Three thoughts about Princeton women’s basketball’s play-in matchup with Iowa State at the NCAA Tournament

Princeton’s corps of forwards is all smiles in a pregame huddle at the Ivy League Tournament in Providence, RI on Friday. (Steve Silverman | Ivy Hoops Online)

The Ivy League’s dream of a three-bid Ivy came to fruition on Sunday night when the final invitation to the Big Dance went to the Princeton Tigers.

“It’s awesome,” Princeton coach Carla Berube told reporters on Monday afternoon.  “We have a email chain going with the whole Ivy League and head coaches and, yeah, I mean, we’re thrilled, but we’re not shocked or surprised, and we know just the level of basketball and how talented our student athletes are. And we’re going about it the right way with our nonconference schedules and how we have to build that up.”

Princeton, a No. 11 seed, will face off in a play-in game against Iowa State, also a No. 11 seed, in the opening game of the NCAA Tournament on Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET in South Bend, Ind. The winner will face No. 6 Michigan on Friday.

Here are three thoughts about Princeton’s bid and tomorrow’s matchup against the Iowa State Cyclones:

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Ivy women’s semifinal: Harmoni Turner explodes for 44 points to lead No. 3 Harvard over No. 2 Princeton

Harvard senior guard Harmoni Turner rises up for a jump shot over Princeton sophomore guard/forward Fadima Tall in semifinal action at the Ivy League Tournament at the Pizzitola Sports Center in Providence, R.I. Friday. (Steve Silverman | Ivy Hoops Online)

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – It was Turner Time at the Pizz.

With an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament likely on the line, Ivy League Player of the Year Harmoni Turner erupted for 44-points and led No. 3-seeded Harvard to a 70-67 win over No. 2 Princeton in the semifinals of the Ivy League Tournament. The win advances Harvard to Saturday’s championship game against No. 1 Columbia, which defeated No. 4 Penn in Friday’s first semifinal matchup, 60-54.

Turner’s 44 points broke her own record for most points in a game by a Harvard player, set earlier in the season against Boston College, and shattered the record for an individual performance by a player, men’s or women’s, at the Ivy League Tournament.

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The Trifecta at the Palestra: Tiger Takeaways from Princeton women’s basketball’striumph over Penn

The Princeton women’s basketball team closed out the regular season on Saturday afternoon with a satisfying 67-53 win over Penn at the Palestra. 

Here are three Tiger Takeaways from a triumph that gave Princeton 20 wins for a seventh consecutive season, tying a program record set during the Courtney Banghart era:

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Princeton women’s basketball races to 29-point lead, holds on to beat Brown, 78-67

The rims were friendly to both the Brown Bears and the Princeton Tigers on Friday night at Jadwin Gymnasium. Hoping to snap a 14-game losing streak to Princeton, Brown drained 12 three-pointers, a season high.

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Taking stock of the big three at the midway point of the Ivy League women’s basketball season

With seven conference games in the books for every Ivy League women’s basketball team, the race for the regular season conference title has reached the halfway mark. 

The three teams picked in the preseason to contend for an Ivy League title – Princeton, Columbia and Harvard – have lived up to their billing, racking up big wins in the nonconference season and largely dominating the other five Ivy teams in league play.

Here’s where each of the big three stands as we head into the final five weeks of the Ivy League regular season:

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Princeton women’s basketball rolls over Yale, 74-38, in opening night of back-to-back weekend

The Princeton women’s basketball team used tenacious defense and efficient offense on Friday night to collar the Yale Bulldogs, 74-38, at Lee Amphitheater in New Haven. Yale’s 38 points were the fewest allowed by Princeton so far this season.

The Tigers raced out to a 4-0 lead when Fadima Tall found a cutting Skye Belker for a beautifully executed backdoor layup. The Tigers never looked back from there as Princeton led wire-to-wire for the seventh time in their last 10 games.

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Princeton women’s basketball holds on to beat Cornell, 62-54, for first road win in two months

In basketball, size matters.

Just ask Parker Hill, Princeton’s 6-foot-4 senior center, who scored 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, both career highs, in Princeton’s 62-54 triumph over Cornell on Saturday at Newman Arena in Ithaca.

“Well, what was working is we definitely put an emphasis on looking into the post,” Hill told the ESPN+ broadcast crew. “We definitely had a size advantage there . . . I think I got the benefit of my teammates seeing me . . . So yeah, I think it’s just a little tough. Size is tough to match, so I think [Cornell] did a great job. But in the end, [size] won out.”

The win gave the Tigers a two-game sweep of the Big Red and provided Princeton with its first road win since November 29, when the Orange and Black defeated Temple, 62-57, in Philadelphia. The win was Princeton’s 15th consecutive triumph over Cornell.  

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Princeton women’s basketball shuts down Dartmouth, 63-39, for seventh straight win

Before tipping off against Dartmouth women’s basketball on Saturday afternoon, Princeton took the court at Jadwin Gymnasium wearing freshly minted warmup shirts with the team’s “Get Stops” slogan colorfully displayed on the front.

The Tigers forcefully delivered on their wardrobe messaging.

The hosts held the Big Green to under 40 points in a dominant 63-39 triumph.

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The stakes are high for Harvard and Princeton women’s basketball in Saturday’s marquee matchup

We’re only one week into the Ivy League hoops season and already one of the most significant matchups of the campaign is upon us.   

On Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. ET, the high-flying Harvard Crimson will invade Jadwin Gymnasium to take on the six-time defending Ivy League champion Princeton Tigers. 

Here are three insights into the importance of the game and some of the key factors that may play a role in determining the outcome:

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Princeton women’s basketball routs Cornell, 72-39, to open Ivy League play

The Princeton women’s basketball team started its run for a seventh consecutive Ivy League championship in style on Saturday afternoon with a dominating win over Cornell, 72-39, at Jadwin Gymnasium.

Princeton led wire-t0-wire for a fifth consecutive game to open Ivy League play at 1-0. The Tigers have not trailed in their last 200 minutes of basketball.

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