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.”
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.
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:
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.
The No. 23 Princeton women’s basketball team wore down Yale on Senior Day at Jadwin Gym, 78-55, to claim its 19th Ivy League regular-season title, the most of any program in Ancient Eight history.
The No. 25 Princeton women’s basketball team reached rarefied air on Friday night by shellacking the Dartmouth Big Green, 97-47, at Leede Arena in Hanover to record just the second 50-point road win in program history.
Ivy Hoops Online correspondent George Toothless Tiger” Clark recaps a 69-37 win for Princeton women’s basketball (21-3, 9-2 Ivy) over Brown (15-8, 7-4) at Jadwin Gym Saturday:
Ivy Hoops Online correspondent George “Toothless Tiger” Clark brings us the postgame media conference for Princeton women’s basketball following a 69-37 win for the Tigers (21-3, 9-2 Ivy) over Brown (15-8, 7-4) at Jadwin Gym Saturday, with coach Carla Berube and senior guard Madison St. Rose taking questions:
The Princeton women’s basketball team ran to the locker room at the intermission of their Saturday night contest at Cornell knowing that its season was suddenly on the brink.
