Mitchell's Record-Breaking Night Leads Princeton Past Penn And Into Finals Matchup Against Columbia

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In a game like this, at this time of year, when there is so much on the line, it's undeniable that the little things become the big things. And there is nobody — nobody — anywhere who does the little things that change games, and ultimately seasons, the way Ellie Mitchell does.

Once again, Mitchell, the Princeton women's basketball senior, dominated a game in which she scored but six points. And once again, Princeton needed everything she brought to the table to hold off Penn 59-54 in the first Ivy League semifinal at Columbia, a win that advances the top-seeded Tigers to Saturday's championship game against second seeded Columbia, who held off Harvard 63-61 in the second semifinal.

It was fitting that on a night when she broke the 46 year old school record for career rebounds that Mitchell was the centerpiece of the Princeton win. With her 12 rebounds, Mitchell now has 1,100 for her career, or one more than Maggie Meier Benchich had when she graduated in 1978. No men's player at Princeton has ever had more than Mitchell either.

It wasn't a rebound, though, that made the biggest difference in this one. Princeton, clinging to a three-point lead, turned the ball over on an inbounds play with 20 seconds to go, and now Penn had a chance to tie it with a three in the final seconds. Jordan Obi, a first-team All-Ivy League selection, turned the corner on a drive, only to find a perfectly positioned Mitchell, who slid from the opposite side and drew a charge with 14.2 left. It's the kind of thing the Ivy League's three-time Defensive Player of the Year regularly does.

Instead of a potential tying three-point play, it was Princeton ball. And when Madison St. Rose, who led the Tigers with 19 points, pocketed two foul shots, the game was essentially over.

Mitchell finished with her six points, all in the second half, as well as 12 rebounds (five on the offensive end), two assists, two steals and a block. Princeton needed every single one of those plays to hold off the Quakers.

Only six days earlier in Jadwin Gym, Princeton had beaten Penn 72-55. This one would not be as easy, not by a long shot.

Penn led 14-6 in the first quarter and 30-28 at the end of the first half, which featured 14 Princeton turnovers (the Tigers average 13 per game) that turned into 17 Penn points. Only a big-time scoring half by Kaitlyn Chen, who had 12 of her 18 in the first 20 minutes, kept it from being worse.

The Tigers, though, did what they do, which is play defense, defense and more defense, holding Penn to 12 points in the third and 12 in the fourth. To their credit, the Quakers never gave up, even when Princeton finally seemed to pull away, building a 57-49 lead on long St. Rose two-pointer with 3:42 to go.

For the rest of the way, though, Princeton shot 0 for 3 from the field and committed four turnovers, and suddenly, what seemed to be over was very much back in play, especially when Obi knocked down a three with 52 seconds left to make it 57-54.

Princeton did what it needed to do, first getting a big offensive rebound from Chet Nweke off a miss with 23 seconds to play, enabling Princeton to keep possession when every possession was huge. Then Mitchell drew the charge.

Princeton hammered Penn all night on the boards, finishing with a 42-26 edge that included a 17-3 edge in offensive rebounds. Nweke joined Mitchell in double figures with 10 boards of her own.

With this one behind them, the Tigers now will play in the Ivy League tournament championship game for the sixth time in the six years the tournament has been held. Princeton has also won the last four of these events.

The winner of Saturday's final will get the Ivy League's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Princeton is widely considered to be in great shape for an at-large bid should the Tigers not win in the final.

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