Princeton’s women’s basketball will see blue again in the NCAA tournament.
The Great Blue Nation.
The Ivy League champion “Tigers” (24-4) took 11th seed in the regional Bridgeport and met at No. 6 from Kentucky (19-11) in the first round match on Saturday in Bloomington, India.
These two teams have a recent history of NCAA tournaments. Kentucky defeated Princeton 82-77 in the first round match, which was also a 6-11 match.
The Wildcats, who won 10 in a row, stormed the SEC Championship, culminating in a 64-62 victory over South Carolina’s No. 1. Dre’una Edwards made the game a three-point victory with 4.2 seconds left, giving Kentucky only the second SEC title in program history.
Coach Kira Elsie’s team, which beat No. 1, 2 and 3 seed in the SEC tournament, is led by Raine Howard (20.6 points, 7.3 rebounds) and Edwards (16.9 points, 8.2 rebounds).
After that, the Tigers won 17 straight in a row and won all 16 games against an opponent in the Ivy League. On Saturday in Cambridge, Massachusetts, they won an automatic seat in the conference, defeating Columbia 77-59.
The winner faces either number 3, seeded by Indiana, or number 14, seeded by Charlotte. The Husseins are the home team.
NC State is the number 1 seed in the regional and then the number 2 seed of UConn. The regional semifinals will be held at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, Cannes.
If Princeton wins two games in Bloomington, he is likely to face UConn in the regional semifinals. This will set up a meeting between the Tigers coach Carla Berube and Jen Auriem. Berube played for Auriem at UConn.
