Princeton gets No. 11 seed, draws No. 6 Kentucky in first round

The Princeton women’s basketball team will get a true blue blood in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Ivy League champions Tigers (22-9) drew a No. 11 seed in the Greensboro region and face No. 6 Kentucky (24-7) in a first-round game on Saturday, March 23 in Raleigh, N.C. Tip off is scheduled for 11 a.m.

Princeton was one of the teams in the debate of eight to determine the last four in and first four out that was announced on Sunday, but made it a moot point when it went out and won the Ivy’s automatic berth by beating Penn, 65-54, in the championship game.

This will be the first ever meeting between the Tigers and Wildcats. Kentucky finished fourth in the SEC and has been off since falling in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament.

“I actually don’t know a ton about them,” coach Courtney Banghart said. “I know they are a tall team full of athletes. We just found out literally like everyone else, less than an hour ago. They are downloading the games to my computer now and I will dial that in tonight.”

The bracket was supposed to be revealed at 7 p.m. on ESPN, but was mistakenly leaked on ESPNU two hours earlier, forcing the reveal time to be moved up. ESPN apologized in a statement.

No matter now as Princeton knows its path. Banghart has guided the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament eight times in her 12 seasons at the helm. They are 1-7 all-time, but with a superstar like junior forward Bella Alarie (23 points, 10.4 rebounds), they’ll be a tough out for anyone.

“It gives us a little chip on our shoulder for the ones who were there last year because we obviously didn’t put on the best show that we wanted to and we didn’t really display ourselves the way that we wanted to,” senior Gabrielle Rush said. “It is exciting to be back and have this chance at revenge and to show the country how far we have come as a team and how we are ready to go.”

Princeton started the season 2-7 with Alarie out of the lineup due to a broken arm, but even after she came back it wasn’t smooth sailing as it went 2-2 to begin Ivy play. After a home loss to Yale, the Tigers regrouped and have ripped off 12 straight victories.

“The way this year has been, they have had to fight, grit, grab and claw all year because of how we started,” Banghart said. “We have had to play from behind all year. You go the NCAA Tournament as an 11 seed you are still playing from behind. It is what these guys are used to.”

The winner faces either No. 3 NC State or No. 14 Maine. The top seed in the Greensboro Region is Baylor.