MANHATTAN, New York — Under the roar of a sold-out Levien Gymnasium, No. 25 Princeton women’s basketball (20–4 overall, 10–1 Ivy League) fell to the Columbia Lions (19–5, 10–1) 67–65, snapping the Tigers’ 15-game winning streak that dates back to a 79–70 victory against Quinnipiac University on Dec. 6.
Columbia entered the matchup on a quest to avenge their 80–65 loss to Princeton in Jadwin Gymnasium on Jan. 20 and to knock the Tigers off of their undefeated post at the top of the Ivy League.
Despite the high stakes of the matchup, Princeton went into the game just like any other.
“We’re the top two teams in the league, but if you treat it differently, I don’t think that’s respecting the other teams in our league,” head coach Carla Berube told The Daily Princetonian. “We tend to keep it the same … if you go outside of the preparation, I think you could get a little tight.”
Points from senior guard and captain Kaitlyn Chen started things off for Princeton, who sank two jumpers of her own to cut the Tigers’ deficit to two at 6–4 with 6:37 left in the first. Following a Lions layup, first-year guard Skye Belker added a jumper with 5:31 remaining to make it 8–6 in Columbia’s favor.
Chen dished out eight assists and recorded a double-digit scoring performance, albeit on 25 percent shooting. Belker posted a career-high 21 points vs. Columbia on Jan. 20, but was held to six points on three-for-six shooting from the field on Saturday.
“I thought we did a great job contesting Kaitlyn Chen’s shots and making everything else difficult,” Columbia head coach Megan Griffith said. “[We kept] Skye Belker in check this game, which we did not in the first game.”
“We wanted to make their bigs a little bit more of the stars … it is no secret that double zero [senior forward Ellie Mitchell] and twenty-five [senior forward Chet Nweke] are two of the best rebounders in the country,” Griffith said. “When they miss shots, they’re gonna get rebounds. We just have to make sure they don’t hurt us [in] the ways that we know they can.” Indeed, the duo combined for 26 points.
“They’ve been playing together for years now,” Berube said when asked about their chemistry. “They’re a little bit undersized, but they certainly have a lot of heart.”
The Tigers looked fluid coming out of the first and began to chip away at the Lions’ lead. First-year guard Ashley Chea stepped back 19 seconds into the second quarter to bring the Tigers within four at 19–15. Chea struck again just over two minutes later, drilling a long-range three-pointer to tie it at 22 with 7:20 remaining in the quarter.
Later, sophomore guard Madison St. Rose drove inside for a layup to make it 26–24 and give Princeton their first lead of the game with 5:07 left in the second. A little over three minutes later St. Rose turned around to put the Tigers up 30–26, but this ended up being the largest lead that they would hold for the rest of the game.
Both teams continued to trade blows, but the Lions guard trifecta of Kitty Henderson, Cecelia Collins, and Abbey Hsu caught fire in the third quarter. To open the period, Collins found Henderson on a cut inside to give Columbia the lead, 31–30, with 9:23 remaining in the third. On the next Columbia possession, Hsu delivered a masterful bounce pass to Collins in the corner who buried a three-pointer to finish the possession.
“All season long that’s been our biggest goal — to come out in the second half with the first punch,” noted Hsu. “That was a huge momentum swing for us in the game.”
Soon after, Hsu surpassed 2,000 career points on a contested three-pointer with 6:28 left in the quarter. With the basket, Hsu became the fourth player in Ivy League history to achieve the milestone — the first since Harvard’s Hana Peljto in 2004.
“My teammates and coaching staff are making sure I do recognize [my achievement], but also making sure I stay hungry,” Hsu said. “The journey is not over, so I want to enjoy every single day and then look back on everything we accomplished.”
Hsu’s basket was just the beginning of a 13–5 Lions run that culminated in a 47–39 Columbia advantage with 2:41 left in the third quarter. With 47 seconds left in the period, she was fouled on a three-pointer and converted all three shots from the charity stripe to put the Lions in front by 10. Chen narrowed the gap to eight with two free throws of her own with 28 seconds remaining, ending the third at a tally of 53–45.
The Tigers made a display of their resiliency on Saturday, continuing to keep the score tight for the entirety of the game.
“You gotta just stay the course,” explained Berube. “It’s a 40-minute game, sometimes longer … I was proud of my team for [staying the course] and making some big plays.”
Both defenses stepped up in the fourth quarter, which had nine scoreless possessions. With two minutes left, the Tigers were able to force Columbia into a 10-second violation, which allowed them to call a timeout.
The entire crowd rose to their feet, and a chorus of boos filled the arena as the referee gave Chen the ball to inbound. She soon found Mitchell underneath the hoop to make it a one-possession game at 66–63 with 1:46 remaining.
A Columbia shot clock violation with 1:13 left in the game gave the Tigers a chance to tie it up. St. Rose missed the three-pointer, but Nweke was able to scoop up the rebound and score to make it 66–65 with 52.8 seconds on the clock.
On the other end, Nweke fouled Fliss Henderson, who went to the line to shoot two with 25.3 seconds left. Henderson sank the first shot to make it 67–65, but the second shot rattled out. The Tigers called a timeout to talk over their final play to win the game.
Following a 21-second play, Chen released a final fade-away jumper that almost sent the game into overtime, but Chen was unable to come away with the basket. The game clock ran out, and the Tigers were defeated in New York for the first time since 2008, 67–65.
“Every game is a learning experience,” said Berube. “You have to keep building and climbing and hoping to play your best basketball.”
The Tigers will look to retake their sole place at the top of the Ivy League in their return to Jadwin against Harvard (15–9, 8–3) on Friday and Dartmouth (7–16, 1–10) on Saturday.
Yousif Mohamed is a senior Sports writer at the ‘Prince.’
Please send corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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