I chose to watch this over the men’s game and it was a dandy.
Tigers prevailed 52-50 on a long 2FG by Ashley Chea at the buzzer.
Steve Silverman at IHO beautifully previewed this game and it lived up to the hype.
Harvard’s full court pressure defense was intense and never let up. But the Tiger D, which focuses on creating pressure in the half-court, was also playing at a very high level. Although Harvard forced 20 TOs, the Cantabs only generated 3 more points (18 vs 15) than the 13 TOs Princeton created and Harvard’s presumptive POY Harmoni Turner shot only 5-18.
It is remarkable that the Tigers could lose their POY candidate Madison St. Rose and continue to perform at a championship caliber level. Every starter scored between 8 and 10 points and Fadima Tall also had 9 RBs, 3 assists and brought the ball up 90% of the time against Harvard’s press.
Two excellent teams played all-out for 40 minutes today; it was an outstanding college hoops contest. It will now be fun to see how Princeton and Columbia match up when they play in Levien on MLK Day.
I was particularly impressed by Tall’s poise, remarkable for such a yoing player. Parker Hill continues to shine. Roster depth will be critical if course and Carla’s got it.
I chose to put this game on my big tv, keeping tabs on the men on my phone.
Yea, I would agree. Since she’s been at Princeton, she has had some of Princeton’s best players ever: Alarie, Chen, Cunningham, Littlefield, Meyers, Mitchell, Grace Stone (many of whom attended the UConn v. Georgetown game on Saturday in DC - see the WBB X feed). This year, she doesn’t have that “all-time greats” kind of talent, especially losing St. Rose to injury. And they’re young, with 4 of the current starters being sophomores. While her coaching has been superb, her recruiting leaves some room for improvement; she has only 2 recruits for next year (in light of Sydney Benally’s decommitment) and they don’t seem to be top-level talent. Coaching only goes so far; you need the talent to contend for titles.
Not sure I fully agree on the recruiting aspect. She apparently closed the deal with Chen after Banghart left, Kaitlyn Chen: The offensive leader of a defensive team - The Princetonian
She has her own highly-touted recruits in players like Tall and Amanze, who may have yet to fully realize their projected potential but that does not detract from their recuitment profile. I have the impression Banghart’s classes were never as highly rated as Berube’s but maybe I am wrong about that. I agree the recent decommitment leaves a significant gap. We will see what happens - would not be shocked by a notable late commit even if the profile is not as high so late in the season.
I think Berube has recruited very well so far.
If you start 4 sops, kids looking to play right
away may look elsewhere. The recommit hurts,
but hard to fault Berube.
I saw an absolutely classic photo of Chea and the Tiger bench seconds after she drained the ganewinner. Wish i could post it here. Hope you can see it somewhere.
I hope you are correct about a “notable late commit,” because the Tigers look to have a pretty short bench next season. They lose the 5-player senior class, though Adaora Nwokeji seems to be a non-dressed manager-cheerleader, and bring in only two new recruits, Sarah Lessig and Grace O’Sullivan (net loss of 3). And the sophomore class, originally 6, is now down to 4, having lost Margo Mattes and now Mari Bickley (academic reason?). Unless Madison St. Rose is ready to play next October, they will have an 11-player roster. That doesn’t leave much room for further injury or other departure.
