The No. 25 Princeton women’s basketball team travels to New York City on Saturday to face the Columbia Lions in a marquee showdown at Levien Gymnasium at 2 p.m. Here are three thoughts on the most anticipated clash of the season so far in the Ivy League:
Skye Belker
No. 25 Princeton women’s basketball muzzles Yale, 70-25
After nearly spoiling its undefeated Ivy League season at Brown on Friday night, the Princeton women’s basketball team rode into New Haven on Saturday looking to make a statement as it closed out a back-to-back road weekend in the Ivy League.
Statement made.
Princeton women’s basketball holds off Brown for 12th straight win
For the second time in 24 hours, the No. 25 Princeton Tigers fought off a fierce challenge from an Ivy foe, defeating the Brown Bears, 76-63, on Saturday night at Jadwin Gymnasium.
Although the Tigers (17-3, 7-0 Ivy) never trailed in this game, they struggled to pull away from a resilient Brown squad that has been one of the surprise teams in the Ivy League so far this season.
No. 25 Princeton women’s basketball collars Yale, 79-59, for 11th straight win
The Princeton women’s basketball team held off a determined Yale squad on Friday night at Jadwin Gymnasium, 79-59, to stay undefeated in Ivy League play.
Princeton (16-3, 6-0 Ivy) entered the first back-to-back weekend of the Ivy League campaign sporting a shiny, new No. 25 ranking in both the AP Top 25 and Coaches polls, but that honor appeared to hang like a lead weight around the Tigers’ neck early in this contest.
How Princeton women’s basketball won a chess match against Columbia
The contrast in demeanor could not have been starker.
Trailing 3-2 at the 8:23 mark of the first quarter, Columbia coach Megan Griffith gathered her team while officials reviewed a play to check for possible head contact. Griffith smiled broadly, exuding confidence as she leaned into her team’s huddle. Her players listened and nodded while she spoke, their arms wrapped around each other in a tight circle.
On the other sideline, a grim-looking Carla Berube paced while her Princeton players stood apart from each other, hands of their hips.
Was there meaning in this moment? Did Griffith’s sureness foretell an upset or was she simply trying to radiate belief in her team in the biggest game of the Ivy League season so far?
Princeton women’s basketball takes round one over Columbia, 80-65
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:
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.
Princeton women’s basketball dominates Dartmouth, 63-40, for eighth straight win
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.
Princeton women’s basketball rolls past Harvard for seventh straight win
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.
Princeton women’s basketball shuts down Cornell, 79-38, in Ivy League opener
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.”
Three thoughts on Princeton basketball heading into 2024
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Looking forward to a memorable year, Tigers!
Happy New Year!
— Princeton Tigers (@PUTIGERS) January 1, 2024
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: