By Bill Alden

A late rally fell short for the 10th-seeded Princeton University women’s basketball team as it lost 63-56 to second-seeded Utah in the second round of the NCAA tournament Sunday night in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The Tigers trailed 40-30 midway through the third quarter and narrowed the gap to 50-48 with 7:00 left in regulation but could get no closer than that as they ended the season with a 24-6 record. Junior guard Kaitlyn Chen tallied 19 points to lead the Tigers, with senior Grace Stone chipping in 16 points in her final appearance for Princeton.

While the defeat stung, Princeton head coach Carla Berube had no qualms with the effort she got from her scrappy squad.

“We feel like we came up short of our goal, but you know I think we battled from minute one to minute 40, and I couldn’t be prouder of my team and how hard we played,” said Berube, whose team is the first Ivy League women’s program to post NCAA tourney wins in consecutive seasons.

“Some shots just didn’t fall for us,” said Berube. “They fouled a little bit too much. Utah is a very, very good team — very talented, hard to guard. Really great at every position. We had our work cut out for us. But I think we were right there. I’m just so happy that I get to coach them every single day and when I put on my Princeton shirt every day and represent them, it’s such a great gift.”