Bella Alarie's Princeton Journey

On May 3rd, 2016, Princeton women's basketball changed forever.

GoPrincetonTigers.com posted the Class of 2020 was announced for the world to see. The group featured Bella Alarie, Taylor Baur, Sara Lewis and Jordan Stallworth. Lewis and Stallworth combined to play three seasons with the Tigers. Baur's career culminated with a fantastic senior season where she was the captain with her best friend … Bella Alarie.

More on that senior season later though …

Alarie opened up her collegiate career vs. Rider and showed a little bit of everything … 24 points … seven rebounds … three three-pointers … a block.

Bella Alarie's first collegiate game which featured 24 points and seven rebounds.

Her first career double-double came a few games later with 11 points and 11 rebounds vs. Dayton.

The breakout game though?

How about a 27-point victory over Seton Hall? Alarie posted 26 points, sunk five treys, grabbed 15 rebounds and dished out six helpers. She was the first person to achieve all of those marks in the same game since Ellen Devoe vs. Lehigh on Nov. 25, 1983.

Once Ivy League action started, the freshman became a beacon of consistency, posting double-digit points in all but two contests. Her signature moment of the year came in the newly minted Ivy League Tournament. In the semifinal vs. Harvard, she snagged 17 points, 16 rebounds, two blocks and a steal.

The Tigers won by 21.

Alarie's first postseason game was no problem. She produced 17 points and 16 rebounds in a win over Harvard.

Unfortunately, Penn tripped up Princeton in the championship contest. The group went on to the WNIT, falling in the first round to Villanova.

The accolades poured in for the freshman. Ivy Rookie of the Year, first-team All-Ivy, nine-time Ivy Rookie of the Week, Ivy League Tournament Team. She led the team in scoring (12.6), rebounding (8.0), blocks (51), field goals (139) and minutes played (919). She was in the top five all-time in program history for freshman single-season records in games played (tied for first), blocks (first), three-point attempts (109, second), three-pointers made (39, third), rebounds (241, third), points (377, fourth), field goals (fifth) and field goal attempts (322).

The action didn't stop for Alarie when the games were over. USA Basketball chose her for the 2017 USA Basketball U-19 World Cup team and helped the squad to a silver medal in Italy.

Sophomore year was different. Alarie had made a name for herself and had new hopes.

She didn't disappoint.

Alarie began the year with five straight contests in double figures including a 29-point, 10-rebound outing vs. No. 24 Villanova.

Alarie snagged 29 points and 10 rebounds vs. No. 24 Villanova in a loss. — Alarie snagged 29 points and 10 rebounds vs. No. 24 Villanova in a loss as a sophomore.

The reigning Ivy Rookie of the Year was outstanding as conference action started, recording a remarkable 18-point, 12-rebound, eight-block outing vs. Penn. Her eight swats were the second-most in a single-game in program history. She continued with another 18-point game, adding 13 rebounds and three steals vs. Cornell.

Some of Alarie's best career contests came against heated rival, Penn, and that was no different as the Quakers came to Jadwin in February of 2018. The sophomore dropped in 18 points and 15 rebounds, three blocks and three more steals.

The final regular-season weekend was a great one for Alarie and her teammates as they earned the No. 1 seed in the Ivy League Tournament in a win over Brown before clinching the outright Ivy crown with a victory over Yale.

One week later, Alarie helped Princeton to the Ivy Tournament Championship game with another double-double, putting up 17 points, 17 rebounds and three swats in an impressive takedown of the Bulldogs.

After losing to the Quakers in the 2017 Ivy League Tournament Championship, the Tigers got the ultimate revenge, holding Penn to just 34 points in a dominating victory. The Quakers' 12 baskets and 22.2 percent shooting were their lowest of the season. Penn scored a combined 10 points in the first and fourth quarters.

Time to go dancing as the Princeton Tigers won the 2018 Ivy Tournament title. — It was time to go dancing as the Princeton Tigers won the 2018 Ivy Tournament title.

Princeton hung around with No. 16 Maryland in the first round of the NCAA Tournament for a half before falling 77-57. Alarie showed an all-around game in her first NCAA Tournament contest, snagging 12 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals.

An impressive sophomore season saw Alarie earn a new title …

Ivy League Player of the Year. She was the eighth sophomore in conference history to receive the honor.

She blocked 79 shots, breaking her own single-season program record while her 283 rebounds were third most in in Princeton history and her 9.3 rebounds per game were tied for the seventh. Alarie had 12 double-doubles in 30 contests and earned Ivy Player of the Week six times.

Sometimes, the process is not always linear. There are always bumps in the road.

Bad games, injures, etc.

Alarie missed the first nine games of her junior season because of an injury.

She made up for it … in a big way.

Alarie scored double digits in … all of her 23 games, registering 20 or more points in 13 of them.

The Bethesda, Md., native started her campaign with a double-double (obviously) with 16 points, 19 rebounds, five blocks and two steals vs. Quinnipiac, a team that went to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

After averaging 19.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.0 blocks in six non-conference games, Alarie started Ivy play with five consecutive double-doubles.

One in particular stands out.

She shattered two Ivy records with 45 points and 20 field goals in a 79-64 win over the Columbia Lions. She became one of only two players in Princeton basketball history, men's or women's, to score at least 45 points (Bill Bradley '65). Alarie also broke the program's all-time leader in blocks. Her 20 field goals were the most in a game by anyone in the NCAA that season while her 45 points were sixth.

Bella Alarie's broke Ellen DeVoe's program record for blocks in this game. DeVoe was in the stands and saw the contest unfold. Those two posed with the game ball afterwards.

The Ivy Player of the Year almost had another 40-point game just a week later, scoring 38 points in a loss to Yale.

The week after …

She did score 40 … 41 to be exact.

The junior was 16-of-24 from the floor and sank seven free throws. She was the second player in Ivy history to score 40 points in a game twice.

Like the year prior, it took until the final weekend of the regular season, but Alarie's 31-point, 13 rebound, six-assist, two-block, two-steal performance against Yale wrapped up another Ivy title.

In the Ivy Tournament semifinal against Cornell, the junior missed just one shot, putting up 21 points in 24 minutes in a wire-to-wire win. She contributed 25 points as Princeton went back-to-back, dropping Penn in the championship game. Alarie and the Tigers gave No. 17 Kentucky all it could handle in a tough five-point loss in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. In that game, Alarie snagged 20 points and 15 rebounds.

22.8 points, 10.6 rebounds, 51.5 percent shooting, 3.4 assists, 2.8 blocks per game.

What a season stat line.

Alarie became the first Princeton player since DeVoe in 1984-85 to average a double-double for a season.

That was just the beginning of her accolades.

Alarie was named a WBCA and an AP Honorable Mention All-American. She was the unanimous Ivy Player of the Year and was first-team All-Ivy. The junior collected Ivy Tournament Most Outstanding Performer, Ivy All-Tournament and eight Ivy Player of the Week selections.

She also broke the Princeton single-season record for points per game (22.8) while her 210 field goals, 525 points, 65 blocks were all second, her 408 field goal attempts were fourth and her 10.6 rebounds were sixth.

Alarie had one of the greatest seasons in Ivy League history as a junior, averaging a double-double.

The summer after her junior season, Alarie spent time representing her country on the international stage. She helped the United States earn a silver medal at the Pan American Games and then led her national 3v3 squad to the semifinals at a tournament in Italy, the quarterfinals in China and the semifinals in Las Vegas.

Another big moment happened that summer as former head coach Courtney Banghart left the program to take the same position at North Carolina. Carla Berube was hired a month later.

Despite the change, expectations were as high as ever for Alarie both on the court and off.

She was named captain and the Tigers were tied at the top of the Ivy preseason poll with Penn.

She delivered … of course.

Alarie's breakout contest this season was in Princeton's only loss of the year. On the road against the defending Big Ten Champion, Iowa Hawkeyes, the senior captain had 26 points, seven rebounds, and four blocks in a two-point overtime loss.

Alarie was the best player on the court against the Iowa Hawkeyes, producing 26 points, seven rebounds and four blocks.

The two-time Ivy Player of the Year later broke Niveen Rasheed's mark for career double-doubles (36) with 23 points and 13 rebounds at St. Louis.

Much like previous years … Alarie began Ivy play with another outstanding game vs. Penn, putting up 25 points, 11 rebounds, two steals, two blocks.

The senior put up four more 20+ point performances as Princeton ran through the Ivy League, going 14-0. It was the fourth time ever that Princeton went undefeated in conference action.

Bella Alarie and Taylor Baur - Senior Captains and Ivy League Champions

Everything was set for up a magical postseason run.

Unfortunately, it was not meant to be.

With the coronavirus pandemic, the Ivy League cancelled the basketball tournaments and within a few days, the NCAA cancelled the winter and spring championships.

Just like that it was over.

Bella Alarie walked off the floor at Newman Arena in Ithaca on Mar. 7th, not knowing it would be the last time she would ever wear a Princeton jersey.

Princeton finished the year at 26-1 overall and on a 22-game winning streak. Their win streak is the second longest in the NCAA behind No. 1 South Carolina. Princeton also had the No. 9 NCAA RPI, the highest in Ivy history. The Tigers came in at No. 17 in the final USA Today/WBCA Coaches' Poll and No. 22 in the AP Poll.

She earned three All-America honors (WBCA, USBWA, AP), becoming just the second Ivy Player to be named AP All-American twice. She was also just the third player in Ivy history to be named Player of the Year three times.

Alarie will graduate as the program's all-time leader in Ivy Player of the Week Awards (20), blocks (249), double-doubles (40) and points (1,703) while ranking in the program's top 10 in rebounds, field goal attempts, rebounding average, field goals made, scoring average, free throws, free throw attempts and free throw percentage.

Mock Drafts have Alarie going in the first round of the WNBA Draft tomorrow. One of the 12 teams will get someone who changed the face of a team.

Coaches always say … leave the program in a better place than you found it.

Well, Bella did that.

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