Princeton Women’s Basketball Strives for Major Upsets in Tourney
Princeton remains the lone New Jersey team with a shot at glory this March.
St. Peter’s men’s basketball fell to Tennessee on Thursday night 83-49 in a game that wasn’t even close. Before anyone could blink, Tennessee jumped out to a 27-7 lead after Dalton Knecht hit a three-pointer with 8:51 to go. It was all Tennessee on cruise control for the rest of the night.
The loss ended any hopes of St. Pete’s repeating its unparalleled success two seasons ago when it ran a rough shot through the tournament to the Elite Eight.
Instead, Cinderella came in the form of the Oakland Golden Grizzlies, who shocked Kentucky 80-76 on Thursday night.
PRINCETON’S TURN
So when it comes to finding local teams to root for in this year’s Basketball Mayhem, Princeton’s women’s team is on deck.
It won’t be easy of course. Not in a women’s tournament that features 32-0 South Carolina, as well as Caitlin Clark and Iowa. Plus you got Geno Auriemma’s UCONN team, who are almost always a Final Four lock every year.
That doesn’t mean Princeton can’t make some noise.
The ladies dominated the Ivy League this year, winning the conference with a 13-1 mark, and defeating Columbia 75-58 in the conference championship last weekend. This will be Princeton’s fifth straight trip to the Big Dance, and have reached the second round in each of the last two seasons. Not to mention their head Coach, Carla Berube owns a record of 100-16, capturing her 100th career win as coach in that Ivy League title game.
With an overall record of 25-4, Princeton hits the road to Iowa as a number 9 seed where they will face number 8 seed West Virginia on Saturday night at 6;30.
West Virginia is good. They went 24-9 in a tough Big 12 conference, and are led by a pair of guards JJ Quinerly (19 ppg) and Jordan Harrison (13 ppg), both of whom are in double figures.
Still, Princeton packs quite a punch as well. Kaitlyn Chen, who was first-team All-Ivy this season, leads the team in minutes (1000), field goal percentage (.491), and points per game (15.8).
Also be on the lookout Saturday for Madison St. Rose (14.5 ppg), and center Ellie Mitchell leads the team in rebounds with 291, and is averaging 10.0 per game.
A win over West Virginia, and Princeton will get their shot most likely at Iowa and it’s all world point guard Caitlin Clark. Get your popcorn ready!
Rutgers Women's Basketball vs. Iowa 1.5.23
