guests, spoiling Vermont’s 16-game home winning streak. Earlier this season, Princeton snapped Middle Tennessee’s impressive 29-game home court winning streak. With the win, the Tigers moved to 9-3 on the season, while Vermont, the reigning champions of the America East Conference, fell to 8-6.
Princeton women’s basketball dominated its in-state rivals Wednesday night, casting aside the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, 66-55, at Jadwin Gymnasium.
Kaitlyn Chen put the Princeton women’s basketball team on her back and carried the Tigers over the finish line on Monday night in a thrilling 61-58 triumph over the Villanova Wildcats at Finneran Pavilion.
The Princeton men’s basketball team had a chance to make history on Sunday afternoon in a matinee matchup with St. Joseph’s at Hagan Arena. A win and the 9-0 Tigers would have started the season 10-0 for the first time in the illustrious history of Princeton basketball.
It didn’t happen. The Hawks defended their home court, 74-70, in front of a raucous crowd and halted Princeton’s nine-game winning streak, the second longest in the nation.
Here are three takeaways from Princeton’s first setback of the season:
The Princeton women’s basketball team rebounded from a disappointing loss on Sunday to Rhode Island with an efficient win over Quinnipiac, 79-70, Wednesday night at Jadwin Gym.
The Tigers were led by sophomore guard Madison St. Rose, who scored 17 points and assisted on four other Princeton baskets. For her efforts, St. Rose was named the Player of the Game by the ESPN+ broadcast crew. It was a night of career highs for several other Tigers, including senior co-captain Kaitlyn Chen, who dished out a career-high 10 assists, the most of any Tiger since Blake Dietrick accomplished the same feat in 2014.
Unlike nearly every other Princeton game this season, the Tigers came out blazing from the opening tip, hitting their first seven shots en route to an early 15-5 lead. The Tigers exploited a height advantage in the paint, working the ball methodically into a pair of twin towers: Parker Hill and Paige Morton. Hill, a 6-foot-4 junior from Bethesda, Md., was unstoppable, sinking seven of nine field-goal attempts for 14 points, while Morton, a 6-foot-3 junior from Summit, N.J., came off the bench for a career-high eight points.
Despite facing a bigger and more athletic opponent, Quinnipiac, who defeated Rhode Island in their last outing on a buzzer-beater, would not go away. A layup by forward Grace LaBarge punctuated an 11-4 run and brought Quinnipiac to within two with two minutes to play in the first quarter. The 6-foot-3 junior came off the bench to score 20 points, tops among all scorers. The first stanza ended with the Tigers clinging to a narrow lead, 19-16.
Princeton continued its torrid shooting in the second quarter as just about everyone got in on the action. Junior guard Amelia Osgood, who hadn’t seen any playing time in Princeton’s previous two games, rattled home a long three to extend Princeton’s lead to 34-22. Coach Carla Berube dove deep into her bench, rotating in 12 different players in the first half. The Tigers led by 10 at the break, 44-34, behind 16-for-26 shooting for a blazing 73%.
In the second half, the Tigers continued to find points in the paint. With 3:47 to go in the third quarter, Mari Bickley, a 5-foot-10 freshman guard from Akron, Ohio, made an athletic move to the cup off a long feed up court from Chen. With the bucket, the Tigers led by twelve, 56-44. Bickley scored seven points off the bench for the Tigers, one of seven Princeton bench players to score in the game, a season high.
In the fourth quarter, the Tigers’ defense stiffened, getting stops on Quinnipiac’s first five possessions. A pair of free throws from junior forward Paige Morton put Princeton up by 17, 76-59, the largest lead of the night for the Tigers. From there, the Tigers coasted home to a 79-70 victory.
While coach Carla Berube may not have been entirely pleased by Princeton’s defensive effort in this game, the Tigers looked more connected and confident on offense than in any other game so far this season. Overall, the Tigers sank 33 of their 58 field goal attempts, or 56.9%, one of their best shooting performances of the season. Even more impressive, the team combined for 22 assists, by far their highest number of helpers this season.
During a postgame interview with ESPN+, St. Rose revealed the team has a goal of at least 15 assists per game. The Tigers well exceeded that threshold against Quinnipiac, a primary reason they succeeded in getting back on the winning track.
The Tigers now stand at 6-3 on the season and travel across the Delaware River next Monday to face Villanova for what promises to be another tough and competitive nonconference matchup for Princeton.
Another sluggish start finally got the best of No. 25 Princeton women’s basketball, which dropped a nail-biter to Rhode Island, 60-58, at the Ryan Center in Kingston, R.I. Sunday.
Coming off a thrilling, double-overtime win over Seton Hall on Wednesday night, the Tigers were due for a letdown against a Rhode Island squad that has dueled the Tigers intensely over the past three seasons.
The Princeton men’s basketball team continued its magical opening to the 2023-24 season as the Tigers rallied for the second game in a row to overcome a talented Furman team, 70-69, in a Saturday matinee matchup at Jadwin Gymnasium. It was the first matchup ever between the two programs, both of which enjoyed Cinderella runs in last season’s NCAA Tournament.
The Tigers trailed for most of the game and appeared headed for defeat when junior guard Blake Peters missed an open three with 2:43 to go in the game and Furman leading by nine, 67-58. The miss from distance punctuated Princeton’s and Peters’ futility to that point, as the Tigers had shot a woeful 2-for-27 from beyond the arc. Yet somehow, the Tigers managed to claw their way back in the final minutes to win the game, and extend their unbeaten streak to eight.
Three reactions to Princeton’s astonishing comeback victory:
Playing their first game since garnering a top-25 ranking in the Associated Press poll, Princeton women’s basketball gutted its way to a win over Seton Hall, 75-71, in double overtime at Jadwin Gymnasium on Wednesday night.
The Tigers were led by senior co-captain Kaitlyn Chen, who tallied 21 hard-earned points on 4-for-11 shooting. However, the real hero for the Tigers was freshman sensation Skye Belker who scored 18 points and sank the game-winning jumper with 37 seconds to go in the second overtime. The native of Los Angeles was named the Player of the Game by the ESPN+ broadcast crew, which included former Tigers star player Julia Cunningham. Making her broadcasting debut, Cunningham did a remarkably good job of not betraying her pro-Princeton sympathies while providing interesting insights into what it’s like to play for Princeton coach Carla Berube.
In a battle for New Jersey supremacy, it was unclear whether this contest was a basketball game or a turnover festival. Perhaps it was the approach of the holiday season that inspired both teams to combine for 52 giveaways. Seton Hall was the more generous squad, turning the ball over 28 times compared with Princeton’s 24.