Princeton blows past Cornell for first Ivy League win

On Saturday, Jan. 7, senior Julia Cunningham led the Princeton University Tigers with 13 points and six assists to prevail over the Cornell University Big Red, 70-48, for their first Ivy League win in 2022-23. Princeton now improves to 9-5 overall and 1-2 in conference play. Cornell falls to 8-8 overall and 1-2 in conference play.

Princeton came out firing as Cunningham hit the first three-pointer of the game to start off the scoring. Senior Grace Stone made a layup and a jumper to give the Tigers the 7-0 lead. Senior Shannon Mulroy was able to get a three-pointer for Cornell, but it did not slow down the Tigers, who went on to score nine more before the Big Red could get their second shot of the game. Cunningham had six more points in the quarter, a layup and two jumpers to increase Princeton's lead. The Tigers led 24-12 at the end of the first quarter, with Cunningham having nine points.

Cornell started the second quarter strong with a 6-0 run to decrease the lead to 24-18. To try and beat the shot clock, senior Ania McNicholas put up a three-pointer, but it was tipped by Cunningham to deny the shot. Stone hit a three from the top of the key after receiving the pass from Cunningham. After a turnover by Mulroy, junior Kaitlyn Chen received the ball to make a good layup, but she missed the and-one.

Princeton 12, Cornell 3 | 5:52 1st

Great start for the Tigers with 12 of the first 15 including this trey from @kaitilyn2!

💻 - https://t.co/toUe28uJBJ #GetStops 🐯🏀 pic.twitter.com/sl48xWrYk7

— Princeton WBB (@PrincetonWBB) January 7, 2023

Cunningham was fouled and she made both free throws to increase the lead to 31-18. Mulroy put up a shot for Cornell in the dying minutes of the shot clock to give the Big Red two more points. Chen received the ball from Cunningham before putting up the three, giving the Tigers a 12-point lead. McNicholas grabbed another layup for the Big Red before freshman Emily Pape got one of her own to force Princeton to call a timeout to regroup. At the end of the quarter, Maggie Connolly put up the layup as she fell after being fouled, and she sunk the and-one. The half finished 37-28, with Princeton in the lead.

The first half ended with Princeton shooting 53.8% from the paint and 41.7% from beyond the arc. Cornell shot 42.9% from in the paint and 14.3% from beyond the arc.

Junior Ellie Mitchell started the third quarter with a fadeaway in the paint for two. Senior Anna Hovis hit back with a layup of her own to give Cornell two as well. Freshman Madison St. Rose received the ball from Cunningham, who was on the baseline, to get a jumper for two. Cunningham drove toward the basket to receive the ball from Mitchell and added two more for the Tigers.

Princeton 22, Cornell 8 | 1:25 1st

🔥 start for @nat_strose as she's got six points here in the first quarter!

💻 - https://t.co/toUe28uJBJ #GetStops 🐯🏀 pic.twitter.com/HCWoPsR0HO

— Princeton WBB (@PrincetonWBB) January 7, 2023

St. Rose got a steal and sent it to Stone, who found Chen driving toward the basket, where she put up the easy layup. After Mitchell missed the initial shot St. Rose grabbed the offensive rebound and made the layup to give Princeton an 18-point lead. Connolly found junior Chet Nweke alone under the basket who grabbed her first points of the game to increase the lead to 20. Sophomore Paige Morton then put up a layup as well before McNicholas gave Cornell two. St. Rose got a steal at the end of the quarter and tried to put up the long three-pointer, but it didn’t go through with the quarter finishing with Princeton on top 56-36.

St. Rose kicked off the final quarter with a jumper from inside the paint. She was then fouled and made one of two free throws before Pape could get two for the Big Red, but they were still down by 17. St. Rose was fouled on her three-point shot and made two of the three free throws. Senior Kira Emsbo made one of her two free throws for her first point of the game for Princeton.

Princeton 56, Cornell 34 | 0:32 3rd

Maggie with a great feed to @ch3tanna for the easy lay-in!

💻 - https://t.co/toUe28uJBJ #GetStops 🐯🏀 pic.twitter.com/KFSBO2p6ao

— Princeton WBB (@PrincetonWBB) January 7, 2023

After the media timeout, Chen went to the line and made one of her two free throws before she grabbed the offensive rebound on her missed shot. Sophomore Amelia Osgood found herself at the line, making both free throws to increase the lead to 21. Morten added another two when she put the ball up and over her defender. Osgood was at the line again to give the Tigers 25 point lead. Princeton finished the game by grabbing the 70-48 win.

Princeton finished shooting 53.2% from the paint and 31.3% from beyond the arc. Cornell finished shooting 42% from the paint and 9.1% from beyond the arc.

What's Up Next for the Tigers?

The Tigers return to the court on Thursday, Jan. 12, to face off against the University of Hartford at 6 p.m. for their final non-conference matchup of the season.