In front of a vocal home crowd, Princeton (16–5 overall, 7–1 Ivy League) took advantage of their best first quarter of the season to cruise past Penn (11–10, 2–6) 74–60, clinching Head Coach Carla Berube’s 500th career win.
Berube is now coaching her sixth season for the Tigers after serving as the head coach at Tufts for 17 years.
“I’ve been at two really incredible universities with a lot of great student-athletes and coaches,” Berube told The Daily Princetonian postgame, referring to her times at Princeton and Tufts. “I’m just really grateful to be around so many great people.”
Entering Saturday’s game, the Tigers looked to extend their three-game Ivy win streak.
Sophomore guard Ashley Chea led all scorers with 25 points, 21 of which came in the first half. Chea’s shooting set the tone for the Tigers’ offense, going five for eight from long-range.
“My teammates instill a lot of confidence in me and my shot,” Chea told the ‘Prince.’
The Tigers jumped on Penn early in the game and did not look back. After four different players scored in the first three minutes, Chea connected on her first three of the day, after which the Tigers were already up 11–3. Six minutes later, the combination of a stifling defense and offense that refused to miss brought the lead to 19–3.
“The defense was great, and it definitely fueled our offense,” Berube said. “We got out, did a great job in the break, and did a great job breaking their press.”
Princeton kept up their momentum into the second quarter. Three minutes into the period, Chea connected on another three to extend the lead up to 37–10. The Tigers continued to capitalize on Penn’s mistakes, gaining a 13–0 advantage in points off turnovers and a 7–0 advantage in second-chance points.
While dormant for the first 15 minutes, Penn’s offense slowly woke up, led by Katie Collins. Collins scored three three-pointers in quick succession, leading the Quakers to a 12–0 run to bring the margin down to 14. For the first time since the opening minutes, the crowd in Jadwin moved ever so slightly towards the front of their seats.
However, just as she had all day, Chea took the ball and asserted her strength. Scoring five points in quick succession, she stopped the Quakers’ momentum, helping Princeton lead 44–29 at the break.
“We knew to just play our game and just slow ourselves down,” Chea said. “Coach was mad, and when Coach is mad, we know to play better.”
In the second half, the Princeton squad once again started hot, going on a 10–2 run through much of the quarter to once again go up by 20. With just over 10 minutes to play, the 2,631 Jadwin faithful people exhaled for good, watching their team cruise to another Ivy victory.
As the minutes of the fourth quarter ticked down and the Tigers’ bench played the final possessions, Berube solidified her 500th win in just over 20 years as a head coach.
Along with Chea’s 25 points, Princeton benefited from a combined 20 points and 9 rebounds from senior forward Parker Hill and junior forward Tabitha Amanze.
“Parker and Tabbie were great,” Berube said. “We have an advantage inside.”
For the Tigers, it was a successful return to Jadwin in their first home game since Jan. 11, continuing their 8–0 undefeated streak at home.
Up next for Princeton is a weekend doubleheader at home. The Tigers host Brown (10–11, 4–4) Friday at 6 p.m. before a Saturday game against Yale (2–19, 1–7) at 5 p.m. “It’s going to be a really important week of practice heading into another big Ivy League weekend,” Berube said.
Max Hines is a senior Sports writer for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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