Women’s basketball (1–0 overall, 0–0 Ivy League) secured a 67–61 victory against Georgia Tech (1–1, 0–0 Atlantic Coast Conference) on Sunday, in their first game of the season. The Tigers launched a successful comeback in the fourth quarter, after trailing for much of the game.
Prior to the game, the Tigers had a tough travel day at Newark International Airport. What was supposed to be an easy flight to Atlanta was delayed until late Friday night amid an ongoing government shutdown that has snarled air travel across the country. The remnants of this trip, combined with first-game nerves, contributed to a sloppy start for Princeton.
The Tigers trailed 8–15 by the end of the first 10 minutes of play, as they had no answer for Georgia Tech’s go-to player Inés Noguero. Junior guard Olivia Hutcherson kept the Tigers in it, producing half of Princeton’s eight points while playing close to her hometown of Johns Creek, Ga.
“Settle down. Get the rust off,” Head Coach Carla Berube told her team after the chaotic first quarter. “We looked a little like the Bad News Bears the way we were passing the ball to the Yellow Jackets,” Berube told The Daily Princetonian.
With the second quarter underway, the Princeton squad started to find their footing, with first-year guard Grace O’Sullivan sinking a three to tie the game midway into the second. Princeton shots were falling, and they found their momentum.
The Tigers were also getting defensive stops, and they only trailed by two buckets to enter halftime, with a score of 32–28.
“The message at halftime was Coach Berube telling us to calm down,” junior guard Fadima Tall told the ‘Prince.’ “The first game jitters, along with the unfortunate travel effects from the day before, definitely shook us up, but we all gathered ourselves before going back onto the court.”
Senior guard Madison St. Rose opened the third quarter by banking in a shot for two. At the 7:16 mark, junior guard Ashley Chea completed a huge and-one four point play after getting fouled on a corner three.
Despite the offensive push, the Tigers struggled to stop the Yellow Jacket offense. The Tigers were down by seven to start the last 10 minutes of the ballgame.
Junior guard Skye Belker, the leading scorer from the 2024–25 season, still hadn’t gotten a shot to fall. The Tigers needed to dig deep to pull this one out.
In the last quarter, Tall wasted no time as she drew a foul and went one for two from the line. Tall then went on to hit back-to-back threes to cut the Yellow Jacket lead to two.
“I saw my shooting as somewhere I can improve a lot over the summer,” Tall told the ‘Prince’ about her three point success. “I think confidence was also a big key and having my teammates trust me is the biggest boost anyone could get.”
On their next possession, Georgia Tech got a two pointer to go. Then, Tall came back on the opposite end to get another foul. She went one for two again to make it a three point game.
Out of all the Princeton Tigers to cut the lead to one, it was always going to be Belker. The Tigers’ most experienced scorer got her basket of the game to go when it mattered most, cutting it to a one point Georgia Tech lead.
Hutcherson then brought the Tigers the lead after taking advantage of back-to-back possessions from two offensive rebounds. Crashing the offensive boards was something that kept the Princeton team in the game, as they outrebounded the Yellow Jackets 15–8 in that category.
The Tigers were up 57–56 with a little less than four minutes remaining. Keeping up the momentum, Tall earned an and-one play and put Princeton up by four.
Georgia Tech hit a bank shot, but couldn’t complete the and-one play. Up 62–61, St. Rose made it known she was back by stepping up to bury a three and extend the Tiger lead to four.
From there, Georgia Tech played the fouling game, but they couldn’t stop the Tigers from clinching the come-from-behind win to start their season strong. The Yellow Jackets’ turnovers cost them — Princeton converted Georgia Tech’s 26 turnovers into 27 points, 11 of those in the fourth quarter.
Hutcherson had a career high 15 points, Tall had a double-double on the day, and two other Princeton players were in double figures — Chea= and St. Rose.
The Yellow Jackets came into the game with a 13 game-win streak at home in non-conference play, but the Orange and Black put an end to the undefeated spell. The Tigers will travel to take on the Villanova Wildcats (2–1, 1–1 Big East Conference) at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, hoping to put another tally in the win column.
“I think we have more to prove,” Tall told the ‘Prince.’ “I think this was a gritty win and I want to see us put together a full 40 minutes. Especially with my class, we need to show the maturity that we developed together and be able to execute and hustle for a full game.”
Emilia Reay is a staff Sports writer for the ‘Prince’ and the Spanish Language Pilot Program Director.
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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