BACK 2 BACK
Princeton wins Ivy title again for return trip to NCAA Tournament
NEW HAVEN, CONN. >> Bella Alarie and her Princeton women’s basketball teammates had no intention of leaving their fate up to the NCAA Tournament selection committee.
The Tigers were going to make sure they punched an automatic ticket to the dance.
Alarie scored 25 points, Gabrielle Rush added 18 and topseeded Princeton pulled away from second-seeded Penn in the final four minutes for a 65-54 victory in the Ivy championship game at John J. Lee Amphitheater on Sunday evening.
“This matters so much to us,” Alarie said. “We were cochampions in the regular season, so I think this is proof that we’re the best in this league this year. We really deserved that ticket and we just played like it. We wanted to get to the (NCAA) Tournament by winning the Ivy League Tournament. We would rather win this tournament to make a point to the rest of the league.”
That’s exactly what the Tigers (22-9) have done by ripping off 12 straight wins as they wait on Monday’s selection show to find out their seed. The selection committee announced Princeton was in the debate of eight, which would have made them one of the last four in or first four out.
Instead, it’s a moot point as the Tigers reached the NCAA Tournament for the eight time under 12th-year coach Courtney Banghart. ESPN bracketologist Charlie Creme had Princeton as a No. 12 seed in his most recent bracket.
“I think there’s a fearlessness that comes from this group,” Banghart said. “We had a lot of lineups with two freshmen in, we’re super young with all those injuries. I don’t think I would have thought in November that I would have been sitting here at 2-2 in the Ivy League. I’m just going to keep them locked in and who we draw, I will watch it to ad nauseam. This team has to be really prepared and that will be on me because I know they will lock in for me.”
The Tigers turned the screw in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Quakers, 217. They held Penn to just one field goal in the final four minutes.
“We just decided that it was now or never,” Alarie said. “We just put our heads down and played the rest of the clock. They’re a great team and made it a really competitive game. At the end, we wanted it so much more. I could tell in everyone’s eyes on the court that we wanted it.”
The game’s biggest shot belonged to freshman Julia Cunningham, who knocked down a 3-pointer with 2:13 remaining that put Princeton up by six. Cunningham had made just 12 triples all season and that was her only made basket in four tries on Sunday.
“It just shows the progression these freshmen have made,” the senior Rush said. “You might not see it every day, but at practice Julia makes those shots consistently. It may not be the shot she takes in games, but I wanted her to take that shot, we all wanted her to take that shot. We had faith that it was going in because that’s the kind of player she’s grown into.”
Carlie Littlefield scored all 13 of her points in the second half for Princeton.
Ashley Russell paced Penn (23-6) with 14 points and Eleah Parker had 10. Parker’s 10 points came on 5-for-23 shooting, which had more to due with Alarie, who added five blocks and six rebounds to her stat line.
“Eleah Parker is really good and I think everybody knows that, but not enough people. She’s exceptional,” Banghart said. “Bella is one of the few people in the country who can guard her. She doesn’t shoot from far away, so those were 23 shots from around the paint and she was able to disrupt them.”
Now, Alarie is somebody else’s problem to prepare for. And you wouldn’t want to draw the Tigers.
“It doesn’t hurt to have Bella Alarie on your team,” Banghart said. “For the people who are just getting to see her, come back . ... We’re made up of a whole lot more than Bella, but the year that you’ve had and the tournament you’ve had, I’m grateful you’re a Tiger.”