Princeton advances to Round of 32 after upset of Kentucky

Basketball, College, Featured, Princeton University

March 20, 2022

No. 11 Princeton faced off against No. 6 Kentucky on Saturday in the opening round of the NCAA March Madness Tournament, winning 69-64. The Tigers provided one of the biggest upsets in the tournament so far. Ivy League Player of the Year Abby Meyers led the Tigers to victory with a career-high 29 points.

Take a bow, Abby Meyers. 🙌

Behind Meyers’ 29-point performance, No. 11 @PrincetonWBB captured their second ever NCAA Tournament win with their upset over No. 6 Kentucky. pic.twitter.com/ZpTwgnvh4b

— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) March 19, 2022

Both teams started the game strong, finishing 12-11 in the first quarter favoring Princeton. The second quarter saw a dominant offensive performance by the Tigers, outscoring Kentucky by six points. Guard Julia Cunnigham had seven points in the quarter to add to the Tigers' lead. After being denied by Princeton's defense all game, Kentucky's star Rhyne Howard scored her first points at the end of the first quarter.
The teams went into halftime with the Tigers leading 32-26. Meyer's 10 points reflected her dominant first-half performance.

Coming back from halftime, both teams were dominant offensively, but Kentucky started to close the gap. Howard contributed eight points to help the Wildcats trail by only four points. The Tigers ended the quarter leading 48-44.

The fourth quarter saw strong free-throw shooting by the Tigers to help secure the win. Kentucky gained some leverage in the quarter, with guard Dre'una Edwards scoring eight of the 18 points. Meyers contributed seven points and made seven of eight free throws to lead the Tigers to the upset over Kentucky.