SMALL WONDER: Princeton University women’s basketball player Ashley Chea dribbles upcourt in a game earlier this season. Last Saturday, 5’8 freshman guard Chea tallied 11 points with four assists and three steals off the bench to help Princeton defeat Cornell 85-47. The Tigers, now 15-3 overall and 5-0 Ivy League, host Yale on February 2 and Brown on February 3. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Standing at 5’8, Ashley Chea is usually one of the shortest players on the court when she is in action for the Princeton University women’s basketball team.

But freshman guard Chea has made a big impact in her debut season for the Tigers, emerging as a key spark of the bench, averaging 5.9 points and 1.3 rebounds in 15.3 minutes per game.

Last Saturday as Princeton hosted Cornell, Chea produced one of her best all-around games of the season, tallying 11 points with four assists and three steals as the Tigers cruised to an 85-47 win over the Big Red before a crowd of 1,104 at Jadwin Gym.

Chea got off to a good start, scoring five points in the first quarter as the Tigers built a 20-8 lead and never looked back as they improved to 15-3 overall and 5-0 Ivy League, leaving them atop the league standings.

“My teammates were so confident in me, I think that helped a lot,” said Chea, a native of Montebello, Calif. “Being a young one on the team, just them showing me I can do it and everyone else on the team can do it. It was great.”

Other reserves also excelled as the Tigers pulled away from Cornell.

“I think the starters knew exactly what the game plan was,” said Chea. “People who come off the bench, they picked up where the starters left off. We are just all prepared with the way that we practiced for this game. I think that showed up on the court today.”

In the second half, the bench took charge as the reserves ended the day outscoring their Big Red bench counterparts 47-16 and matching the total points scored by Cornell on the day.

“We played with so much poise and so much confidence with  the people that came off the bench,” said Chea. “It was almost 50 points off the bench, we go in so deep. I think that is something that not that many teams have in the NCAA.”

Chea is gaining confidence as she heads into the homestretch of her debut campaign.

“I know that my teammates have my back and I have theirs,” said Chea. “It is just so easy to play with them, it feels no different than it did in high school.”

Due to being less than imposing physically, Chea has worked on getting stronger to deal with the bigger players she is facing on the college level.

“It is my strength and my defense; in most of the games that I play, I am one of the smallest people on the court,” said Chea. “I have to be a little stronger than I was in high school. Obviously on defense, there are people who are stronger, faster, and quicker than I am. That is something that I still need to work on.”

The influence of senior star guard and fellow Californian Kaitlyn Chen has helped Chea get up to speed.

“Playing with Kaitlyn is so easy,” said Chea. “She teaches me, she guides me, she is like my big sister. She is a great leader, she is a great mentor.”

Chea is looking to apply those lessons. “I need to stay more poised and be more confident in my choices on the court and trusting myself,” said Chea.

Princeton head coach Carla Berube trusts Chea to excel whenever she is on the court for the Tigers.

“Ashley is a freshman but she can make a lot of great plays,” said Berube. “She is building from the Columbia game (an 80-65 win on January 20), I thought she had some great minutes in that game. In this one, she shot the ball really well and found open teammates. She is great. She is definitely someone who we are confident in to get in there and run our offense.”

Running with Chen has helped Chea make plays. “Kaitlyn is her role model, that is who she is to her,” said Berube, who got 12 points and a career-high 10 assists from Chen in the win over Cornell with Madison St. Rose tallying a game-high 15 points. “What we are hoping for this whole year is that Ashley picks up on the great things that Kaitlyn does out there.”

The Tigers did some very good things at the defensive end as they stifled the Big Red in the first half.

“The defense was great to start; Cornell makes you play for a full 30 seconds, they run their offense well,” said Berube. “I thought we were communicating well, and jumping to the ball well, getting our hands on a lot of passes and things. I love the way we started. We got a little undisciplined with too many fouls. We put them on the line and they scored a lot of points from the free throw line. Overall, I thought when our defense was on it, it really fueled our offense well.”

The offense was clicking for Princeton as it shot 70 percent (21-of-30) from the floor in the first half.

“When a team is playing zone, you just need to move it, have pass fakes and have cutters,” said Berube. “We found the high post open a lot, whether it was on a drive or just slashing to the high post. It is hard when you are in a 3-2 zone to defend the back line. We found just like little dump off passes to Paige [Morton] or Chet [Nweke] inside, that really opened things up.”

The squad’s reserves played very well as Tabitha Amanze scored eight points with Taylor Charles and Paige Morton chipping in six apiece, Fadima Tall adding five, and Mari Bickley contributing four.

“It ended up being 47 for our bench to their whole team 47,” said Berube. “It was great, they were awesome. We want them to come in and make an impact; elevate what we are doing and they certainly did that today. Fadima played well, Tabby had some great minutes. Taylor came in and had some good minutes too. I am really happy about that.”

That bench strength could prove critical as Princeton hosts Yale on February 2 and Brown on February 3.

“It is so good to be here in our own beds and not on the road; we have got a big weekend ahead with Yale and Brown coming to town,” said Berube. “I am excited, this is our first back-to-back. We haven’t had one yet — I am looking forward to that. In those back-to-backs, when you have a deep bench, you are in a good place. We are really confident in so many, my problem is trying to find minutes for all of them and who plays well together in those rotations.”

Chea, for her part, believes the Tigers are in a very good place as they continue their homestand.

“I think our trajectory is upwards, ever since the beginning of Ivy League play we have gone up and up every game,” said Chea. “It is great that we have this momentum. I love playing here, we haven’t played here in like a month. Now we have two more games coming up, and it is just so exciting.”