Princeton Falls To West Virginia In NCAA Opening Round

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There was a little more than a minute to play, Princeton down nine to West Virginia in the opening round of the NCAA tournament in Iowa City, play stopped for an official review. Had this been just another game in the beginning or middle of a long season, such a review, one that had almost no chance of changing the ultimate outcome, might have been an annoyance.

In this situation, though, it was quite a different story. This time, it gave these Princeton Tigers a few more minutes together as the 2023-24 team, and so it was worth every second for even that small opportunity.

In the end, Princeton's season ended with a 63-53 loss to West Virginia, who advances to the second round Monday night to take on Iowa and Caitlin Clark. The Tigers finish 25-5 on the year, Ivy League regular season and tournament champs once more.

The loss ended a two-year streak of winning in the opening round of the tournament for Princeton, and so it was hard to walk away from what might have been — another win and a date with Clark, both of which vanished in a third quarter the Tigers would love to have back.

Princeton led 23-14 in the second quarter and 29-24 when Kaitlin Chen drained a three-pointer on the first possession after halftime. The rest of the quarter, though, saw West Virginia pressure Princeton into turnovers and missed shots, and when it had ended, the Mountaineers were on an 18-3 run that made it a 42-33 game. The Tigers would not get closer than six points in the fourth.

The loss ended the remarkable careers of Chen, the first three-time Ivy tournament Most Outstanding Player, and Ellie Mitchell, the three-time Ivy Defensive Player of the Year. Chen finished with 17 points, giving her 1,276 points for her career, 12^th best all-time at Princeton.

As for Mitchell, she put up one more of her classic stat lines, finishing with three points, 15 rebounds and five assists. She finished her career with 1,125 rebounds, the all-time record for women and men at Princeton.

Sophomore Madison St. Rose led Princeton with 22 points, while WVU All-American guard JJ Quinerly had a game-high 29.

Princeton never trailed in the first half, leading 14-11 at the end of the first quarter and 26-24 at the break.

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