Let the playoffs begin.
On Saturday afternoon, Princeton women’s basketball (21–6 overall, 12–2 Ivy League) wrapped up their regular season, defeating Penn (15—12, 6—8) for the 14th straight time, 67–53.
Just as in their February matchup at Jadwin, the Tigers raced out to an insurmountable first quarter lead. This time, however, the Quakers clawed back to keep the score within 10 for much of the rest of the game, supplying the requisite tension to keep fans on edge.
Sophomore guard Fadima Tall had yet another fantastic game for the Tigers with her third double-double of the season and a career-high, leading all scorers with 20 points to go alongside 10 rebounds. Excluding Senior Day, when the underclass students played far fewer minutes than normal, Tall has eclipsed 10 points in five straight games.
“Offensively, I think I’m just feeling smarter,” Tall wrote to The Daily Princetonian. “Being able to see what shots to take is one of the things that I have gotten better at throughout the season.”
Tall’s three fellow sophomore starters also had strong performances, demonstrating the strides the four have made as a group this season. Sophomore guard Skye Belker was second to Tall with 16 points, including a big three-pointer in the fourth quarter. Sophomore guard Ashley Chea added eight points while showing off elite passing skills, and sophomore forward Olivia Hutcherson added six points on shots from the baseline and low post.
Fittingly, it was Tall who got things started for the Tigers, connecting on two threes in the first two minutes to give Princeton a 6–2 lead off the bat. After that, the Tigers couldn’t miss in the first quarter, shooting over 60 percent in the first ten minutes, while Penn was 0–5 from 3.
“It was our intensity that was a huge factor at the start,” Tall wrote to the ‘Prince.’ “We came out knowing exactly what we wanted to execute on offense and how to work through their sets.”
Down by 15 after just ten minutes of play, Penn dug their heels in, holding Princeton to just four points in the first eight minutes of the quarter. The Quakers brought the margin to within seven, the closest it would get. By the half, Princeton recovered nicely to take an eleven point lead.
The third quarter was a back-and-forth affair. Princeton stretched the lead to 14 on a layup from none other than Tall, and then Penn pulled right back to within 11. Until halfway through the fourth, Princeton’s lead ricocheted between nine and 12, a comfortable but not foolproof margin.
In the final minutes, though, thanks to back-to-back threes from Belker and Tall and effective defense against Penn’s leaders in Stina Almqvist and Mataya Gayle, Princeton stretched the lead into the mid-teens, an insurmountable margin as the clock inched towards zero. As the final buzzer sounded, Princeton could head back to New Jersey content, with their strong team effort yielding a 67–53 victory.
The Tigers look to carry momentum from this win into Ivy Madness, where Harvard (22–4, 11–3) awaits. The Crimson will be hungry for revenge, having given up 70 points — the second-most in Ivy play for them — in a home loss to the Tigers last week, adding insult to injury after Chea’s buzzer-beater in January.
“We know Harvard, and they know us, so being the healthier and faster team will be the deciding factor on Friday,” Tall wrote.
The pressure will be on for the Tigers, who have won six straight Ivy championships — either within regular season or via Ivy Madness. With Columbia clinching the regular season title, the Tigers will be hungry for some hardware in Providence.
Also at stake are at-large March Madness considerations. The Ivy’s Big Three this year — Princeton, Harvard, and Columbia (22–5, 13–1) — only lost to each other in Ivy play, with no bad losses for either side. Coupled with strong non conference records and NET rankings in the top 50, all three have a strong chance for an at-large bid. Only twice in Ivy history has a team received an at-large bid, and this year could see two.
ESPN and herhoopstats.com both currently have Princeton and Harvard on the edge of the March Madness bubble, but a loss in the Ivy semifinal could knock either side squarely out of the picture. Thus, these teams will be playing for their March lives on Friday. With an advance to Saturday’s final, likely against Columbia, the at-large bid discussion gets stronger, but all three teams will want to win the Ivy title to sit comfortably on Selection Sunday.
With Princeton, Harvard, and Columbia potentially on the cusp of Ivy history, it will surely be an exciting weekend of basketball followed by a nerve-wracking Sunday night. Ahead of a full week of practice, the Tigers are ready.
“I’m feeling positive going into Ivy Madness and I think our team is ready to compete!” Tall wrote.
Max Hines is a senior Sports writer for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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