Penn women win Ivy League title
PRINCETON, N.J. - The Princeton women's basketball team has lost seven Ivy League games in the last seven seasons. Penn won its second Ivy title in three seasons Wednesday night at Jadwin Gym, beating the Tigers, 62-60, in a game the Quakers led from late in the first quarter until the final two minutes. Penn gave up the lead for exactly 15 seconds, got it back on a three-point play from Anna Ross, the most skilled player on the court, and held it to the wire.
PRINCETON, N.J. - The Princeton women's basketball team has lost seven Ivy League games in the last seven seasons. Penn won its second Ivy title in three seasons Wednesday night at Jadwin Gym, beating the Tigers, 62-60, in a game the Quakers led from late in the first quarter until the final two minutes. Penn gave up the lead for exactly 15 seconds, got it back on a three-point play from Anna Ross, the most skilled player on the court, and held it to the wire.
"As I just told my players, you don't get these opportunities too many times in sports to celebrate something like this," Penn coach Mike McLaughlin said. "I just talked about some space being at the Palestra for them."
After the coach got a hug from men's coach Steve Donahue and the team got the championship trophy on the court, they all headed back to the Palestra to cut down the nets.
"It's going to be something," McLaughlin said. "I can't wait to get back there. I can remember in 2014. There were not many people in there . . . Just looking over there in the rafters and seeing all these teams, especially someone from Philadelphia that understands the history of the Palestra, Penn basketball, Philadelphia basketball, it's awesome."
It was just like 2014, when Penn came to Jadwin and won the title on the last day of the regular season. That game, however, was not close. This game was almost always close. Penn (24-4, 13-1) got the lead up to nine points in the third quarter, but Princeton (23-5, 12-2) always kept coming back. It looked like the Tigers would never catch up until they finally did, taking a 56-55 lead.
Ross, who finished with a team-high 18 points, changed that quickly. And then Penn point guard Kasey Chambers, who made an impossible semi no-look very long two at the shot-clock buzzer earlier in the quarter and was the only player to go all 40 minutes, practically begged for the ball at the end so she could get to the free-throw line. None of her four shots came close to hitting the rim. She finished with 11 points, four rebounds, four assists and no turnovers.
"Kasey's lived that time," McLaughlin said. "She feels that moment."
Forward Michelle Nwokedi was a hard guard in the post, scoring 17 points for the Quakers. Center Sydney Stipavonich did not shoot well (2-for-13), but affected the game with her defense, getting five blocks and three steals. Lauren Whitlatch, the fifth starter, had 11 points, including half of Penn's six threes.
Penn had 11 steals and seven blocks as the Tigers committed 18 turnovers. The Quakers shot 16-for-18 from the foul line. Penn was dogged with the lead for 32 minutes and determined when its gave it up ever so briefly. Ross' play changed that.
"I knew I had to be aggressive," she said. She was then; she was all game.
Penn beat Princeton, 50-48, in the first Ivy game of the season on Jan. 9. Two months later, the margin was the same, the stakes higher, an Ivy title and NCAA berth to the winner, a long wait on Selection Monday for the loser hoping for an at-large bid. It was just Penn's third win over Princeton in the last 16 meetings, but the Quakers definitely won the right three.
"They have great character, tremendous humility, really respect this sport," McLaughlin said. "I think they deserve this shining moment."
@DickJerardi
