NCAA Weekend

Today starts with the numbers "75" and "58."

If those look familiar, they were the final score of last weekend's Ivy League tournament final in women's basketball, where Princeton defeated Columbia 75-58.

Perhaps less familiar to Princeton fans, those numbers also pretty much equate to the average score of a West Virginia women's basketball game this season. The Mountaineers average 74.6 points per game on offense while allowing 57.8 per game on defense.

Princeton's averages aren't that far off, with 70 points per game on offense and 56 allowed per game on defense. 

Princeton and West Virginia meet up tomorrow at 5:30 Eastern time in the opening round of the NCAA tournament in Iowa City. Princeton is the No. 9 seed in the region, while West Virginia in the No. 8.

The first round, as an 8-9 game, figures to be evenly matched, right? Last year in the women's tournament, the eight seed won twice and nine seed won twice. The games were decided by one, two, five and, well, 23 points. 

The year before? Again, two wins each for the eight and the nine. None of those 2022 games, though, was closer than 10 points.

This will be Princeton's fourth NCAA game as an eight or nine, and the eight has won the previous three. The Tigers' 2015 win over Wisconsin-Green Bay came as an eight, and its wins the last two years came as an 11 (over Kentucky) and a 10 (over North Carolina State).

The last time Princeton and West Virginia played was in the 2016 NCAA tournament opening round, back when Princeton got an at-large bid as a No. 11 seed. West Virginia won that game 74-65.

These Mountaineers are led by guard JJ Quinerly, an honorable mention All-American who averages 19.6 points per game. Much like Princeton's Kaitlyn Chen, Quinerly does not rely on three-point shooting as her biggest weapon.

In fact, Quinerly, who is 5-8, is a 33 percent three-point shooter who has taken 70 percent of her shots from two-point range. Chen, who is 5-9, is a 32 percent three-point shooter who has taken 83 percent of her shots from two-point range. 

Included in Chen's two-point game is this one from the Ivy final against Columbia:

#IVYLeague final game of @CULionsWBB vs @PrincetonWBB

Kaitlyn Chen in mid air https://t.co/ihrayEAdwp pic.twitter.com/3o4JlCPRhx

— The Local W (@TheLocalW) March 19, 2024

If you're wondering, that shot went in.

TigerBlog was talking to another longtime Princeton fan recently about Chen, and TB said that he can't think of another high-scoring guard in the three-point era who took so few three-pointers. In fact, TB said, Chen has probably scored more points on shots between eight and 15 feet than any Princeton basketball player since Brian Taylor? Bill Bradley? 

The winner of the Princeton-West Virginia game will play Monday in the second round, in all likelihood against top-seeded Iowa and Caitlin Clark. Her presence alone has turned this four-team pod into one that will draw a lot of eyeballs and a lot of media attention, and it is into that situation that Princeton flew Wednesday night. 

Would playing against Iowa be a wild experience? Of course. Getting there, though, will not be easy.

The women's basketball team is not the only Princeton team that is competing in an NCAA postseason event this weekend. Far from it.

The women's swimming and diving team is represented by five swimmers today alone at the NCAA meet in Athens, Ga. Swimming today will be Dakota Tucker and Eleanor Sun in the 400 individual medley, Heidi Smithwick in the 100 butterfly, Margaux McDonald in the 100 breaststroke and Sabrina Johnston in the 100 backstroke.

All five will swim again tomorrow as well. More information can be found HERE.

The fencing team has sent 11 Tigers to the NCAA championships at Ohio State. You can read everything you need to know about the event HERE.

There is also wrestling this weekend at the NCAA championships in Kansas City, where three Tigers — Luke Stout, Nate Dugan and Matt Cover — will aim for All-American honors. There is complete information on the wrestling championships HERE.

Princeton produced an NCAA champ last year when Pat Glory won the 125-pound title. This year, the three Tigers are at the other end of the literal scale, with the three upper weights all represented.

Princeton has produced 25 All-Americans in program history. Of that number, there have been 13 since 2016 alone.