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Friday, March 17
Salt Lake City, Utah
10:00 PM ET/8:00 PM MT
Princeton University
24-5,12-2Ivy League
64
vs
63
No. 7 Seed NC State
20-12,9-9ACC
1
2
3
4
F
Princeton
18
17
16
13
64
NC State
17
24
14
8
63
The final play of the contest vs. NC State
Photo by: Sideline Photos, LLC
MORE MADNESS!!!! Stone's Late Three Gives Princeton Shocking Comeback Win Over NC State In NCAA Opener
March 18, 2023 | Women's Basketball
TIGERBLOG ON PRINCETON'S STUNNING WIN OVER NC STATE
They never go away, do they? They never give up. They never stop playing as hard as a team can possibly play.
Never did that spirit mean more for the Princeton women's basketball team than it did Friday night in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. Princeton was beaten. The Tigers couldn't buy a basket — until they had no choice but to make them.
Grace Stone intercepted a pass and then nailed her fifth three-pointer of the game with 4.7 seconds left to give Princeton a wild, thrilling, improbable 64-63 win over North Carolina State at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City. The win advances the 10th-seeded Tigers into Sunday's second round against the host team, second-seeded Utah on Sunday at 7 p.m.
This was the second straight year that Princeton has won in the first round of the NCAA tournament and third overall. The Tigers are the first Ivy team to win NCAA Tournament games in back to back years since Harvard men's squad did it in 2013 and 2014.
The other two NCAA wins saw Princeton play from ahead. Against NC State? This was another story. This was just crazy.
Princeton won despite seeing NC State make 17 of its final 22 shots of the first half, and that was nothing compared to what happened in the second. The Tigers trailed 41-35 at the break and then went on a 10-0 run to go up 45-41 … and then went ice cold. Forget Utah cold. This was Antarctica cold.
Princeton would miss 15 straight shots, make one, and then miss nine more. That's a 1 for 24 stretch, and when it ended, Princeton trailed 63-55 with 5:44 to go on a basket by the Wolfpack's Aziaha James.
How do you win after all that? Well, if you're Princeton, you just up the intensity level. And that's what Princeton did.
From that point forward, NC State did not score again. The Wolfpack were hounded everywhere, and the result was staggering. What happened the rest of the way? NC State went 0 for 5 from the field and turned it over five other times.
Princeton, meanwhile, found just enough offense to pull this out. A three-pointer by Stone made it 63-58 with 3:09 left, and it stayed that way until Kaitlyn Chen made it 63-61 with a three of her own with 55 seconds left.
Princeton came up with yet another turnover, and now the Tigers had a chance to tie it. On this night, though, that would have been too easy. Instead, Julia Cunningham — who was brilliant all night — couldn't convert, and now NC State had the ball with 20 seconds to go. Princeton needed to foul three times to get the Wolfpack to the line, and so the Tigers committed two quick ones.
Ah, but putting NC State on the line would have been too easy, so instead Stone tipped the ball and pulled it in. Possession Princeton. After a timeout, Stone used a Madison St. Rose screen to free herself up, and she nailed the biggest shot of the night. NC State couldn't get a shot of its own off after a timeout to advance the ball to midcourt, and the Tigers had somehow won this one.
Chen and Stone both finished with 22 points, and Cunningham had 14 points and eight assists. Ellie Mitchell was her usual self, with four points but 11 rebounds, five steals and four blocked shots. Stone's 22 points were a career high, surpassing her previous total of 20 against No. 6 UConn.
The win by the women followed the win Thursday by the Princeton men over Arizona. It is the first time an Ivy League school has had its men's and women's teams both win in the NCAA in the same year.
They never go away, do they? They never give up. They never stop playing as hard as a team can possibly play.
Never did that spirit mean more for the Princeton women's basketball team than it did Friday night in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. Princeton was beaten. The Tigers couldn't buy a basket — until they had no choice but to make them.
Grace Stone intercepted a pass and then nailed her fifth three-pointer of the game with 4.7 seconds left to give Princeton a wild, thrilling, improbable 64-63 win over North Carolina State at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City. The win advances the 10th-seeded Tigers into Sunday's second round against the host team, second-seeded Utah on Sunday at 7 p.m.
This was the second straight year that Princeton has won in the first round of the NCAA tournament and third overall. The Tigers are the first Ivy team to win NCAA Tournament games in back to back years since Harvard men's squad did it in 2013 and 2014.
Big upset in SLC. Down by 2 with 11.0 seconds to play ?@PrincetonWBB? Grace Stone drains a 3.
— Holly Rowe (@sportsiren) March 18, 2023
10 beats 7 seed NC State pic.twitter.com/nccQSzangW
The other two NCAA wins saw Princeton play from ahead. Against NC State? This was another story. This was just crazy.
Princeton won despite seeing NC State make 17 of its final 22 shots of the first half, and that was nothing compared to what happened in the second. The Tigers trailed 41-35 at the break and then went on a 10-0 run to go up 45-41 … and then went ice cold. Forget Utah cold. This was Antarctica cold.
Princeton would miss 15 straight shots, make one, and then miss nine more. That's a 1 for 24 stretch, and when it ended, Princeton trailed 63-55 with 5:44 to go on a basket by the Wolfpack's Aziaha James.
How do you win after all that? Well, if you're Princeton, you just up the intensity level. And that's what Princeton did.
From that point forward, NC State did not score again. The Wolfpack were hounded everywhere, and the result was staggering. What happened the rest of the way? NC State went 0 for 5 from the field and turned it over five other times.
Princeton, meanwhile, found just enough offense to pull this out. A three-pointer by Stone made it 63-58 with 3:09 left, and it stayed that way until Kaitlyn Chen made it 63-61 with a three of her own with 55 seconds left.
Princeton came up with yet another turnover, and now the Tigers had a chance to tie it. On this night, though, that would have been too easy. Instead, Julia Cunningham — who was brilliant all night — couldn't convert, and now NC State had the ball with 20 seconds to go. Princeton needed to foul three times to get the Wolfpack to the line, and so the Tigers committed two quick ones.
Ah, but putting NC State on the line would have been too easy, so instead Stone tipped the ball and pulled it in. Possession Princeton. After a timeout, Stone used a Madison St. Rose screen to free herself up, and she nailed the biggest shot of the night. NC State couldn't get a shot of its own off after a timeout to advance the ball to midcourt, and the Tigers had somehow won this one.
Sorry about your clothes @Coach_Berube!
— Princeton WBB (@PrincetonWBB) March 18, 2023
Hope you forgive us! ??#GetStops ???? | @MarchMadnessWBB pic.twitter.com/MzSvswh606
Chen and Stone both finished with 22 points, and Cunningham had 14 points and eight assists. Ellie Mitchell was her usual self, with four points but 11 rebounds, five steals and four blocked shots. Stone's 22 points were a career high, surpassing her previous total of 20 against No. 6 UConn.
The win by the women followed the win Thursday by the Princeton men over Arizona. It is the first time an Ivy League school has had its men's and women's teams both win in the NCAA in the same year.
Team Stats
PU
NCSU
FG%
.333
.490
3FG%
.308
.400
FT%
.769
.692
RB
36
40
TO
9
20
STL
13
5
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
22
FGM
7
3FGM
5
FTM
3
Pts
22
FGM
8
3FGM
1
FTM
5
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
4
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballG
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