Standing Tall

Well, that's a wrap on the 2026-27 Princeton women's basketball season. 

Not really, obviously. Still, how else are the Tigers going to top what happened Monday on opening night in Jadwin Gym against Belmont? 

Specifically, TigerBlog is referring to two things. 

First, there was the 63-52 final score, which gave Lauren Gosselin her first win as Princeton head coach. That's a memory that will stay with her forever. 

It's a big adjustment to go from being an assistant coach for as long as Gosselin was to being the head coach, in so many ways. And if you ever talk to a young head coach, he or she will tell you that this is true as much or more for the off-the-court stuff as the actual coaching. 

There's media, for starters. These days, there's content creation. There's speaking at alumni events and at meetings on campus. You're now the face of the program. It can be a lot to get used to when you're new to it. 

As for the on-court piece, practices are probably a bit different but not that radically, especially if you surround yourself with a strong staff. It's on Game Night where it feels (and is) different.

You're in the first chair. You can stand up, something assistants are not supposed to do. You can talk to the refs, another thing assistants aren't supposed to do. 

More than anything else, the final say on decisions, subbing, play-calling and everything else now is in your hands. It's a big change, something that Gosselin is only starting to experience. To start your career with a win over Belmont, a team that went 20-12 last year and 26-13 while reaching the WBIT final two years ago, had to feel great. 

The First Of Many! Congratulations to @Coach__LB on her first career victory! #GRIT🐯🏀 https://t.co/jAENhKb5KE

— Princeton WBB (@PrincetonWBB) November 3, 2026

And why did Princeton win the game? That's the second item that will be really tough to match the rest of the season — or the rest of the decade for that matter. 

TB speaks of the performance by Fadima Tall, which was somewhere in the neighborhood of otherwordly. How's this for a stat line? 

* 37 min, 9 for 20 FG, 2 for 7 three-pt FG, 9 for 9 free throws, 29 points, 22 rebounds (seven offensive, 15 defensive)

That's crazy. Twenty-nine points and 22 rebounds?  

Guess who that ties her with for number of games with at least 29 points and 22 rebounds? How about Bill Bradley, who only did it once (first game against Columbia in 1964). 

Speaking of a long time ago, there are two women's players who can say they did it: Margaret Meier and Ellen DeVoe. Meier played in the 1970s. DeVoe did it in 1985. 

So what to make of this performance on Day 1? Tall has already established herself as one of the top players in the league, with a resume that includes back-to-back second-team All-Ivy selections. Oh, and do you remember last year's Ivy League tournament? Tall was the Most Outstanding Player. 

Okay, maybe that's not a wrap on the women's basketball season. There's a lot to be seen obviously, especially as it comes to Tall's ceiling.  

Both the 29 points and the 22 rebounds were career bests for Tall. She obviously won't approach 29/22 on a regular basis, or maybe ever again, but it'll be interesting to see what her numbers are a few months from now. 

The game against Belmont put her over 10.0 points per game for her career. She averaged 13.0 per game a year ago. What is this season's trajectory? 

She now has 736 career points, this after having 45 points as a freshman. If she matches last year's point total of 281, she'd finish with 1,017. If she averages what she did against Belmont, she'll finish the regular season with 1,548. TB will go with something in between. 

Either way, it was just an incredible opening performance by Tall, the result of which was Win No. 1 for Gosselin. 

Next up? A trip to Richmond, for games against the Spiders Friday and Murray State Sunday.