In the Ivy League Semifinal Princeton Advances With a 59 – 54 Win
NEW YORK, NY 3/15/2024
It was not the result that the University of Pennsylvania wanted, but the team did battle to the end. The Princeton Tigers will play for the Ivy League Championship winning 59 – 54 at Levien Gym on the campus of Columbia University. This the twelfth consecutive win for the Tigers over the Quakers, but it may have been one of the hardest to get. The team showed that better times await them.
‘I’m incredibly proud,” said Penn Coach Mike McLaughlin. “They competed at such a high level. Little things add up to big things. They grew so much. I just think that these three and the rest of group put themselves in position to be a really good team and to compete at the highest level.”
Members of that group include Stina Almqvist and Mataya Gayle, who scored a game-high 20 points. Gayle is a freshman and Almqvist a junior who added 11 points.
“I think in the beginning of the year we struggled because it’s all new people,” said Almqvist. “We’ll have a great group next year and I’m super excited. It is something to build on.”
“Both teams really fought hard, but this loss really hurts, so it is one you won’t forget. That will stick with us going into next season,” Gayle said.
The big differential in the game was the rebounding edge that tilted in the direction of the Tigers who had a 42 – 26 advantage, 17 – 3 on the offensive boards. That led to Princeton getting 12 more shots (62 – 50) and led 13 – 1 in second chance points. Tigers forward Ellie Mitchell pulled down 12 rebounds to become the program all-time leader in rebounds at 1,100.
Jordan Obi closed her Penn career scoring 15 points and had 4 rebounds.
Madison St. Rose scored a team-high 19 points including back-to-back baskets giving her team a 57 – 49 lead with 3:42 to play. Those were the last points scored by Princeton until St. Rose sank two free throws to end it with 11 ticks on the clock. Kaitlyn Chen contributed 18 points
Showing the defensive intensity, Penn had 13 steals while Princeton swiped the ball 12 times. Quakers guard Simone Sawyer set a career-high with 7 steals.
It took tiebreakers to create this match up as Penn tied for fourth, but got the bid over Brown. Princeton and Columbia tied for first. The Tigers got the top seed by a better NET ranking. But they settled it on the court. On Saturday Princeton meets the winner of the Harvard vs. Columbia game.
Written By: Glenn Papazian
Contact: Glenn@PhillyCollegeSports.com
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