Skye Belker

Princeton women’s basketball takes round one over Columbia, 80-65

by

Ivy Hoops Online contributor George “Toothless Tiger” Clark brings us the postgame press conference after a 80-65 win for Princeton women’s basketball (14-3, 4-0 Ivy) over Columbia (12-5, 3-1) in a key matchup in the Ivy League championship race Saturday. Senior guard Chet Nweke, sophomore guard Madison St. Rose, freshman guard Skye Belker and coach Carla Berube held court at the presser after engineering the win on the court at Jadwin Gym:

Audio Player

Ivy Hoops Online contributor Rob Browne recaps the action:

The Tigers, winners of nine straight, claimed sole possession of first place in the Ancient Eight, while the Lions, which had their own 10-game winning streak stopped, slipped into a three-way tie for second place with Harvard and Brown.

Read more

Princeton women’s basketball dominates Dartmouth, 63-40, for eighth straight win

by

Princeton women’s basketball stole the ball 16 times from the Dartmouth Big Green en route to winning its eighth consecutive game, 63-40, at Leede Arena. 

Once again, Princeton (13-3, 3-0 Ivy) controlled the affair from the opening tip, leading wire-to-wire for the third straight outing. Princeton has not yet trailed in an Ivy League contest.

Read more

Princeton women’s basketball rolls past Harvard for seventh straight win

by
“We communicated well, got our hands up and worked really hard,” Princeton coach Carla Berube said to Ivy Hoops Online about her team’s defense in a 72-49 win over Harvard Saturday. (Princeton Athletics broadcast)

Princeton women’s basketball delivered one of its best defensive performances of the season to notch a wire-to-wire win over Harvard, 72-49, Saturday afternoon at Lavietes Pavilion.

Although this contest was billed as a rematch of the 2023 Ivy League Tournament championship game, also won by Princeton, the Tigers might have had revenge on their minds dating back to last season’s road trip to Lavietes.  A year ago, the Tigers lost their Ivy opener at Harvard in shocking fashion, 67-59.  It was the first league loss for Carla Berube in her coaching tenure at Princeton.  

Read more

Princeton women’s basketball shuts down Cornell, 79-38, in Ivy League opener

by

The Princeton women’s basketball team opened the Ivy League season in impressive fashion on Saturday afternoon with a dominant win over the Cornell Big Red, 79-38, at Newman Arena.  The 41-point margin of victory was Princeton’s largest since the Tigers defeated Brown by 43 points last February. 

With the win, the Tigers moved to 11-3 on the season and 1-0 in the Ivy League.

In an Ivy Hoops Online interview published Thursday, Princeton coach Carla Berube expressed little concern that her players would look past this contest to the Tigers’ marquee matchup against Harvard next weekend.

“I think they understand how important every one of these Ivy League matchups are,” Berube said. “You take nobody lightly, you take nobody for granted.  You respect them and play your very best in each of these contests.”  

Read more

Three thoughts on Princeton basketball heading into 2024

by

 

It’s been an extremely successful year for both the Princeton men’s and women’s basketball teams.  As we turn the calendar from 2023 to 2024, here are three reflections on the state of both programs as we approach the beginning of the 2023-24 Ivy League regular season:

Read more

Princeton women’s basketball dominates Vermont in 67-47 win in return to hardwood

by

The Princeton women’s basketball team returned to action after a 16-day exam and holiday break to defeat the Vermont Catamounts, 67-47, Saturday afternoon at Patrick Gymnasium in Burlington, Vt.  

Once again, the Tigers proved to be rude guests, spoiling Vermont’s 16-game home winning streak.  Earlier this season, Princeton snapped Middle Tennessee’s impressive 29-game home court winning streak.  With the win, the Tigers moved to 9-3 on the season, while Vermont, the reigning champions of the America East Conference, fell to 8-6. 

Read more

Princeton women’s basketball survives Seton Hall, 75-71, in double-overtime thriller

by

Playing their first game since garnering a top-25 ranking in the Associated Press poll, Princeton women’s basketball gutted its way to a win over Seton Hall, 75-71, in double overtime at Jadwin Gymnasium on Wednesday night.

The Tigers were led by senior co-captain Kaitlyn Chen, who tallied 21 hard-earned points on 4-for-11 shooting.  However, the real hero for the Tigers was freshman sensation Skye Belker who scored 18 points and sank the game-winning jumper with 37 seconds to go in the second overtime.  The native of Los Angeles was named the Player of the Game by the ESPN+ broadcast crew, which included former Tigers star player Julia Cunningham. Making her broadcasting debut, Cunningham did a remarkably good job of not betraying her pro-Princeton sympathies while providing interesting insights into what it’s like to play for Princeton coach Carla Berube.

In a battle for New Jersey supremacy, it was unclear whether this contest was a basketball game or a turnover festival. Perhaps it was the approach of the holiday season that inspired both teams to combine for 52 giveaways.  Seton Hall was the more generous squad, turning the ball over 28 times compared with Princeton’s 24.

Read more

Princeton women’s basketball shuts down San Diego in 62-51 road win

by

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.

Read more