Princeton women push back to power past Penn, 71-52

Kaitlyn Chen put on a memorable performance in Princeton’s victory over archrival Penn Friday, notching 27 points, five assists and four rebounds in 37 minutes. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)

Editor’s note: Princeton-Penn is always a big deal, and our Toothless Tiger and Palestra Pete combine to recap Saturday night’s P vs. P action in audio and written form below: 

It was The Kaitlyn Chen Show, but more than that, it was The Princeton Defense Show at Penn on Friday night, and the Tigers roared back (sorry) from a first-half deficit to beat the Quakers handily, 71-52.

In some respects, the game was meaningless: For weeks we’ve known that the top two women’s teams going into the Ivy League Tournament would be Princeton and Columbia, and that they would face Penn and Harvard in the first-round games. But pride counts, too, and Princeton knew it needed this win to get a share of its fifth straight regular-season title.

On the Penn side, too, the stakes were emotional: This was Senior Night, and Princeton was the only Ivy the graduating Penn players had never beaten. Truth is, they’d never come very close: The 15-point loss in January at Princeton was their closest score. Their best chance probably would have come in the COVID-canceled Ivy tournament of 2020, or more likely the canceled season that followed, when the career of Penn’s last dominant center, Eleah Parker, would have overlapped with that of forward Jordan Obi.

Read more

Ivy women’s week six roundup: Ancient Eight’s Top Ten

On Friday night, league-leading Columbia continued its “Revenge Tour” by dominating Penn by 22 points at Levien Gymnasium, avenging a surprise four-point loss to the Quakers on January 7.  The Crimson also had payback on their minds, as they traveled down to New Haven to take on a Yale team that defeated them 71-70 in overtime on that same January day.  Harvard’s defense took control over the opening 20 minutes, limiting the Elis to 19% (0% from three) from the field and opening up a 33-13 halftime lead that the visitors could not overcome.  

Meanwhile, Princeton, which entered the weekend tied for second with Penn and Harvard, rattled off a 17-5 run over a six-minute stretch of the third quarter to ring up a double-digit victory over Cornell.  In the night’s remaining contest, Brown swept the season series over Dartmouth on the strength of 10 three-pointers.

The Big Red suffered another big third-quarter run, giving up 17 straight points to the Quakers on Saturday, as Penn took the second half of their Empire State weekend. Harvard methodically built a 26-point fourth-quarter lead and ended up winning by 13 at Brown. The victory gave the Crimson a season sweep over the Bears and was the team’s fifth in a row.

Down three at the half, Yale outscored Dartmouth 28-17 in the third quarter to lead the Bulldogs to a 13-point win.  While Yale’s season sweep of the Big Green and weekend split keeps it in the hunt for a slot in the Ivy Tournament, Dartmouth’s 14th straight loss keeps them winless in Ivy action and eliminates it from postseason play.

Like last February, the Lions and Tigers faced off in front of a boisterous capacity crowd at Levien Gymnasium with first place on the line.  And just like a year ago, Princeton controlled the game from the very beginning, quickly taking the students out of the contest and running away with a commanding 18-point victory. 

The Tigers’ eighth win in a row was the first their first taste of Ivy revenge in the Carla Berube era, rebounding from an 58-55 defeat at home in early January.  

With nine league games in the book, Princeton, Columbia and Harvard sit atop the standings, while Penn is one game back in fourth and Yale is two games behind. 

While the preseason favorite Tigers and Lions split their season series, the commanding nature of Princeton’s road win, the reemergence of the team’s offense and the presence of the Ivy League Tournament at Jadwin Gymnasium seems to put the Orange & Black in the driver’s seat for the league’s automatic bid.

Read more

Princeton women pull even in season series and at top of Ivy standings with Columbia in 74-56 clinic

Princeton senior guard Julia Cunningham reached the 1,000-point career scoring mark in her team’s 74-56 victory at Columbia Saturday. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)

Ivy Hoops Online reporter George “Toothless Tiger” Clark recaps an emphatic win for Princeton women’s basketball at Columbia to even up the season series and tie Columbia atop the Ivy League standings – along with Harvard – at 7-2:

Princeton men’s second-half shooting propels Tigers past Cornell

Reigning Ivy Player of the Year Tosan Evbuomwan led Princeton to a comeback win over Cornell Friday at Jadwin Gym. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)

Editor’s note: IHO reporter George “Toothless Tiger” Clark delivers an in-depth audio dispatch on the Princeton men’s and women’s clashes with Cornell while IHO reporter Nathan Solomon gives us the written rundown of the pivotal men’s game in the Ivy title race: 

In the second consecutive game without sophomore guard Nazir Williams, the Cornell men capitalized on a hot start to lead by 10 at the half.

But Princeton flipped the switch in the second half, scoring 54 points and connecting on 66% of its shots to fend off the Big Red, 89-82, Friday at Jadwin Gymnasium.

Read more

Princeton women pull away in 79-59 win at Dartmouth

Junior Kaitlyn Chen posted 13 points, eight rebounds and two steals in Princeton’s 79-59 win at Dartmouth Saturday. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)

Ivy Hoops Online writer George “Toothless Tiger” Clark recaps the Princeton women’s 79-59 win at Dartmouth, a harder-fought battle than many might have expected between the Tigers (13-5, 4-2 Ivy) and the Big Green (2-18, 0-6):

Princeton women’s St. Rose steps up to earn Ivy Rookie of the Week honor

Princeton first-year guard Madison St. Rose was named Ivy Rookie of the Week Tuesday. (Madison St. Rose Twitter page)

Our George “Toothless Tiger” Clark reflects on the standout week that earned Princeton first-year guard Madison St. Rose Ivy Rookie of the Week recognition Tuesday:

Princeton women stymie Penn, 55-40

Our George “Toothless Tiger” Clark delivers a courtside report following Princeton women’s basketball’s shutdown of Penn at Jadwin Gym Monday afternoon:

 

Penn at Princeton women’s game preview

Our George “Toothless Tiger” Clark previews a key Monday Ivy clash between the Penn and Princeton women at Jadwin Gym:

Columbia women top Princeton, 58-55, in overtime thriller

Sophomore guard Kitty Henderson notched 15 points and eight rebounds, including three offensive boards, against a stellar Princeton defense in Columbia’s win at Jadwin Gym Friday night. Henderson played all 45 minutes, as did teammate Abbey Hsu, who likewise tallied 15 points. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)

Columbia women’s basketball bested Princeton at Jadwin Gym Friday night to secure the Lions’ first win over the Tigers in the Megan Griffith era, dealing the home team its first Ivy home loss under Carla Berube. Ivy Hoops Online reporter George “Toothless Tiger” Clark breaks down how Columbia (13-2, 2-0 Ivy) pulled off the major victory over Princeton (8-5, 0-2):

Columbia women look to eclipse Princeton in marquee matchup

Coming off its first Ivy loss of the Carla Berube era, the Princeton women (8-4, 0-1 Ivy) hope to bounce back at Jadwin Gym against a Columbia squad (12-2, 1-0) looking to prove it has surpassed the Tigers. Our George “Toothless Tiger” Clark previews the marquee matchup slated for Friday at 7 p.m. on ESPNU in this audio report: