SKYE HIGH: Princeton University women’s basketball player Skye Belker puts up a shot in recent action. Last Monday, junior guard Belker scored 19 points to help No. 25 Princeton defeat Temple 87-77 and post its 10th straight win. The Tigers, now 12-1, are next in action when they start Ivy League action by playing at Penn on January 3. (Photo by Frank Jacobs III)
By Justin Feil
Skye Belker had the answer after the Princeton University women’s basketball team fell behind Temple, 5-0, in the first minute and a half of the game on Monday, December 22 at Jadwin Gym.
The junior guard got her 19-point day started with five straight points for Princeton to ignite the Tigers who pulled away for an 87-76 win over Temple to end the non-conference portion of their schedule.
“We did a great job just finding each other,” said Belker. “We have a lot of great scoring threats. We run the floor really well. And so just letting the offense come to us, not forcing anything. We know that if we’re not scoring in the first minute and a half of the game, we’re not worried and kind of stick to our own game.”
Princeton’s win was its 10th straight to improve to 12-1 and further support their new No. 25 ranking in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll, their first time in the rankings since last February.
“The good thing is we have a lot to work on,” said Princeton head coach Carla Berube. “It’s like, if we were playing our best basketball in December, that’s not great. You really want to keep building. So there’s a lot to improve on, especially on the defensive side of the ball. And we’re going to work on it. And we have a lot of practice time before we start the Ivy League season on January 3.”
The Tigers will resume play with the start of their Ivy League schedule after an 11-day break following the Temple game. Princeton will play at Penn on January 3 in the Ivy opener for both teams.
“We’re really proud of how this whole non-conference season went,” said Belker. “We had a lot of great games. We went to the Bahamas, which was really fun. And so we’re kind of just enjoying playing with each other, having a lot of fun, and making sure that we carry over that joy into the new year and make sure we step it up a notch, because it’s the Ivy League and now we are playing every team twice. So we know what to expect, they know what to expect. We need to just gear it up another level so that we can really put teams away.”
Aside from the final four minutes when Temple made a late run, there was plenty to cheer for from the Princeton side. The victory thrilled 3,000 spectators, most of them enthusiastic elementary-aged students on Field Trip Day. They filled most all of the lower section of Jadwin Gym and parts of the middle section.
“The atmosphere was electric,” said Berube. “It was awesome. I hope the kids had a really fun time. We did. And you hope that they want to come back and see some more women’s basketball.”
Belker was one of four Tigers in double figures to offset 36 points from Temple’s Kaylah Turner. Madison St. Rose led Princeton with 22 points, Belker had 19, Toby Nweke scored 15 points off the bench, and Ashley Chea finished with 10 points.
“We play connected basketball and I think we’re making plays, great stuff on the break and execution of our offenses for the most part,” said Berube. “We’re scoring 87 points, so good things were happening – making threes, stepping up and making our free throws was big.”
Belker keyed the 12-0 run at the start of the game as Princeton never trailed after her five straight points. She scored 10 of her points as Princeton responded to Temple’s early flurry to build a 26-20 lead in the first quarter. The 19 points was her third highest output of the season. She had 26 points in a win over Seton Hall on December 2 and a career-high 27 points in a win over Penn State on November 22.
“She’s playing a little more of the point, taking the ball out of Ashley’s hands so Ashley can take a break or run some actions for her — she’s such a good scorer,” said Berube of Belker, who is averaging 13.6 points a game and has 39 assists, the second most on the team. “Skye’s doing a great job defensively. She just knows when to settle us. She knows when to push it. Her jump shot is amazing right now, so we want to keep it going. She’s also playing with a lot of confidence, and she’s our most experienced player out there. Now with Maddie back, the two of them, it’s great to have those two leaders on the floor.”
Belker was an All-Ivy Tournament selection last year when Princeton lost in the Ivy tourney semifinals before receiving an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. The Ivy tournament is still a long way off, and Belker knows how important each regular-season game will be as they build toward returning to the Ivy and NCAA tournaments. Princeton won the Ivy League regular season title and tournament in 2023-24, and they want to return to level that after last year’s disappointment in the Ivy tournament.
“Take whatever you learn from that game,” said Belker, a 5’9 native of Los Angeles, Calif. “So learning kind of the experience of being in that environment is definitely something to take away. I’ve played in it twice, so growing off of that. But overall, this is a new season. It’s a new team. We’re playing new teams really. So just taking more so what we learned from the non-conference into the Ivy League versus last year.”
Belker is part of a good shooting group for the Tigers. Princeton shot 41 percent from 3-point range against Temple. Belker has improved her long-range shooting each year. She’s at a career-high 43 percent (23-54) from 3s this year. Princeton is shooting 34 percent as a team from distance, getting the looks off players creating for themselves and others.
“We’re doing a good job of using screens, setting up screens, but also when we’re able to get downhill, when the help comes, be able to kick to an open shooter, and then maybe it’s one more pass to another even more open shooters,” said Berube. “Just reading each other, and I think it just comes with playing together and experience and they’ve got that.”
Princeton has built a strong body of work in out of conference play. The Tigers were coming off an improbable overtime win just two days earlier at George Mason when it had to take on Temple. George Mason led by seven points with 25 seconds left in regulation before the Tigers got a free throw, three free throws on a fouled 3-point shot from St. Rose, and a 3-point play from Nweke to force overtime where Chea’s bank shot with 3.1 seconds left made the difference in a 71-69 win.
“It was going to be, I think, a little hard for us coming right off that crazy win at George Mason, having one day to get ready,” said Berube. “And I thought we really brought great energy. I thought the defense was pretty good throughout. Of course, Kaylah Turner was pretty amazing. But our offense was kind of running on all cylinders and our break looked great.”
Belker got things started and the Tigers hit their groove. Olivia Hutcherson’s 3-point play provided a 20-9 lead with 3:21 left in the first quarter, their largest lead of the first quarter. St. Rose’s 3-pointer gave her a team-high 12 points and Princeton a 42-28 halftime lead, its largest of the first half as the Tigers showed no ill effects to the quick turnaround.
“In our non-conference schedule, we’ve seen a lot of almost back-to-back games,” said Belker. “So we’re definitely prepared for that. We prepped a lot in the preseason as well, getting ready for just staying fit, being in good shape. So I think that helped us be ready.”
A 3-point play by Temple’s Jaleesa Molina cut the Princeton third-quarter lead to 13 points before five straight points by Nweke ignited a big finish to the quarter. The Tigers established a 67-45 lead heading into the fourth quarter on the strength of 3-pointers by Belker and Chea. A late flurry by Temple gave them a 28-18 fourth-quarter edge and brought the final score much closer and gave the Tigers no chance to walk away fully satisfied by the win.
Princeton will be focused on developing its defense and making itself even tougher to guard as it goes forward. The Tigers have gotten off to a strong start in non-conference action and have the experience to know what it takes to excel in Ivy competition.
“Sticking to your own game, making sure that we all know what we’re good at, playing our roles,” said Belker. “That’s led us to a lot of wins this season. Being consistent with that is going to be really important. And then also, we see a lot of back-to-back games in the Ivy League, but that just preps us for the Ivy tournament and for the March Madness tournament as well. We obviously want to make a run in that. So taking advantage of all those back-to-back games to use as practice.”