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The Princeton women’s basketball team split a pair of Thanksgiving weekend contests against two nationally ranked opponents from power conferences at the Fort Myers Tip-Off in Florida.
Playing on Thanksgiving Day for the first time in coach Carla Berube’s career, the Tigers dominated No. 22 Oklahoma, 77-63, at Suncoast Credit Union Arena. Then, on Saturday morning, the Tigers fell prey to a hot-shooting No. 19 Indiana Hoosiers squad, 72-63.
Princeton women’s basketball returned to its winning ways by knocking off the University of San Diego Toreros, 62-51, on Sunday afternoon at the Jenny Craig Pavilion in San Diego.
The matchup was the second of two weekend games the Tigers played on their Southern California road trip, which served as a homecoming for three Princeton standouts – Kaitlyn Chen and freshman Ashley Chea, both of whom played high school ball at Flintridge Prep, and Skye Belker, a Los Angeles native who played at the Windward School before coming to Princeton.
Coming off a nail-biting, near-miss against No. 2 UCLA on Friday, the Tigers made quick work of the Toreros. Madison St. Rose led the way early for the Tigers, notching eight points in each of the first two quarters. The story of the half, however, was Princeton’s stifling defense, which forced the Toreros into a horrid 5-31 shooting performance. The Tigers led 31-18 at the break.
In winning its season opener at home against Duquesne, Princeton women’s basketball witnessed the blossoming of Madison St. Rose as a new superstar for the Orange and Black.
It was time for another coming-out party Sunday, this time by rookies Skye Belker and Ashley Chea, in a 65-60 comeback win to remember at Middle Tennessee State.
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.
With the season a few weeks away, the Ivy League hosted Women’s Basketball Media Day on Monday, the first of two media availabilities this week. The event was hosted over Zoom for media members and is available on the conference’s YouTube channel.
The preseason media poll was released last Thursday with Princeton earning all 16 first-place votes. Last year’s Ivy Tournament winner and regular season co-champions are the sixth unanimous pick in league history and the first since Penn in 2016-2017.
FINAL: Utah 63, Princeton 56
A wonderful season featuring 24 wins, an Ivy League title and Ivy Tournament crown comes to an end in the NCAA Round of 32. #GetStops 🐯🏀 pic.twitter.com/ig2EGL62x8
— Princeton WBB (@PrincetonWBB) March 20, 2023
The No. 10 Princeton women’s basketball team ran out of steam against No. 2 Utah, which beat the Tigers Sunday night, 63-56, in a second-round NCAA Tournament matchup at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City.
The loss brought an end to another outstanding and history-making season for the Princeton women, who finished the season 24-6. By winning their first-round contest against No. 7 North Carolina State on Friday, the Tigers became the first program in Ivy League history to win games in back-to-back NCAA Tournaments.
One of the greatest shots in Princeton Basketball history.
Relive the call of @grace_stone10’s game-winning three-pointer! #GetStops 🐯🏀 pic.twitter.com/HLPLMZNnSv
— Princeton WBB (@PrincetonWBB) March 18, 2023
The No. 10 Princeton women’s basketball team made history for the university and the Ivy League Friday night, storming back from the brink of elimination to sink No. 7 North Carolina State, 64-63, in a first-round NCAA Tournament matchup at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City.
With the stunning come-from-behind win, Princeton became the first Ivy League women’s program to win a game in back-to-back NCAA tournaments. Princeton also became the first Ivy school in history to win games in both the men’s and women’s brackets in the same year.
Senior guard Grace Stone nailed a clutch corner three with 4.7 seconds left to complete a 9-0 run to close out the game, but not before Madison St. Rose, the Ivy League Rookie of the Year, forced a fumble on NC State’s final possession to seal the win.
The Tigers found a way to triumph despite trailing most of the game against a larger and very talented Wolfpack quintet. Kaitlyn Chen, the Ivy Player of the Year, and Stone each led the Tigers with 22 points. First-team All Ivy senior guard Julia Cunningham added 14 for the Tigers, who have now won 16 games in a row.
Since the 95th Academy Award airs Sunday night, here are my choices for the Ivy Madness Oscars from day two of the Ivy League Tournament:
PRINCETON, N.J. – What looked like a rout for the top-seeded Princeton women turned into a close game, but they stopped a Penn comeback and took their semifinal game Friday in the Ivy League Tournament semifinal, 60-47.
No. 1 Princeton (21-5, 12-2 Ivy) vs No. 4 Penn (17-10, 9-5 Ivy), Jadwin Gym, 4:30 p.m. (available on ESPN+)
Game #1, 1/16/23: Princeton (home) over Penn, 55-40
Game #2, 3/3/23: Princeton over Penn (home), 71-52