Princeton University Athletics
Tuesday TigerBlog - Working Overtime On The Holiday
January 20, 2026 | Tiger Blog
You know what TigerBlog just can't do?
Watch a game after it's already happened. He tries to do it; he just can't.
Take yesterday's women's basketball game against Harvard, which ended up as an 82-79 Princeton victory.
It started at the same time as TB's dentist appointment, so he figured "okay, watch it from the start later."
He even reached out to anyone he thought might tip him off as to what happened and said "no updates of any kind." Okay, all set. Dentist. Game.
And then he figured he'd check the halftime score. As it turned out, it was 25-25. Okay, don't check again. Watch it from the start of the second half.
And ... he just couldn't help himself. So he checked again, just in time to see this on X:
You're kidding, right?OVERTIME!!!!@ashleyycheaa HITS IT WITH 0.4 SECONDS TO GO!!!!!
— Princeton WBB (@PrincetonWBB) January 19, 2026
?? - @NBCSPhilly
?? - https://t.co/XFDTnfSEZn
?? - https://t.co/SEYZ5dg6Lg#GetStops ???? pic.twitter.com/cP4MRGzU3n
Is there someone else you'd rather have taking your make-or-break shot than Ashley Chea? How many times has she either won a game or forced overtime at the buzzer. This was the second time against Harvard alone in her career.
And by the way, how did she get that wide open? You know Madison St. Rose can score. Did you know she could set amazing screens?
So now TB was fully invested in seeing what would happen. The only problem is that he wasn't home yet. So what to do?
Wait it out and watch the overtime? Nope. No chance. He had to know.
And so he looked — and the Tigers had won.
Princeton had five players in double figures, led by St. Rose and Chea with 19 each. St. Rose had five of her points in the overtime.
Olivia Hutcherson had 14 points. Skye Belker had 13. Fatima Tall had 11 points and nine rebounds. That's how Princeton does it. Scoring balance.
How else did the Tigers do it? If you look at the box score, you'll see that there was very little that separated these two teams yesterday.
Each team won two quarters — one each by one point and one each by two points. What else?
Points in the paint? 38-36 Princeton. Bench points? 7-6 Harvard. Field goals? Harvard made 29; Princeton made 28.
Fouls? Harvard had 20; Princeton had 19. Offensive rebounds? Both teams had 12. Turnovers? Princeton had 17; Harvard had 16. Points off turnovers? 38-36 Harvard.
The biggest difference was in steals, though, where Princeton had more than twice as many as Harvard (13-6). Those steals are why turnovers were close and points off turnovers were close; without them, Princeton doesn't get anywhere near overtime.
If you look at the Ivy League women's basketball stats, you'll see that Princeton is ranked No. 1 in scoring offense and No. 7 in scoring defense. That's not what you're used to seeing from Carla Berube teams.
Defense, though, isn't just about scoring averages. The 13 steals against Harvard are a testament to that. How many points did Harvard not score because of those steals? As TB said, the game isn't getting near OT without those caused turnovers.
Then again, they don't get to overtime regardless of anything else if Chea doesn't make that shot. It's one thing to be a great shooter. It's another to catch it and drop it in from three as the clock is about to go to all zeroes, knowing this is your team's last chance.
As TB said before, is there someone else you want taking that shot?
With the win, Princeton is now 16-1 overall and 4-0 in the Ivy League. Between the 16 men's and women's basketball teams, the Tiger women are the only one who has gone through four league games without a loss.
Columbia and Brown are both 3-1 in the women's standings, followed by Harvard and Cornell at 2-2 each. Princeton will head to Providence Saturday with only a single game this weekend.
