Sometimes history does not repeat itself.
After defeating Princeton in the semifinals of the Ivy League Tournament a year ago, Harvard looked to upset the No. 1 seeded Tigers on an even bigger stage in 2026: the tournament finals. Coming off an overtime win against No. 2 seed Columbia the night before, the Crimson were hungry to upset the Tigers, who had secured a comfortable win over Brown.
Unfortunately for the Crimson, they will be heading back to Cambridge empty-handed.
On Saturday afternoon, No. 1 Princeton (25–3 overall, 12–2 Ivy League) handled No. 3 Harvard (18–10, 10–4), defeating the Crimson for the third time this season with a final score of 63–53.
“We definitely felt like we fell short last year,” junior forward Fadima Tall told The Daily Princetonian postgame. “We knew that coming into this, and we knew we would have to sweep teams that we’ve beaten twice or haven’t beaten at all. But coming into every single game, we told ourselves it was us who was going to win this game.”
“It is truly just a full team effort,” head coach Carla Berube said to the ‘Prince.’ “As a staff, we couldn’t be happier and prouder of this win and this championship.”
This is the sixth Ivy League Tournament title for the Tigers, their most recent prior to this year being in 2024. Princeton’s early exit in 2025 was the first time they had not made the finals in the tournament’s history. With the win, Princeton secured an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
After defeating the Crimson twice in the regular season, the Tigers acknowledged the difficulty of tackling the strong Harvard team in tournament play.
“Harvard came to play and we came to win, so we did exactly what we came here to do,” junior guard Ashley Chea told the ‘Prince.’
“A lot of credit to Carrie [Moore] and to her staff and players, we had to fight to the very end,” Berube added, referring to Harvard’s head coach.
Harvard controlled the opening tipoff, but it was Princeton who got on the board first with a layup from Tall. On each of the Crimson’s first three possessions, the Tigers forced a turnover. By the end of the first quarter, Harvard had given up the ball nine times, compared to Princeton’s one.
Junior forward Olivia Hutcherson converted another second-chance shot for the Tigers to counter Harvard’s first bucket, but Crimson guard Olivia Jones hit a triple to give Harvard a one point lead. The Tigers trailed 5–4 early in the first quarter.
Turnovers continued to plague Harvard, though, and Princeton continued to capitalize. Buckets from senior guard Madison St. Rose, Tall, and Hutcherson, put the Tigers back ahead by five.
For the rest of the quarter, the Tiger success continued. Princeton held the Crimson to a six-minute scoring drought, during which the Tigers put up 10 unanswered points. Harvard ended the drought and the quarter with a much-needed jumper, but Princeton continued leading 15–7.
Harvard struck first in the second quarter, hitting a three pointer on their first possession. Tall responded for Princeton with a jumper on the other end of the floor, but from here the Tigers would struggle defensively. St. Rose picked up her second foul of the game with over eight minutes left in the quarter, and Tall and Hutcherson each picked up one of their own. The Crimson fought back against their early deficit, now only trailing by four at 17–13.
After shooting zero for four from beyond the arc, Chea halted Harvard’s run with an uncontested three-pointer near the Harvard bench. Twice in her career has Chea hit game-winning three-pointers against the Crimson, the most recent coming in their matchup from this past January.
From here, the teams exchanged trips to the free throw line, and it was Chea again who hit the first field goal to break the drought. Princeton led 24–15 with three minutes left in the quarter.
Tall continued to pave the way for the Tigers, earning a dominant and-one basket to fire up the Princeton offense. Coming off of a double-double from the night prior, Tall ended the half with 13 points and 4 rebounds.
To close the half, the teams exchanged baskets and Princeton headed into the locker room with a nine point lead at 33–24.
Harvard struck first in the second half with a layup. Each team would turn the ball over twice before Harvard earned another driving layup to cut the Tiger lead to four early in the third quarter.
Having entered halftime with only two points, St. Rose got herself back on the board for Princeton to turn the momentum in the Tiger’s favor. Tall put up a layup off of a dime from Hutcherson, and St. Rose powered to a contested layup to extend the lead to ten at 39–29.
Soon after though, St. Rose and Hutcherson each picked up their third fouls. Luckily for the Tigers, Harvard found themselves in similar foul trouble, with both guard Karlee White and forward Abigail Wright heading to the bench for the Crimson.
The teams traded baskets, and with two minutes left in the third quarter, the Princeton lead remained at ten. However, a brief surge led to two consecutive baskets for Harvard to make the score 43–37 to close out the period.
White’s return to the court put Harvard within four early in the final quarter. Continuing her dominance, White fought to an offensive rebound for the Crimson, earning a put-back basket to make the score 45–43.
Tall commanded the court for the Tigers with a bucket, but White responded once again to limit the Tiger lead to two. A minute later, Katie Krupa tied the game at 47–47.
Princeton struggled to find their footing and could not hit the bottom of the net from deep. Relying almost solely on contested drives in the paint, a fatigued Tigers squad moved slowly on defense, allowing the Crimson to grab several offensive boards. Twice after the initial tying play, Harvard was able to earn second-chance baskets to respond to Tiger scoring.
White picked up her fourth foul, and Hutcherson put back two layups for Princeton to give them a four-point lead with three minutes remaining. Coming out of a timeout called by Harvard, Hutcherson picked up right where she left off, earning another two points from the Tigers’ defensive stop.
With two minutes left to play, White fouled out of the game, finishing with 15 points; junior guard Skye Belker converted both free throws. An additional foul by Krupa sent the Tigers to the line again, where St. Rose tallied on one more point for the Tigers, now leading 60–51.
In the last minute of the game, Belker found Hutcherson under the basket yet again, capping off an 11–0 run. The teams exchanged trips to the free throw line to close out the game, and the Tigers capped off a successful trip to Ithaca with a 63–53 win. Tall led Princeton with 20 points and seven rebounds, earning Most Outstanding Player honors for the tournament. Both Chea and Hutcherson boasted double-digit performances, with Hutcherson serving as the Tigers’ key defensive catalyst with six rebounds, three steals, and two blocks.
“We don’t have just one way to win or one way to score, and we don’t just have one or two people that can do it either,” Berube told the ‘Prince’ postgame. “We’re pretty deep in the offensive realm; it’s anybody’s game to have.”
With another championship under their belt, Princeton now has their eyes on an even bigger prize: an NCAA Tournament win. As Selection Sunday unfolds, the Tigers will begin to prepare for gameplay on the national stage and avenge their first-four loss to Iowa State from the year prior.
“We’re definitely not done yet,” Tall concluded. “We’ll have some more games next week, and we’re ready to flip the page, have some recovery this week, and then get at it.”
Lily Pampolina is a head Sports editor for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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