Fadima Tall – Ivy Hoops Online

Reflecting on Carla Berube’s departure and the state of Princeton women’s basketball

March 26, 2026 by Steve Silverman

Princeton coach Carla Berube answers questions at Pauley Pavilion on March 20, 2026 ahead of a first-round NCAA Tournament matchup against Oklahoma State. (Steve Silverman | Ivy Hoops Online)

It’s been a tumultuous five days for Princeton women’s basketball.

On Saturday night, the Tigers’ memorable season came to a crashing halt at 26-4 in a humbling 82-68 loss to Oklahoma State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Then, four days later, Princeton coach Carla Berube announced she was leaving Old Nassau for purpler pastures at Northwestern.

Now, Orange and Black nation is holding its collective breath waiting to see if any Princeton players will defect with Berube to Northwestern, where they can earn athletic scholarships and NIL dollars while plying their craft on a larger stage than the one offered by Princeton.

And yet only a fortnight ago, Princeton women’s basketball appeared to be resurgent.

The Tigers had won an unexpected outright Ivy League championship on the last day of the regular season when they handled business at home against Yale and then watched Harvard upset Columbia in Morningside Heights.

Then, a week later at Ivy Madness in Ithaca, the Tigers powered their way past Brown and Havard to win their fifth Ivy League Tournament championship in the past eight years and their seventh consecutive trip to the Big Dance.

Why did everything suddenly go south for Princeton women’s basketball and where does the program go from here?

No. 9 Princeton women’s basketball falls to No. 8 Oklahoma State in NCAA Tournament first round

March 22, 2026March 22, 2026 by Steve Silverman

Princeton’s Olivia Hutcherson (2) jumps ball against Oklahoma State’s Achol Akot (11) in a NCAA Tournament first-round matchup at Pauley Pavilion on March 21, 2026. (Steve Silverman | Ivy Hoops Online)

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.”

No. 9 Princeton v. No. 8 Oklahoma State: 2026 NCAA Tournament Round of 64 women’s preview

March 21, 2026March 20, 2026 by Steve Silverman

Princeton’s Skye Belker, Madison St. Rose and Fadima Tall answer questions at a NCAA Tournament press conference at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles on March 20, 2026. (Steve Silverman | Ivy Hoops Online)

LOS ANGELES – When No. 9 Princeton women’s basketball (26-3) takes on No. 8 Oklahoma State (23-9) in a NCAA Tournament Round of 64 matchup on Saturday afternoon at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion, they’ll be looking at a mirror image of themselves.

And not just because the Cowgirls also wear orange and black.

Both teams are near look-alikes in how they are configured and play the game.

“When you size up our rosters, I think we’re dang near identical,” quipped Oklahoma State coach Jacie Hoyt at Friday’s pregame press conference.

The Tigers’ trademark all season has been balanced scoring, with all five starters averaging double-digit scoring per game. Ditto for Oklahoma State, which also has five players averaging double digits.

And both teams rank among the nation’s highest in adjusted offensive efficiency, with the Cowgirls coming in at No. 23 in the Torvik rankings while Princeton slots in at 30th.

But the resemblance doesn’t end there.

2025-26 IHO Women’s All-Ivy Awards

March 17, 2026 by Mike Tony

The Ivy League announced its major women’s awards last week. But we know this is the moment you’ve all been waiting for: Ivy Hoops Online’s 2025-26 All-Ivy Awards, as determined by IHO’s contributors prior to the 2026 Ivy League Tournament:

No. 1 Princeton women’s basketball holds off No. 3 Harvard, 63-53, to secure NCAA Tournament berth

March 14, 2026 by Steve Silverman

Princeton women’s basketball celebrates winning the Ivy League Tournament at Newman Arena on March 14, 2026. (Steve Silverman/Ivy Hoops Online)

So much for the adage that it’s hard to beat a team three times in the same season.

The No. 1-seeded Princeton women’s basketball team defeated No. 3 Harvard in the Ivy League Tournament final on Saturday night, 63-53, completing a three-game season sweep of the Crimson and earning the Ivy League’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

On Friday night, the Tigers vanquished Brown, also for a third time in 2026, in the opening semifinal of the Ivy League Tournament.

Although the Tigers led for 94% of the Saturday night’s championship game and never trailed after the first quarter, the win over Harvard didn’t come easily.

No. 1 Princeton women’s basketball races past No. 4 Brown to advance to Ivy League Tournament final

March 13, 2026 by Steve Silverman

Princeton’s Olivia Hutcherson and Brown’s Ada Adamekwe tip off an Ivy League Tournament semifinal at Newman Arena in Ithaca, N.Y. on March 13, 2026.

ITHACA, N.Y. – The No. 1-seeded Princeton women’s basketball team opened Ivy Madness in style on Friday afternoon, storming past No. 4 Brown, 65-51, in the opening semifinal at Newman Arena.

No. 4 Brown v. No. 1 Princeton: Ivy League Tournament women’s semifinal preview

March 12, 2026 by Steve Silverman

The No. 1-seeded Princeton women’s basketball team takes on No. 4 Brown on Friday at 4:30 p.m. in the first of two semifinal matches to open the eighth edition of Ivy Madness at Newman Arena on the Cornell campus in Ithaca, N.Y.

With a freshly minted, outright Ivy League regular season title under their belt, the Tigers, ranked No. 23 in the nation, enter the Ivy League Tournament as the favorites to cut down the nets.

The Brown Bears, on the other hand, arrive at Ivy Madness for the first time in nine years and just the second time in program history.

Carla Berube’s Tigers swept Monique LeBlanc’s Bears in the regular season series, persevering in a competitive game in Providence, 58-49, on Jan. 24, and then overpowering the Bears in the return matchup at Princeton, 69-37, on Feb. 21.

Overall, Princeton has dominated Brown this century, winning 43 of the last 52 meetings between the two programs dating back to the 1999-2000 season.

Berube has never lost to Brown during her seven-year coaching tenure at Princeton. In fact, the Tigers are riding a 17-game winning streak against the Bears, dating back to the 2016-17 campaign.

What should we expect to see in the third clash this season and 94th overall meeting between these two rivals?