The Guru Report: Rough Start Dooms Penn Against Princeton While Harvard Upsets Columbia in Ivy Semis

 By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

 

PRINCETON, N.J. – For the fifth straight year, the two cancelled Covid years notwithstanding, top-seeded Princeton will be out to win another Ivy postseason championship, only this time the opportunity comes in front of the Tigers’ fans at 5 p.m. Saturday (ESPN News/ESPN+) in their Jadwin Gym.

 

Not back to join them, will be 2-seeded Columbia, having been wrecked Saturday afternoon by third-seeded Harvard in a wildly entertaining game Friday night 72-65 in overtime.

 

That came after Princeton (22-5) continued its recovery from an 0-2 start in Ivy competition back in the arrival of the new year to 14 straight wins, beating Penn for the second time in a week.

 

Unlike last Friday back in The Palestra, when the fourth-seeded Quakers (17-11) threatened an upset through the first half before the top-seeded Tigers lowered the boom, this time Princeton came thundering at the outset with a 19-2 outset.

 

In fact, this being the time of year of spring training, the Princeton defense was tossing a 16-0 no hitter until Mandy McGurk, off a steal and layup at the 2:14 mark accounted for the lone Penn score.

 

However, as much as Quakers coach Mike McLaughlin respects the game and the opposition, in those matchups his best hope is his players compete and though after the first ten minutes, when this affair was looking at a gruesome outcome, they didn’t let him down.

 

In fact, they outscored the Tigers 38-27 across the next periods until they “just ran out of steam” in the fourth after reducing the differential to as little as six points.

 

“It’s a big hump to get over,” McLaughlin said about managing the huge deficit. “We had conversations about playing the next play and don’t worry about the score, execute and play a little better.

 

“And we did that. I thought they did a phenomenal job of doing that. We definitely ran out of steam at the end, and exhausted so much trying to get back into the game emotionally and physically. I’m so proud of this group.”

 

Princeton’s Kaitlyn Chen, the Ivy player of the year voted by the league’s coaches, had 24 points, while Penn’s Kayla Padilla, a member of the all-Ivy first team, scored 20.

 

The Tigers swept Penn in all three games, though on the start Princeton had in this one, coach Carla Berube said, “It was important after some of the slow starts we had.

 

“I don’t think we sustained it will. But it was important.”

 

Also emphasized was defending Penn post star Jordan Obi, who had eight rebounds.

 

“We chased her everywhere,” Berube said on limiting Obi to eight points.

 

Eli Mitchell had a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds, while Madison St. Rose, the freshman of the year, scored 12.

 

A bright spot for Penn came right before the half when McGurk had a long three attempt zip through the net.

 

“It was a huge spark,” Padilla said. “When you have plays like that it’s a huge momentum swing. So, we went into the second half feeling amped and ready to go.

 

“I think that translated into the third quarter. Big plays like that, they are the intangibles and making big shots like that, that’s what changes games.”

 

A three-pointer in the game made Padilla the triple crown holder for triplets now holding the season, game, and career marks in the program for shooting from beyond the arc.

 

While Penn has all the credentials for playing in the WNIT, the number of top seeds getting bounced in their conferences who won’t be allowed to be rescued for NCAA bid-stealing opportunities could impact spots.

 

“This team should be in the WNIT,” McLaughlin said. “I think this team, playing in this league, they deserve to play again. Their NET’s there, their RPI’s there, they won 17 ball games.

 

“Penn’s a special place, and they are up front with everything, and they would love to have a game in the Palestra.”

 

One attraction that would draw is playing Drexel from up the street.

 

The second-seeded Dragons got shocked in the quarterfinals of the Colonial Athletic Association tournament at Towson’s SECU Arena in suburban Maryland, losing for the second time this season 65-59 to new member Monmouth, the seventh seed.

 

Drexel as the two-seed, would seem to hold the automatic qualifier spot out of the CAA.

 

The floor in the Daskalakis Athletic Center is set for a repair, though it is not known if in fact there’s a hold to begin, pending the Dragons’ postseason prospects.

 

Keishana Washington (27.2), who moved into sole possession of Iowa’s Caitlin Clark (27.0) in second place behind Villanova’s Maddy Siegrist (28.9), had 32 points in the loss to the Hawks (16-15), while Kylie Lavelle scored 16 and Maura Hendrixson dealt 12 assists for the Dragons (21-9).

 

Brianna Tinsley scored 14 points, Elizabeth Marsicano had 13 points, and Jania Hall scored 11 for Monmouth.

 

Several years ago, Temple beat Penn at The Palestra in the WNIT after losing to the Quakers in Big Five competition.

 

Washington has reached 30 in 12 games this season and became the all-time Canadian player in NCAA history with 2,320 career points, passing Vermont’s Karalyn Church (1990-94).

 

She also became the third CAA player in conference history to pass 800 career points in a season behind Delaware’s Elena Delle Donne with 927 in 2011-12 and James Madison’s Precious Hall with 841 in 2016-17.

 

Hendrixson has 231 assists for the season, fifth on the CAA list.

 

Meanwhile, back here in Princeton, the bigger issue for the conference is the ability to get a second at-large bid in conference history in the NCAA following the Tigers’ pick in 2016 after Penn won the title.

 

The assumption of two was built on Columbia, which tied Princeton in the season standings for first, returning to challenge the Tigers again in the championship.

 

That was punctured, however, by third seed and spoiler Harvard, which began Ivy play upsetting Princeton, and on Saturday withholding a Lions rally to win 72-65 in overtime.

 

The Crimson (17-10) had a chance to win in regulation and bobbled the last possession as time ran out.

 

Columbia (23-5) had been right up there with the Tigers all season.

 

MacKenzie Forbes, who had 27 for Harvard, snapped a 61-61 tie with a jump shot with 1:56 left in the extra period.

 

Columbia then failed to connect on two attempted threes on the next possession and Forbes connected on her own three with 39 seconds left for a five-point lead.

 

She later made two foul shots and a layup as time was running out to carry Harvard into the title game for the first time since the Ivy League became the last conference to hold postseason competition.

 

Harmoni Turner had 18 points and 12 rebounds for the Crimson, while Saniyah Glenn-Bello had 10 points and nine rebounds, joined by Elena Rodriguez with the same number of boards.

 

Kaitlyn Davis scored 27 for Columbia, while Jaida Patrick scored 15, and Hannah Pratt scored 11.

 

Harvard is under first-year coach Carrie Moore, who had been an assistant at Michigan and at Princeton when Courtney Banghart, now at North Carolina, was part of the program.

 

She succeeded longtime Crimson coach Kathy Delaney-Smith, who may appear Saturday.

 

WNBA Commssioner Cathey Engelbert was here in courtside seats.

 

If Harvard wins Saturday, Princeton will still have a strong shot to get its second at-large invite.

 

“I’m really not thinking about the bids, the NET rankings and all that,” said Berube, a former UConn star. “Now that the weekend is here, this is our focus – winning games.” 

 

Columbia coach Megan Griffith made her case postgame to be chosen, reading a bunch of statistics and being emphatic about being in the NCAA field for the first time.

 

But sources had indicated the Lions needed to get to the championship game.

 

On Friday, Vermont out of the America East conference, edged Albany 38-36 at home to become the lone automatic qualifier.

 

The remaining AQs will be determined Saturday and Sunday afternoon before the 68-team field and draw is revealed Sunday night on ESPN at 8 p.m.

 

And that’s the report.