By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
For much of its history, the Ivy League’s top basketball rivalry was between Princeton and Penn — on the men’s side.
The two programs combined to win all but two league championships from 1970 through 2009. Now it appears that same sort of rivalry is developing on the women’s side. Princeton and Penn have combined to win the last seven Ivy championships and on Tuesday night played a winner-take-all game for the title, which the Quakers pulled out, 62-60.
“It was the Ivy’s best going at each other,” said Princeton coach Courtney Banghart, whose team finished the regular season 23-5 overall and 12-2 in the Ivy League. “They definitely played better. We got beat. It was two really good teams. I don’t think Penn has gotten the respect they deserve. They are a really good team.
“Their big guys made big plays. (Anna) Ross is one of the best guards in our league and she made big shots. (Michelle) Nwokedi made big plays as well. In possession games big guys make plays and they made more on both ends. Ross made two right hand drives at the Palestra to seal it and she made the and-one to seal it here.”
The loss leaves the Tigers on the bubble as far as gaining an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. With their RPI in the 30s and past success of the program, the Tigers should merit strong consideration from the tournament committee.
“I think it is the body of work,” Banghart said in laying out her team’s credentials for a spot in the field of 64 teams. “If you want to reward non-conference scheduling, then you should do that. We did that. The problem is the eye test. I don’t think the league has done enough to make sure we get the right people here to see these two teams. These are two of the better teams on the East Coast. I know basketball. I watch a lot of games. If you want the best 64 teams then you can choose RPI, you can choose strength of schedule, you can choose non-conference scheduling, you can choose win-loss, and I think we’re both looking pretty good there in that respect.
“I don’t think we’re often a two-bid league. I think this is a lightning in a bottle in a way that these are two of the top teams in the country in the same year. I don’t think that will happen every year. This year it has happened. If they continue to go on the past, it is too big a jump for them to do it. If they go on the strength of the current year these are two of the best teams in the east with no doubt. If you ask other coaches who have played us they would see that, too.”
The Tigers only two league losses came against the Quakers, who also defeated the Tigers at Jadwin Gym two years ago to claim an Ivy title. Princeton rallied from seven points down in the fourth quarter to take a one-point lead on Tuesday, only to see Penn respond right back and hold on for the win, which left them 24-4 and 13-1 in the Ivy League
“We played a very tough schedule, I think our RPI would show that, and I think Penn was the best team on our schedule,” Banghart said. “We hammered some really good teams. I think there are a lot of teams that will be in that field that Penn is a lot better than.”
Alex Wheatley led the Tigers with 20 points and seven rebounds, while Vanessa Smith added 12 points. Now the Tigers will wait until Monday when they find out if they will be playing in the NCAA tournament or the WNIT. Either way, the senior class of Wheatley, Annie Tarakchian, Michelle Miller, Amanda Berntsen and Taylor Williams should get a chance to continue to play this season.
“I think this senior class, in particular, has always had incredible competitive toughness on the defensive end,” Banghart said. “I think on the offensive end is where you need to put your neck out and shine. Why you love them is they are gentle souls — all five of them. If we played with the same toughness on the offensive end that we play with on the defensive end, which was one of our games keys, we would have won the game. But we didn’t do that.”
