“She’s got ice in her veins.”
That’s how Princeton Women’s Basketball Head Coach Carla Berube described junior guard Ashley Chea to The Daily Princetonian.
On Monday, Princeton took down Harvard in overtime in a thrilling back-and-forth rivalry matchup. With 0.4 seconds left on the clock, Chea nailed a three-pointer to tie the game and send it to extra time. From there, No. 20 Princeton (16–1 overall, 4–0 Ivy League) controlled the overtime to secure the win over rival Harvard (9–8, 2–2).
Chea is no stranger to clutch moments. Nearly exactly one year ago, Chea hit a buzzer-beater against Harvard to win the game. On Dec. 20 against George Mason, she had the go-ahead bucket with two seconds left on the clock. On Monday, she led the team to victory once again.
The Crimson did not make the game easy for Princeton. Harvard’s ferocious defense out of the gate made it difficult for the Tigers to get their first bucket of the game. Princeton’s first three points came from the free-throw line, and their first field goal of the game did not come until nearly eight minutes of play had gone by.
Harvard’s defensive pressure forced Princeton into an uncharacteristic 12 turnovers in the first half, drawing multiple charges, forcing travels, and deflecting passes.
“We were going too fast, doing a little too much one-on-one instead of executing our offense,” Coach Berube said to the ‘Prince.’
Though the Tigers struggled with turnovers, they converted efficiently when they had good looks, shooting on 41.7 percent in the first half.
Despite Harvard’s defensive success, they themselves could not find a rhythm on offense, and led by a just small margin for most of the first half, shooting 10 of 28 from the field.
With the Tigers down by five, junior guard Skye Belker drained a three-pointer. On Harvard’s ensuing inbounds pass, Chea lurked from behind for a steal and an easy layup. The five-point swing tied the game at 22–22.
Chea would later hit a step-back three to put the Tigers up 25–24, giving them their first lead of the game since the opening point in the first minute. After Harvard made a free throw, the game was tied at 25–25 at the half, and shaping up to be a thriller.
The third quarter entertained, as both teams’ offenses started to come alive. Chea and senior guard Madison St. Rose started to heat up, each knocking a three to keep Princeton neck-and-neck with Harvard. The pair led Princeton with 19 points apiece.
Though Harvard would eke out a six-point 48–42 lead, a successful and-one finish from junior guard Olivia Hutcherson would cut the deficit in half. Princeton would score the next four points to take a 49–48 advantage into the final quarter of regulation.
After a three-pointer from sophomore guard Toby Nweke and a pull-up jumper from St. Rose, Princeton found itself ahead by seven points with seven minutes to go, 57–50. However, Harvard slowly chipped away at the deficit, scoring eight unanswered points to take back the lead.
With just single digits left on the clock, Harvard’s Katie Krupa hit a go-ahead three to put the Crimson up 64–61.
Coach Berube called a timeout with 2.4 seconds left to draw up one final play. Coming off a screen from St. Rose, Chea found herself wide open on the wing in front of the Princeton bench. As seconds ticked off, she let it fly.
Nothing but net.
“We’ve been in tough positions all the time,” St. Rose said to the ‘Prince.’ “We just had to breathe … and execute what Coach was drawing up.”
After Chea’s game-tying field goal, the game went into overtime where Princeton had all the momentum, scoring the first five points. The Tigers maintained their lead for the rest of the game to take an 82–79 overtime victory, sending the Crimson back to Cambridge empty-handed.
“We have so much confidence, especially when we’re all heated up,” Chea said, describing the team’s feelings going into the overtime period.
“We knew we were not going to lose that game no matter what happened,” she added.
Brown (11–5, 3–1) is next on the Tigers’ schedule. They’re set to play on Saturday at noon in Providence, R.I.
Jordan Halagao is an associate Sports editor for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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