ROSY OUTLOOK: Princeton University women’s basketball player Madison St. Rose looks to dribble past a foe in action last season. Junior star guard St. Rose figures to be a go-to player this winter for Princeton. The Tigers, who went 25-5 overall and 13-1 Ivy League last winter on the way to a fifth straight Ivy Tournament championship, start their 2024-25 campaign by playing at Duquesne on November 4. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Justin Feil

Madison St. Rose spent her summer in Philadelphia playing basketball against other college players.

It gave the Princeton University women’s basketball junior star more scrimmaging opportunities than she’d had the summer before when she returned to her Old Bridge home, plus more of a chance to build her game for her third year with the Tiger program.

“Just trying to stay confident, trying to branch out my game a little bit, not be the same Madison as I was last year,” said St. Rose. “I want to try to build on my game, not just keep it consistent because now everyone knows what my game is like, so I’ve got to keep people on their toes.”

The improved St. Rose can be seen — and heard — more in Princeton’s preseason practices. She’ll be asked to do more for a Tiger team that graduated three key seniors from last year’s fifth straight Ivy League Tournament championship team.

“Now she’s our most experienced player, our court leader,” said Princeton head coach Carla Berube, who guided the Tigers to a 25-5 overall record and 13-1 Ivy last winter. “And she’s had a great preseason. She’s got to step into some bigger shoes, kind of being sort of the face of the program now. And I think she’s excited about this new role.”

She is still wrapping her head around that notion of being the face of the program. It’s a major jump.

“Is anyone ever ready?” said St. Rose. “I’m just going to stay true to myself. Whatever coach wants me to do, I’m going to do it to my best ability.”

St. Rose and the Tigers will step into their new roles in public for the first time when they play at Duquesne on November 4 to tip off their 2024-25 campaign. Their home opener at Jadwin Gym is on November 13 against Villanova.

“We’re challenging ourselves again,” said Berube. “That Duquesne game was tough here last year at the beginning of the season. I think they were in the WNIT. A lot of our opponents played in the postseason last year and sometimes it’s hard because some of these teams are so different from the year before because of the transfer portal. So we can only just sort of focus on ourselves and get ourselves ready and not worry too much about who we’re playing, but know it’s going to be very challenging in this non-conference that will get us ready for conference play.”

St. Rose will be relied on to continue to be her well-rounded self on the basketball court. The 5’10 guard with the smooth shooting stroke was a second-team All-Ivy League honoree last year after seeing significant improvements from her freshman year. Her scoring leapt from 8.8 to 14.8 points per game, her assists doubled from 20 to 40, her steals climbed from 28 to 51, and her free throw, field goal, and 3-point percentages all improved. She was happiest with her consistency.

“I gained a lot of confidence sophomore year,” said St. Rose. “That came from my teammates. That came from learning. Everything was new to me freshman year. That would be the biggest thing.”

One of her biggest jumps and something that made her a big weapon last year was her 3-point shooting. Her total makes nearly doubled as her shooting percentage went from .255 to .340 (49-144).

“I also had to learn my role when it came to working on my game,” said St. Rose. “From freshman year going into sophomore year, I felt like once I would practice taking the shots I would typically take in games and knowing where my spots are and knowing where I’m going to be open at most of the time, then I just had to keep repping it out until I felt confident, until it was like an unconscious thought to me.”

She will be asked to continue her growth as a player, but also to be a stronger leader. The last two years, she’s taken a back seat to the team’s Class of 2024 graduates Kaitlyn Chen, Ellie Mitchell, and Chet Nweke.

“She’s still just a great player on both ends of the floor, but it’s fun to finally hear her voice and what we need from her that we had from an Ellie and a Kaitlyn for a couple of years,” said Berube. “She’s really stepped up in that role.”

St. Rose is still adjusting to the new demands and the start of the non-conference portion of the season will give her a chance to settle into her leadership spot after two years of following others.

“I learned a lot last year from the seniors Kaitlyn, Ellie, Chet,” said St. Rose. “They all were like pushing me to get out of my comfort zone, to talk a lot more. I also learned a lot from my freshman year, from the seniors as well. It’s going to be different. I’m not used to hearing my own voice, I’m not used to telling people what to do, but I feel like my teammates trust me, my coaches trust me and that’s all that really matters. And that’s what makes me feel confident and what makes me be more of a leader that way.”

Princeton returns fellow starters Skye Belker (8.5 points and 1.9 rebounds a game in 2023-24), who is now a sophomore, and has Parker Hill (3.5 points, 2.6 rebounds), a senior who started 10 games, and senior Paige Morton (2.2 points, 1.9 rebounds), who started six games as veteran players that have starting experience. Sophomore point guard Ashley Chea (6.0 points, 1.4 rebounds) is the heir apparent to Chen, whom she followed from Flintridge Prep to Princeton. Chen is using her COVID-19 year of eligibility at UConn (Nweke is using hers at Georgetown).

“She’s certainly going to be playing a lot more minutes for us,” said Berube. “But she had a great role model for the last year and certainly her time in high school too. She’s ready. She’s just got to be more consistent with her play and taking care of the ball and running what we need to, reading the defense, reading who’s on the floor and who needs to get the ball. She’s coming along. She works really hard.”

Another sophomore, Mari Bickley (2.6 points, 0.6 rebounds), will see more time at guard as well. Junior Tabitha Amanze (2.7 points, 1.5 rebounds) and junior Taylor Charles (0.8 points, 0.6 rebounds) are in the mix for time at forward, where the Tigers have to replace Ellie Mitchell, who not only was Ivy Defensive Player of the Year but also graduated as the program’s all-time leader in rebounds. Princeton expects to go smaller overall than in recent seasons, and that means they could play more uptempo, but more noticeable will be the driving lanes that are now open in the half court for Belker and St. Rose in particular.

“I feel like it is the same as last year, there was not a big change,” said St. Rose of the pace of play. “But I feel like I’m playing with new players. I did play a lot with Skye, but I hadn’t really played a lot with Mari or Ashley so it is just adjusting to their game, seeing how we can work together would be really fun.”

Princeton also likes what they have seen of their three freshmen. Cristina Parrella is a guard from Saddle River Day in New Jersey, Emily Eadie is a forward from California, and Toby Nweke is the younger sister of Chet Nweke, but more of a shooter and guard than her older sister was.

“They’re coming along,” said Berube. “The defense is always going to be a work in progress for them, but certainly the work ethic is there. The chemistry among all the players is really, really good at this point and they have sort of immersed themselves into Princeton pretty seamlessly, which is not always easy, but I think their teammates are doing a great job of showing them the way.”

Credit for helping to foster that culture goes to the two senior captains. Amelia Osgood (0.9 points, 0.6 rebounds) is a guard from Tennessee, and Katie Thiers (2.0 points, 1.9 rebounds) is a forward from Seattle. They combined to see time in 36 games last year.

“That leadership off the court is so vital to our success,” said Berube, “and those two have really stepped up into really important roles and are doing a great job with it.”

Finding roles is a huge part of the early schedule. Princeton will be figuring everything from starters and combinations that work to finding a substitution pattern, and even who they turn to for the best shot when a game is on the line.

“We haven’t really gotten to that point yet,” said St. Rose. “Honestly, it depends. Whoever’s hot that game, they’re going to take the last shot because we’re going to have confidence in them and Coach is going to set whoever she puts in that position up for success because she knows we have confidence that person and they should have confidence in themselves.”

Then there’s the moments most won’t see, when the team is together in the locker room and sorting out adjustments and motivating and inspiring each other. That time is when more will be on St. Rose than ever before because last year’s vocal leaders graduated.

“I have to be the one to make sure that our team is put together, to make sure that if we’re falling apart to try to put us together, say, ‘let’s try to face adversity’ and all that stuff,” said St. Rose. “So it is different. I am adjusting. I’m doing it in practice. It’s hard sometimes because I don’t always want to get on my teammates. I don’t want to be too annoying because I know they’re good too, but then I get yelled at by Coach that I need to talk more. So I’m still learning how to navigate using my voice, but it’s getting better.”

Princeton will need her leadership as it finds who to be most successful. The non-conference schedule also includes DePaul, New Jersey opponents Seton Hall and Rutgers, Temple, Rhode Island, and a trip west to play Portland and Utah.

Princeton opens Ivy League play on January 4 when it hosts Cornell. Last year, the Tigers won the Ivy League Tournament to earn the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, and runner-up Columbia received an at-large bid to the NCAAs. The up-and-coming league is hoping that same possibility exists this year.

“You have to have a good non-conference slate and win some of those games,” said Berube. “I think we can do it. If I look around the Ivy League, they’re all playing some of the power fours and those teams that have been in the NCAA tournament. So I think we can do it again, absolutely.”

Princeton will look a lot different this year with some household names graduated. It opens the door for St. Rose to step into a new role and build on her first two years of growth for the Tigers.

“I was still learning the system, I was learning about college basketball, just getting my confidence up, and learning about the team,” said St. Rose. “But now I know what’s going on in the system, I have a lot more knowledge of the game and I’ve been playing in multiple big games and won championships so I’m excited to possibly win another one this year.”