TURNING THE PAIGE: Princeton University women’s basketball player Paige Morton handles the ball in the paint in a game earlier this season. Last Monday, sophomore forward Morton tallied six points to help Princeton defeat Towson. After playing just six minutes a game off the bench last season, Morton has emerged as a key contributor for the Tigers this winter, averaging 6.0 points and 2.0 rebounds in starting all seven games. Princeton, now 5-2, plays at UConn on December 8 before hosting Delaware on December 11. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Justin Feil

In an unlikely twist, Paige Morton will be the best Paige on the court when the Princeton University women’s basketball team plays at UConn’s Gampel Pavilion on Thursday.

UConn star Paige Bueckers is out for the season after tearing her ACL in August while Morton has made a big move in her second year at Princeton. The sophomore forward has started every game for the Tigers after playing just six minutes per game in her first year.

“It’s definitely been a change since last year,” said Morton. “My teammates have been really supportive and they make me feel confident out there. They always have my back. That’s been something that’s really been helpful for me as I take on a new role.”

Morton has given the Tigers some versatility with the ability to use her 6’3 size to go bigger this year, something they didn’t use last year as much following the graduation of Bella Alarie and Taylor Baur in 2020. Morton’s improvements since last year landed her in the starting lineup from the outset of the season.

“Paige has a really great skill set,” said Princeton head coach Carla Berube. “She’s got a great frame. She’s able to step out a little bit and hit some mid-range jumpers. She has a lot of different finishes on the inside, which keeps the defense back on their heels. She’s strong and gotten stronger and more confident. She’s playing with a little more aggressiveness than she did last year. I think she understands the college game a little more than she did her first year. She’s been really, really important at the beginning of the season. And the whole fall she was one of our best players in practice every day. That’s why she earned the starting nod.”

Morton opened the year with a career-high 13 points in a win over Temple, and she established a career high in rebounds with five against Villanova in her second start. She is settling into her larger role this year.

“It’s super exciting to be out there,” said Morton. “Last year I got to watch more than play so to have the opportunity to learn a lot last year and then apply what I’ve learned to the games this year has been fun and exciting.”

Morton was a 1,000-point scorer at Oak Knoll Academy in her hometown, Summit. After a stellar career, she took a gap year when the Ivy League did not play in 2020-21. She trained on her own, coached basketball, and served as social media director focusing on photography and videography for the AAU program Unity Legends Basketball. When she came to Princeton for her freshman season in 2021, she played a season-high 13 minutes against Temple and hit for a season-high nine points against Brown as she began to adjust to the college game.

“Getting physically stronger was something really important to me, being a post player,” said Morton. “It helped me a lot with everything — playing defense, getting rebounds, boxing out, going to the hoop. And then also my communication, that was a huge change from high school always having to talk to my teammates and talk through everything, call out screens and players and all the actions on the court. That was a big adjustment, as well as the spacing on the court on offense. That was different from high school — learning the spots I need to get to on the floor to be most successful is something I’ve finally figured it out after watching it. Also the pace of the game, it’s much faster. And just always being ready at all times was something I had never needed to do before.”

After the season, Morton continued to develop her game. She worked on her shot with coaches to make it more consistent and develop more range. She also focused on getting stronger after getting a taste of the level of physical play in college in her first year. Berube says it was a combination of improvements that propelled Morton into the starting lineup, and credits her offseason work for helping her take another step.

“I kind of just focused on myself and working hard and trying to improve as best I could,” said Morton. “I feel like I got a lot more confidence coming into the season. Over the summer I worked to get stronger physically and I think that helped. I always wanted to have a bigger role on the team than I did freshman year and I’m happy about that. It’s worked out in my favor.”

Morton has raised her level of defensive play and gives the Tigers size inside to discourage other teams from attacking the basket. She is contributing on the offensive end as well. She runs the floor well and she sets screens to free up teammates. She is averaging 6.0 points and 2.0 rebounds per game in just about 17 minutes per game.

“She’s been great, she’s doing everything we’re asking her to do,” said Berube. “The one thing with Paige is she’s naturally an introvert. And with our defense you have to be talking all the time and communicating consistently. She’s done a much better job with that and getting more comfortable with that. I think it’s getting better with every game. We can go big or go small and put Ellie (Mitchell) at the five (center), so having different lineups depending on what we want to do or what we see from other teams, that makes us more versatile.”

Morton is looking to continue her development through the next three months of the season. She would like to be able to help the team even more as they finish the non-conference schedule and open Ivy League play.

“I think I can focus on my jump shot, being a threat more from the 3-point line and at the foul line,” said Morton. “And also my communication — making sure I’m on the same team as all my teammates on the defensive end because we pride ourselves so much on defense. We’re always working every day on getting better in that way. Also my post moves down low, trying to be more creative with my shot selection and being able to go right and left equally as good.”

Princeton posted a 65-51 win at Maine last Friday and then topped Towson 71-54 on Monday. The Tigers, now 5-2, will now turn their attention to a high-profile game at UConn on December 8, where Berube played for legendary coach Gino Auriemma.

“It’s a great challenge and it’s also a great opportunity to play in a really great environment, a place that loves their women’s basketball,” said Berube. “Gampel is like another home to me. It’s been a long time since I’ve been on the court there, but it’ll be special to be back home and coaching on the floor that I spent so much time and learned the game of basketball. It’s not going to be about me, it’s going to be about our two teams. We want to compete as hard as we can and play 40 minutes of Tiger basketball. We’re looking forward to the experience and the game and the challenge that’s ahead of us.”

This game is admittedly special for the team, not just Berube. Princeton has never played UConn in its program history. The Huskies played in the national title game last year while Princeton was a point away from advancing to the Sweet Sixteen, falling 56-55 to Indiana in an NCAA second round contest.

“It’s just really exciting,” said Morton, who had six points and four rebounds against Towson. “I think our team thrives on being the underdogs. Last year we feel like we were underdogs for the majority of March Madness. I think that is what really excites us as a team. I think we’re all super excited to go out there and try our hardest and see what happens. I think we have enough confidence in each other to go be successful.”

The contest will bring another challenge in the post for Morton. She has been squaring off against a number of talented interior players each night.

“Honestly it’s really fun to go head to head with another post,” said Morton. “We plan out what type of defense we’re going to guard them before the game — like fronting them, playing normal post defense, or helping out and doubling with the guards. The guards help me a lot with doubling some of the posts. It’s really fun. You have to be more creative with your shots and also look to rip by them in the high post. I look for advantages I might have against other posts and try to exploit them, and I try to take away their tendencies.”

Princeton retains its defensive focus and is sorting out its offense that graduated leading scorer Abby Meyers. The Tigers have three players — Kaitlyn Chen (14.1), Julia Cunningham (13.1), and Grace Stone (10.7) — averaging double-digit points followed by Mitchell and Morton. In the win over Maine, the top trio was just on its averages with Chen scoring 15, Cunningham 13, and Stone 10. Cunningham led the way in the win over Towson as she scored 13.

“The season is still on the early side, so we’re still trying to figure some things out and some different lineups and different ways we want to score the basketball and put it in the hands of playmakers and players that feel comfortable in that role,” said Berube after the win Friday. “It’s a work in progress, but I think we’re in a good spot and looking forward to the game at Towson.”

The UConn trip will be the fourth game in a row on the road for Princeton. The Tigers are 2-1 at home and 3-1 on the road. Princeton will next play at Jadwin Gym on Sunday when they host Delaware in a welcome home game.

“It’s been really crazy,” said Morton. “We’ve been traveling so much. It’s been great for our team as far as bonding and spending lots of time together. We have a lot of fun off the court, especially all the time on the bus and the plane. As far as chemistry, it’s been really good for us.”