SENIOR MOMENT: Princeton University women’s basketball players Taylor Charles, left, and Madison St. Rose enjoy the moment as they got honored in the program’s annual Senior Day celebration last Saturday when Princeton hosted Yale in its regular season finale. Charles and St. Rose helped the Tigers defeat Yale 78-55 as they ended up earning the Ivy League regular season title outright. The Tigers, now 24-3 overall and 12-2 Ivy League, are seeded first in the Ivy tournament and will face fourth-seeded Brown in a semifinal contest on Friday in Ithaca, N.Y. The victor will advance to the final on Saturday against the winner of the semifinal between second-seeded Columbia and third-seeded Harvard. (Photo by Frank Jacobs III)
By Bill Alden
Taylor Charles didn’t score a point for the Princeton University women’s basketball team as it hosted Yale last Saturday in its regular season finale but she was all smiles afterward.
It turned out to be a Senior Day to remember for Charles and classmate Madison St. Rose in their last appearance at Jadwin Gym as the No. 23 Tigers defeated Yale 78-55 and ended up earning the Ivy League regular season title outright when Columbia lost to Harvard to fall out of a tie with Princeton.
After cutting down the net to celebrate earning a share of the league title, the Princeton players enjoyed a second celebration as they jumped and screamed for joy on the court after seeing Harvard beat Columbia to give the Tigers the outright championship.
“It was a lot of emotion, it is a bittersweet moment now,” said team co-captain Charles reflecting on her eventful Jadwin finale. “I am definitely happy now that we are outright champions. I am so happy to play alongside these girls. It has been a great experience. Coming into today that is what we wanted, this is the best possible outcome. It means so much. Maddie and I have been working for this the past four years. It is all that we wanted so this is the best possible way to go out.”
The Tigers, now 24-3 overall and 12-2 Ivy League, are seeded first in the Ivy tournament and will face fourth-seeded Brown in a semifinal contest on Friday in Ithaca, N.Y. The victor will advance to the final on Saturday against the winner of the semifinal between second-seeded Columbia and third-seeded Harvard.
Getting the start, just the fourth of her career, was a great way for Charles to go out at Jadwin.
“It shows that coach still trusts me at the end of the day,” said Charles a 6’2 native of Elgin, Ill., who ended up with four rebounds, three blocked shots, and one steal in the win. “I was joking about it earlier, Maddie and I are the offense and the defense. That is what we pride ourselves on. So I will go in there, block shoots and get steals. That is more my speed. It is so much fun.”
The Tigers didn’t have so much fun in the early going as Yale jumped out to an 18-4 lead. Princeton ended the quarter in an 11-4 run and then outscored the Bulldogs 25-10 in the second quarter to build a 40-32 halftime lead and never looked back from there.
“We kind of let the sadness of the day get to us,” said Charles.
“We definitely started a little slow but we found our groove and got into it. After the first quarter, we got that out. We were sad, that is over now. We have to bring the energy, that starts on defense. Defense leads to good offense and then we turned it around.”
Princeton hit a bit of a lull in the third quarter and then regained momentum with a 26-13 fourth quarter.
“It was the same type of thing,” said Charles. “Coming out at half, we just had low energy. Once we got the energy up we got rolling so it was just the energy switch for us.”
Coming off the bench over her Princeton career, Charles has focused on bringing energy whenever she gets on the court.
“My role has definitely changed a lot over the four years,” said Charles. “I got the captain vote from my team and that means so much to me. It has really become more of just being an energy player, going out there and doing whatever the team needs me to do. I don’t need to score a bunch of points. We have plenty of talented players that can do that. I just have to go out there, get stops, get rebounds and do the little things that we say we need to do and then just be a good example and actually do it.”
Having been a member of the supporting cast for the Tigers, Charles looks to be a calming presence for the squad’s younger players.
“I take them under my wing a little bit, obviously I have had a different experience from Maddie,” said Charles, who had no starts before this season and got into only 22 games in her first two years with the program. “I can relate to a lot of them. Coming off the bench, I know what that feels like. So I just tell them that it is OK, it gets better. It is fun when you get to be on the court but when you are on the bench it is bunch of fun too. So just being that relatable figure for them is really big.”
With a roster of just 11 players and lacking height, the Tigers have utilized a tenacity to produce another championship campaign.
“I think our grit this year is something we really tried to pride ourselves on and do more than we have in the past because we had to make up for that height disadvantage,” said Charles, whose is averaging 2.3 points and 3.7 rebounds a game and leads the Tigers in blocked shots with 35. “We are just trying to win those 50/50 balls and get all of the loose balls on the floor and just be grittier than we have in the past.”
Looking ahead to the matchup against Brown who Princeton defeated 58-49 January 24 and 69-37 on February 21, Charles believes the Tigers will need to bring that grit to overcome the Bears.
“They test us a lot, they are tough on the boards,” said Charles.
“So that means we have to make sure that we are boxing out and doing those little things. I am excited to play them again. They are a good team, we match up with them pretty well.”
Princeton head coach Carla Berube was excited to see Charles and St. Rose get celebrated on their Senior Day.
“They are amazing seniors, they are amazing leaders and they have given so much to this program,” said Berube, who got 17 points from St. Rose in the win over Yale. “Both of them had some adversity during their career and both have just stayed the course. They have just represented our program and our University in such a special way. I am really proud of them.”
Berube is proud of how Charles has grown over her Tiger career.
“I love the impact she is having on this season,” said Berube. “Everybody looks to her for guidance on the court and off the court. She just gets it. I am really happy for her.”
Reflecting on Princeton’s slow start against Yale, Berube was not happy.
“Yale came to play, they hit a lot of shots in that first five minutes,” said Berube. “I think we just had to get our bearings. It was play harder, play better defense, and communicate better and run. I thought we weren’t even trying to run in transition. We got better at that as the game went on.”
Junior stars Fadima Tall and Skye Belker helped Princeton get into a rhythm as Tall scored 22 points with five rebounds while Belker contributed 14 points.
“Fadima was feeling it,” said Berube. “It was a good matchup for us and she took advantage of that. Skye does a great job of just calming us down and getting us in our sets. She did a great job.”
Getting the outright title was a great bonus for the Tigers. “We were excited to be sharing it but of course to win it outright was even more special,” said Berube, whose has guided Princeton to five Ivy regular season league titles and three Ivy tournament crowns in her seven years guiding the program. “To get the No. 1 seed in the Ivy tournament is very meaningful so thanks Harvard, we appreciate it.”
In assessing this group’s title run, Berube pointed to intensity and chemistry.
“It is toughness, we are playing with a lot more grittiness and togetherness,” said Berube. “You see how close they are off the court. On the court, it translates. I think they do it for their seniors. It has a lot to do with Maddie and Taylor and how hard they want to play for them.”
The Tigers will have to play hard to top Brown. “They are a very good team, they are having an amazing season,” said Berube. “That is going to be a tough matchup in the first round. Playing in the first game on Friday is a big help. Playing in the second game, you don’t have as much rest in between.”
In order to win the Ivy tournament and earn the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, Princeton needs to bring the grit they have displayed down the homestretch of the regular season.
“We have to be playing our best basketball,” said Berube. “We have to play with that toughness. I think we have been playing much better on the defensive side except for the first quarter here. The way we played at Harvard (a 59-45 win on February 28) where we were diving on loose balls and just getting boards, we have to play with that intensity.”
Charles, for her part, is confident that the Tigers will bring their best from opening tip-off to final horn.
“The key to winning this year is not getting ahead of ourselves and play to the buzzer,” said Charles. “It doesn’t matter if we are up in the game, we have to play the full 40 minutes.”