Dancing Again: Princeton Women’s Basketball Wins Ivy Madness and an NCAA Tournament Berth

ITHACA, New York — In the Ivy Madness championship against Harvard, Princeton women’s basketball center Fadima Tall ’27 set the tone with her hustle and scoring, point guard Ashley Chea ’27 helped her team navigate the Crimson’s aggressive perimeter defense, and forward Olivia Hutcherson ’27 closed out the game with critical fourth-quarter layups in a 63-53 win that earned the Tigers a ticket to the NCAA Tournament for the fifth straight year. 

Princeton, now 26-3, has impressed throughout the season with its consistency, but head coach Carla Berube said that the Tigers have also consistently been challenged.  

“I think that this happened today because we had the experience in the nonconference [schedule], having so many tight games,” Berube said. “They just look at each other and they say, ‘We’ve got this.’ And I think, you know, it sounds cliche, but it is about the connectedness and togetherness that they have off the court. It shows on the court. It shows in big moments. 

“They are resilient, they’re tough, and they love this game. They love playing this game, but the most important part is they love playing together and for each other. And I think that’s what we see. It’s such a joy to coach a team like this.”

In the final, played at Cornell’s Newman Arena on Saturday night, No. 23 Princeton, seeded first in the tournament, led third-seeded Harvard for nearly all of the first three quarters and part of the fourth. But hot shooting by the Crimson’s Karlee White helped to erase a 12-point lead and tie the game with about 5:33 left. With the game on the line, Hutcherson, who’d been held scoreless to that point, found open space on the right block and made four baskets in a 2:30 span to push Princeton ahead for good.

Fadima Tall ’27 led all scorers with 20 points and was named the Ivy League Tournament’s Most Valuable Player.

Courtesy of Princeton Athletics

The Tigers were in control in the closing seconds, and Harvard seemed content to avoid fouling until Tall split two defenders, drew a reach-in, and ended up on the free throw line. She sank her 20th point of the night to close out the scoring, an appropriate bookend moment for the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.

“We’re very lucky to have her on our team,” Berube said, adding that while Tall may defend against the other team’s center, she is not limited by the “five” role. “Is she sitting on the block for 40 minutes? No, she’s spreading the floor. She can hit threes, she can go by [defenders] but also can play on the inside.”

That presents challenges for the Ivy teams trying to defend her, Harvard head coach Carrie Moore said. Against quick but smaller players, she has a size advantage; against taller players, she usually has the edge in speed and sometimes reach as well. “That’s probably something we’ll have to figure out, because she’ll be back next year,” Moore said.

Tall’s stat line — 20 points, seven rebounds, four steals, three assists, and one block — misses the impact of some plays that don’t show up in the box score, like forcing jump balls and breaking up pass attempts that could have started a fast break. In the opening quarter, she seemed to get a hand on the ball in about half of the defensive possessions. The Crimson had nine first-quarter turnovers as Princeton built its early lead. 

In some ways, it was an atypical Princeton game: Top scorers Madison St. Rose ’26 and Skye Belker ’27 combined for just 15 points, and the Tigers made one 3-pointer in nine tries (they average 6.5 made 3-pointers per game). 

“They take what the defense gives you, and I think they were playing us pretty tight, right?” Berube said. “Certainly, you know, up in our faces a lot. And so I think when we were getting going, it was getting by them and getting to the free throw line. I know we took like 22 free throws, and I think that was key. Last night [against Brown] was different. We had to make some threes. They were packing it in a little bit more. And I think it just goes to show you that we don’t have one way to win, one way to score.” 

When the final buzzer sounded, the Tigers huddled and danced at center court, showered by gold confetti, and posed with their oversized ticket to the NCAA Tournament. The championship is Princeton’s sixth in the eight times that the tournament has been contested, but for many of the players this year, it was the first title for which they were major contributors. Last season, they’d lost to Harvard in the Ivy Madness semifinals.

“I think that winning it this year means a lot to all of us just because we’re upperclassmen now and we’ve been starting together for the past two years,” Chea said. “And I think I can speak for all of us when I say that, you know, we’re all best friends. … It just means honestly everything.”

Princeton will learn its NCAA first-round destination during the tournament selection show on Sunday night.