STEPPING UP: Princeton University women’s basketball player Chet Nweke puts up a shot in a game last season. On Saturday, senior Nweke scored a career-high 18 points to help No. 25 Princeton defeat Brown 76-63. The Tigers, now 17-3 overall and 7-0 Ivy League, play at Penn on February 10. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

While Chet Nweke was excited to finally break into the starting lineup for the Princeton University women’s basketball team in late January after making 76 appearances off the bench, she now feels pressure to be on her toes from the opening tip-off.

“It has been a little bit of an adjustment for me,” said senior Nweke. “Coming off the bench for so long, I was able to let the other people figure out how to start the game defensively and then I will figure it out and see what they are doing. Now it is more important for me to be locked in from the start, having to know the scout right away and how we are defending certain actions.”

Last Saturday as Princeton hosted Brown before a crowd of 2,710 at Jadwin Gym, Nweke was locked in at both ends of the court, tallying nine points on 4-for-4 shooting to help the Tigers build a 29-12 lead early in the second quarter. Never looking back, No. 25 Princeton went on to a 76-63 win over the Bears, improving to 17-3 overall and 7-0 Ivy League.

In reflecting on her offensive output which saw Nweke tally a career-high 18 points, she said that her production came in the flow of the game.

“I am letting my defense fuel my offense and our team is letting our defense fuel our offense,” said Nweke, who also contributed seven rebounds and three steals in the win. “I try just not to get too high or too low because I feel like when I let it affect me mentally then I go into my head and my own little space. I just let the game come to me as it was. I was just trying to make sure that my teammates were also getting open when I got offensive rebounds and I was passing it out. It was just trying to get everyone involved because that is what matters at the end.”

Things did get a little ragged for the Tigers down the stretch as they were outscored 37-36 by Brown in the second half.

“The end was pretty tough, I don’t think we played our best defensive game by any means,” said Nweke, a 6’0 native of Woodbine, Md., who had 10 points on 5-of-5 shooting in a 79-59 win over Yale on Friday and is averaging  4.4 points and 4.2 rebounds a game.

“It is tough going back-to-back games having to focus on two teams. This is just a learning lesson for us, having to know the scout just a little bit more and pay more attention to closer things like when shooters are hot and being able to defend the three-point line better than we did. I think we will learn from this game and grow from it and it is really important that we do.”

With the win over the Bears wrapping up a 4-0 homestand for Princeton and extending its winning streak to 12, Nweke believes the Tigers benefited from being at Jadwin over the last two weeks.

“We do well when we are at home,” said Nweke. “We are just trying to prove that we can play with anybody and we are just willing to work on the defensive end.”

While being unbeaten since a 60-58 loss at Rhode Island on December 3 is impressive, the Tigers aren’t looking past Ivy play.

“We try not to focus too much on the winning streaks or anything like that,” said Nweke. “We are just focusing on the goals that we have. Every game is a step towards Mount Ivies. This was step seven. We are halfway through so we just have to carry on the momentum.”

Returning to the Associated Press Top 25 after having been there for a week earlier in the season hasn’t shifted the team’s focus either.

“I feel like we thrive as the underdog in our heads,” said Nweke. “When we saw the ranking and we were like, ‘Oh this is cool,’ but we want to be the underdogs. If we do stick around that is cool but at the end of the day we are not looking at that.”

Princeton head coach Carla Berube credited Brown with sticking around after being down 40-26 at halftime.

“Their three-point percentage was better than their field goal percentage,” said Berube. “We have been watching a lot of film. They have some very skilled players and clearly some great shooters. They are a high volume 3-point shooting team. I think our defense could have been better. We could have been out there and guarding the three-point ball better. We got some stops when we needed to. We got out in transition well and got some easy scoring opportunities.”

Building a 41-26 edge in rebounding against the Bears helped lead to those offensive opportunities.

“It was getting on the offensive boards, it was the same thing last night,” said Berube, whose team outrebounded Yale 44-21. “The way we have been rebounding the ball has been key. We can take care of the defensive glass and then also get those second chance opportunities offensively. It just gives us more chances to score.”

The recent insertion of Nweke into the starting lineup has proved to be key for Princeton.

“Chet is a great offense rebounder, she has got great athleticism and timing just like Ellie [Mitchell],” said Berube. “They get after it. She runs the floor really well, she is fast, and athletic. Just that one play where she was bobbling it and saved it and then got back into the play and got the and-one was just a huge play. She has been a great presence for us inside, just making great plays and then hitting her free throws. She is making a great impact. She helps us defensively, being able to guard the perimeter. She definitely makes us better.”

The Tigers displayed some offensive balance in the win over Brown as four players reached double figures. Madison St. Rose scored 18 points with Kaitlyn Chen adding 17 and Skye Belker chipping in 11 in addition to Nweke’s 18-point performance. Chen, who scored 27 points in the win over Yale in Friday, was later named as the Ivy Player of the Week.

“We got it going when we got some stops we got out in transition,” said Berube. “Kaitlyn is going to get some great looks, she didn’t shoot the ball as well as she did last night. She is a great floor general for us and ran our stuff well. It is great to have a lot of options out there to score. When someone is getting hot, let’s keep going to them. We certainly did that with Skye in that fourth quarter.”

While returning to the Top 25 is a feather in the program’s hat, the Tigers are focused on their clash at Penn (11-9 overall, 3-4 Ivy) on February 10.

“We are not talking about it, it is certainly great,” said Berube. “It is a testament to the season we have had.
We are certainly not resting on that or thinking that is important. We are just taking one game at a time and now looking forward to Penn this weekend.”

Nweke, for her part, knows that the game with the archival Quakers is going to be a challenge.

“I think being now on the road is going to be a little bit different,” said Nweke. “We are playing against a really good Penn team. We are just going to have to have a really good week of practice, be locked in, and know the scout because they are really good. We get everyone’s best game anyway.”