Women's Basketball Ready For Ivy Madness

Friday, March 10

Princeton, N.J.

4:30 PM

Princeton University

No. 4 Seed Penn

Buy Tickets

Kaitlyn Chen

Photo by: Sideline Photos, LLC

March 09, 2023 | Women's Basketball

PRINCETON – The Women's Basketball Team's postseason journey gets underway with Ivy Tournament.

Watch | Live Stats | Tickets | Game Notes

The No. 1 seeded Princeton plays No. 4 seeded Penn on Friday at 4:30 p.m. No. 2 Columbia and No. 3 Harvard are at 7 p.m. on Friday.

How Did We Get Here?
•Princeton is 21-5 this season after defeating the Penn Quakers last Friday at the Palestra.

•With the 71-52 victory, the Tigers earned the 2023 Ivy League regular season title for the fifth straight playing season.

•After scoring 29 points in the first half, Princeton turned the game around with a 27-point third frame. The Tigers shot 11-of-20 from the floor in that stretch and held the Quakers without a basket for the first 4:29 of the quarter. During that time, head coach Carla Berube's squad flipped a two-point deficit to a nine-point advantage.

•The Tigers hardly slowed down, stretching their lead to as large as 20 in the stanza before settling with a 56-38 advantage after 30 minutes.

•Penn cut the deficit to 13 as the clock read 4:29 but buckets from Grace Stone and Maggie Connolly pushed the game back to an 18-point affair. The Quakers never got closer than 13 the rest of the way.

•Kaitlyn Chen dominated with 27 points on 9-of-15 shooting while Grace Stone added 17 points in the victory. Ellie Mitchell dropped in eight points, nine rebounds, six steals and was a game-high +25. Princeton scored 29 points off 24 Penn turnovers.

•The Class of 2023 (Julia Cunningham, Maggie Connolly, Lexi Weger, Kira Emsbo, and Stone) earned their fourth Ivy regular season title. Only 20 players in Ivy history have won four Ivy crowns. More than half have come from Princeton (Jacqueline Jackson '78, Maggie Meier '78, Meg Bowen '13, Kate Miller '13, Lauren Polansky '13, Niveen Rasheed '13).

2022-23 Stats And Things ...
Stats through March 3.
•Ellie Mitchell is 10th in the country in offensive rebounds per game (4.1), 11th in rebounds per contest (10.8) and 31st in total rebounds (281).

•She has registered at least nine rebounds in 17 games this season and 12+ in 12 contests.

•Her 10.8 rebounds per game would be the fifth best in program history and would be the highest mark since 1978.

•Against Seton Hall, she became only the third person since 2009-10 to have at least 23 rebounds and six steals in a game (Javonna Layfield (Dayton), 12/31/17), Kylie Kuhns (Sacramento St., 12/1/10).

•Mitchell became the first player in the NCAA to record at least 12 rebounds and eight steals in a game this season at Maine.

•She is also only the 10th player since 2009-10 to have at least seven points, 12 rebounds, three assists and eight steals in a contest and the first since February of 2018.

•Her 763 rebounds are sixth highest in program history.

•The junior is 37th in the nation in steals per game (2.50) and 56th in steals (65).

•Mitchell is one of only 20 players in the NCAA to have at least six steals in three games this season.

•Kaitlyn Chen leads the team in scoring at 15.4 points per game and field goal percentage (48.9). She has scored in double figures in every game except for four.

•The junior is 80th in the country in field goal percentage. Only 15.5 percent of her shots come from outside the three-point line.

•She sits 100th nationally in assists per game (4.2). Chen is second in the conference in total assists (108) and fourth in assist/turnover ratio (1.5).

•Madison St. Rose has scored 69.6 percent of her total points for the season in the last 13 games, all of which Princeton has won.

•She's averaged 13.1 points during that stretch and has nine 10+ point performances. She has raised her average point total from 5.7 to 9.4.

•St. Rose has earned three Ivy Rookie of the Week honors and one National Freshman of the Week accolade.

•Julia Cunningham has scored 1,038 points in her career. She scored her 1,000th career point at Columbia becoming the 27th Princeton Tiger to reach that milestone. Carlie Littlefield was the last Tiger prior to Cunningham to score 1,000 points.

•Paige Morton has scored 98 points this season, 65 more than last season. She's averaging 2.2 points more (3.8) than the 2021-22 campaign. Morton and Parker Hill combined to go 10-of-10 from the floor at Dartmouth.

•Parker Hill has more than doubled her point total from last year (56-23). She and Morton combined to go 8-of-10 shooting vs. Dartmouth earlier this month.

•Chet Nweke has outscored her total from last season (88-72). She is averaging 3.5 points after registering 2.4 per contest last year.

•Grace Stone has made at least one three in every game except for three and is shooting 41.0 percent from deep to pace the Tigers.

•The senior is averaging a career-high 9.9 points per game. She has gone from 4.2 points as a freshman, 5.8 points as a sophomore and 9.3 points as a junior to her current mark.

•Stone has appeared in 114 games in her career while Julia Cunningham has seen time in 112 and Maggie Connolly has seen action in 111.

•If Princeton plays in the same number of games as last year, barring injury, Stone would finish with 118 games, good for third all-time while Cunningham would finish with 116, fourth most and Connolly would end with 115 games, tied for fifth.

•Prior to the season, the Tigers' Class of 2026 was considered the No. 19 class among all recruiting classes according to ESPN.com. It's considered the best recruiting class in Ivy League history.

•Tabbie Amanze was ranked at No. 43 in the ESPNW Rankings while Madison St. Rose was right behind her at No. 46.

•St. Rose has played in every game, averaging 9.4 points and 2.5 rebounds per game. Taylor Charles has seen action in eight contests while Tabbie Amanze has not played.

•After shooting 1-of-13 from deep vs. Temple, Princeton has made at least three treys in in 22 games.

•The Tigers have at least 10 assists in each game this season in 22 contests. Princeton's 28 helpers vs. Hartford were two shy of the program record.

•After having nine steals in the first two games combined, the Tigers have produced 10 steals in 12 games since.

•After winning 20 games just three times prior to the 2009-10 season, the Tigers have won at least 20 games in all but one campaign since.

•The Tigers ranked in the top 100 nationally in the following ...
Scoring Defense (52.8) - 7th
Turnover Margin (+5.58) - 17th
Scoring Margin (+13.4) - 25th
Fewest Turnovers per game (13.3) - 35th
Turnovers forced per contest (18.92) - 38th
Net Ranking - 41st
Field Goal Percentage Defense (37.2) - 51st
Rebound Margin (+5.2) - 54th
Assist/Turnover Ratio (1.05) - 55th
Rebound Margin (+5.2) - 54th
Three-point field goal percentage defense (28.7) - 67th
Offensive Rebounds per game (12.8) - 77th
Steals per game (9.0) - 78th

•The Tigers have had over 1,000 fans at Jadwin for seven straight Ivy League games for the first time since 2014-15 and eight of the last nine contests overall.

•Princeton's 15-point comeback at Rutgers is the largest of the Carla Berube era, topping the 12-point rally at Yale in February of 2020.

•Grace Stone's buzzer beater vs. Rhode Island was the team's first buzzer beater since Eileen Powers' putback with one-second remaining in overtime lifted the Tigers past Southwest Texas State, 82-81, at the Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas on Nov. 23, 2002.

2022-23 Her Hoops Information ...
Stats Through March 3.
•Princeton is ranked No. 9 in the NCAA in Her Hoops Stats Defensive Rating (78.6), a statistic that controls for pace and adjusts defensive rating for the strength of the offenses teams have faced.

•The Tigers are No. 29 in Her Hoops Stats Rating (23.2), a rating of teams that controls for pace, adjusts for opponent quality, and incorporates margin of victory in addition to wins and losses.

•Berube's unit is also No. 33 in Simple RPI (59.8) which treats all games equally (25% Team Win %, 50% Average Opponent Win %, 50% Average Opponent's Average Opponent Win %). It is different from the NCAA RPI because the NCAA RPI values home wins as 0.6 wins, home losses as 1.4 losses, away wins as 1.4 wins, and away losses as 0.6 losses.

•The Tigers' opponents are only scoring .68 points per play, 13th best in the country and 35th in points per scoring
attempt (.91).

•Princeton has held opponents to an effective field goal percentage of 41.8 percent, 35th best in the NCAA. This statistic adjusts for the fact that a 3-point field goal is worth one more point than a 2-point field goal.

•The Tigers' opponents are scoring only 78.0 points per 100 possessions, eighth best in the nation.

•The 2023 Ivy League Champions are outscoring their opponents by 20.9 points per 100 possessions, 19th highest in the NCAA.

•Princeton has an 11.7 percent steal rate (percentage of opponents' plays where the ball is stolen), 28th nationally.

Kaitlyn Chen
Assist Rate - 29.2 percent - 98th percentile
Win Shares - 6.4 - 97th percentile
Offensive Win Shares - 4.3 - 96th percentile
Defensive Win Shares - 2.2 - 95th percentile
PER - 23.9 - 92nd percentile
Assist/TOV - 1.50 - 90th percentile
Usage Rate - 25.7 - 89th percentile
Personal Foul Percentage - 2.6% - 87th percentile
Defensive Rating - 84.2 - 88th percentile

Ellie Mitchell
Defensive Win Shares - 4.1 - 6th overall
Defensive Rating - 67.7- 6th overall
Total Rebounding Percentage - 21.3% - 24th overall
Defensive Rebound Percentage - 27.6% - 27th overall
Steal Rate - 4.4 percent - 37th overall
Offensive Rebound Percentage - 15.6% - 46th overall
Win Shares - 5.3 - 94th percentile

Julia Cunningham
Defensive Win Shares - 2.8 - 98th percentile
Defensive Rating - 76.8 - 98th percentile
Steal Percentage - 3.5 percent - 96th percentile
Win Shares - 4.9- 92nd percentile
Block Rate - 3.7 percent - 88th percentile
Assist Rate - 20.4 percent - 86th percentile

Grace Stone
Defensive Win Shares - 2.3 - 96th percentile
Defensive Rating - 81.2 - 94th percentile
Win Shares - 4.1- 88th percentile

Madison St. Rose
Defensive Rating - 82.1 - 92nd percentile
Defensive Win Shares - 1.8 - 90th percentile

Win Shares are an approximate total number of wins that determines that a player produces offensive and defensively.

Princeton in Ivy Madness ...
•Princeton has been in the Ivy League Tournament each year of its existence starting 2016-17.

•The Tigers have reached the championship game each year (2017, 2018, 2019, 2022), winning three times while losing in 2017 to Penn.

•Bella Alarie, twice, and Kaitlyn Chen have won the last three Tournament Most Outstanding Player awards.

•Princeton has had 11 All-Tournament selections in Alarie (three), Abby Meyers (twice) Leslie Robinson (twice), Gabrielle Rush, Carlie Littlefield, Julia Cunningham and Chen.

•The Tigers are 2-1 in the Ivy Tournament against Penn with victories in the 2018 and 2019 Tournament Finals with their only loss coming in the 2017 Tournament Final. Overall, Princeton is 65-30 against Penn with wins in 11 of the last 12 meetings.

•Princeton is 1-0 in Ivy Madness against Columbia with the lone battle coming in the 2022 Final. The Tigers are 60-17 in program history against the Lions, having won all but one time since 2008-09 season.

•Head coach Carla Berube's unit is 2-0 all-time vs Harvard in the Ivy postseason with victories coming in the 2017 and 2022 semifinals. The Tigers are 50-42 in 92 contests against the Crimson with victories in 17 of the last 19 get togethers.

Shoot Around Fun ...
•Princeton finishes each shootaround on the day of a game with a half-court shot.

Maggie Connolly - 8
Julia Cunningham - 3
Paige Morton, Amelia Osgood, Lexi Weger and Grace Stone - 2
Ellie Mitchell, Kaitlyn Chen, Katie Thiers, and Madison St. Rose - 1.

Breakfast is King ...
The team led by captain Maggie Connolly and Katie Thiers have ranked each road trip's breakfast.
Harvard - 9.0 (omelette bar, lots of variety)
Texas - 8.5 (Great variety, mini waffles a hit)
UConn - 8.5 (less variety by high quality)
Columbia - 7.8 (great bacon and eggs, but the room was freezing)
Dartmouth - 7.5 (good pancakes and sausage, but eggs and bacon were meh)
Brown - 6.2 (fantastic potatoes, good fruit and bacon, french toast was a disaster
Yale 6.2 - poor, poor eggs, solid sausage and bacon, good pancakes
Towson - 6.5 (basic)
Cornell - 5.3 (runny eggs, not many options)
Maine - 3.5 (there was food).