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— Tosan Evbuomwan (@Tosan_Evb) November 7, 2023
After defeating the Duquesne Dukes of the Atlantic 10 Conference, 70-67, Wednesday night at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse in Pittsburgh, Princeton men’s basketball is off to a 3-0 start, its best beginning since the 2015-16 campaign, when the Tigers won their first four games.
Here are four reflections on the season so far for the two-time defending Ivy League champions:
Listen to Ivy Hoops Online contributor George “Toothless Tiger” Clark analyze Princeton men’s basketball’s 70-67 win in Pittsburgh over a KenPom top-85 Duquesne squad, the Tigers’ second win over a team in that echelon away from Jadwin Gym in three games to become one itself:
Anyone thinking this might be the year to topple the Princeton women’s basketball team from its perch atop the Ivy League standings received a rude but familiar awakening on Monday night when yet another phenom took center stage in the Tigers’ season opener against the Duquesne Dukes. Princeton won a seesaw affair, 65-57, at Jadwin Gym, powered by sophomore sensation Madison St. Rose’s career-high 26 points on 9-for-18 shooting.
It was déjà vu all over again for Princeton. A year ago, the Tigers were coming off another successful campaign having won a second straight Ivy League title and toppled a power-five opponent – Kentucky – in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Although the Tigers were considered a favorite to repeat, there were questions about who could fill the very large shoes of graduated senior Abby Meyers, who had led the team in scoring and was voted Ivy League Player of the Year.
ITHACA – The Cornell women’s basketball team dropped its second straight game Tuesday, this time falling 82-72 to Duquesne, a team that has now won eight straight.
The Big Red (5-4) got off on an 8-2 run with senior forward Laura Bagwell-Katalinich scoring all eight points. After that run, she only scored nine more points on the night.
“She got tired. She was exerting a ton of energy,” coach Dayna Smith said. “They didn’t really make a change on her, they weren’t doubling her. [Duquesne was] playing behind her a lot in the post, making her work and do some combo move.”
The Ivy League launched the 2019-20 campaign with an impressive 5-2 men’s record on opening night, highlighted by Penn’s nail-biter at Alabama, 81-80. (Dartmouth was idle.)
The evening’s lowlight occurred at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, where the Tigers collapsed in the second half, losing to A-10 foe Duquesne, 94-67.