BACK ON TRACK: Princeton University women’s basketball player Julia Cunningham goes up for a shot in recent action. Last Saturday, senior star Cunningham scored 13 points and passed for a season-high six assists as Princeton defeated Cornell 70-48, snapping a two-game losing streak in Ivy League play. The Tigers, now 9-5 overall and 1-2 Ivy, host Hartford on January 12, Brown on January 14, and Penn on January 16. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Julia Cunningham found herself in an unusual situation when the Princeton University women’s basketball team hosted Cornell last Saturday evening.

After having starred as Princeton went on a 42-game Ivy League winning streak starting in 2019, senior guard Cunningham hit the court against the visiting Big Red looking to help the Tigers snap a two-game losing skid in league play in the wake of the squad falling to Columbia 58-55 in overtime last Friday on the heels of a 67-59 loss to Harvard a week earlier.

“Starting 0-2 in the Ivy League is not ideal for us; it was like changing our mindset and coming back really hungry with a little bit of chip on our shoulder,” said Cunningham. “I think that is kind of how we like to play. We were feeling that pit in our stomach a little bit and looking to bounce back from the Friday night game.”

Cunningham and her teammates realized that they couldn’t rest on the laurels of having won four straight Ivy League titles.

“We talked about that a little bit, reigning champs is one thing but then coming back and proving it is another thing,” said Cunningham. “So coming out and being defensive-minded and executing our game plan every night is what we have to do moving forward.”

Getting things moving for Princeton against Cornell, Cunningham drained a three-pointer on her first shot of the evening and tallied seven points in the first quarter as Princeton built a 24-12 lead.

“I always like to make the first shot, it makes things a little bit easier,” said Cunningham. “It opens stuff up for you, just finding easy opportunities to get layups. Things like that definitely give me a little bit more confidence going through the game.”

After taking a 37-28 halftime lead, Princeton cranked up the defense in the third quarter, outscoring the Big Red 19-8 and never looking back on the way to a 70-48 win before a crowd  of 1,017 at Jadwin Gym as it improved to 9-5 overall and 1-2 Ivy.

“The second quarter was not our best defensive showing so coming out hard after halftime, especially following the Friday game when we came out pretty slow in the third quarter, was a pretty big focus for us,” said Cunningham. “It is being locked in and making sure that we were keeping the momentum. I think we executed really well.”

Cunningham played well throughout against Cornell, ending up with 13 points and a season-high six assists.

“We knew coming in that they were going to switch a lot so we were going to have a lot of mismatches,” said Cunningham, a 5’11 native of Watchung, who is now averaging 12.0 points and 3.4 rebounds a game. “It was just looking into our post, that is where our advantage was tonight. I was trying to get them the ball inside a lot, a lot of paint points was going to be big for us.”

In Cunningham’s view, topping Cornell could be a big step for the Tigers.

“Coming off an 0-2 start, we are building confidence as it goes,” said Cunningham. “I think the game against Columbia was big for us. It was a morale thing, we played tough defense but the game didn’t end up going in our favor. But for us, looking at it, that was Princeton basketball. That is how we want to play moving forward so that is building our confidence a little bit step by step.”

With Princeton hosting Hartford on January 12, Brown on January 14, and Penn on January 16 to wrap up a five-game homestand, Cunningham believes that Tigers can get on a roll.

“We love playing in front of our fans, playing that Princeton basketball,” said Cunningham. “Everyone here knows what we are capable of, we just have to be able to show it. I think when we do that at home, it is obviously a great atmosphere and then we have to bring it on to road games too.”

Princeton head coach Carla Berube liked the way her team brought it in the win over the Big Red.

“I thought we really competed hard last night, we just didn’t come out with the victory,” said Berube. “We woke up and it was a new day and a new team. We wanted to put together a great 40 minutes and have a lot of people get in the game and contribute and that is what we did. I am really proud of what the bench did, they just gave us some good minutes.”

Berube realizes that her team is going to have to battle to keep its Ivy title string alive.

“I think they understand that, they competed really hard from minute one through minute 40 and that is what we need to do,” said Berube. “There is so much parity in the league now, teams have gotten better. We have to step up and meet those challenges.”

Seeing Cunningham step up was heartening for Berube. “I was trying to get Julia going a little bit, she is probably feeling a little better physically,” said Berube. “I thought she played with a lot of poise and took what the defense gave her. She had six assists, she was reading the defense really well and finding her teammates in places where they can score the ball.”

The Tigers played some good defense in the third quarter as they stifled the Big Red.

“We talked about what the third quarter was like last night,” said Berube. “I thought we did not come out of the locker room well, we really wanted to put together the first five minutes and make them call a timeout within that first five minutes. We got some good things out of our press and got some really good scoring opportunities in the third quarter.”

Freshman guard Madison St. Rose took advantage of those opportunities, tallying a career-high 15 points.

“It is hard for any first year to come in on a really experienced veteran team and find her niche and where she can help us,” said Berube. “When she is aggressive and when she is attacking, she is really at her best. She did that tonight. She got to the foul line and got some easier buckets in the paint instead of having to take long range shots all the time. She is definitely coming along.”

Princeton got another big game from junior guard Kaitlyn Chen, who tallied 13 points with three assists and two steals against Cornell.

“I think tonight was good. Last night it felt like we were trying to put so much pressure on Kaitlyn to score the basketball; it was so much better tonight where it was more evenly distributed,” said Berube of Chen who scored 20 points in the loss to Columbia and is averaging a team-high 15.9 points a game.

“She was making great plays for her teammates, she is someone we rely on all of the time. She is just good and smart with the basketball. Sometimes in the middle of the paint she is just trying to thread a needle and it is not there and it is just take your pull-up jumper. Her pull-up jumper in the paint is so good. She is having a great junior campaign.”

With three home games this week, Berube is hoping that being at Jadwin can spark her squad.

“It is just keep building, we don’t have a lot of practice to get ready for Hartford, Brown, and Penn,” said Berube. “Those practices are going to be really, really important. I think they are feeling good right now but they also know feeling good means putting in the work in those practices. Once the ball is tipped, we have got to outwork our opponents. There have been some really good crowds here and the energy is good. I think it is always a little easier on our own gym.”

Cunningham, for her part, is looking to end her career by working hard to the final whistle.

“The end is in sight which is a little bit sad but at the same time it makes you really hungry,” said Cunningham. “We know what it takes to win an Ivy League championship. We have to bring that with us but at the same time we know we have to come out and play every night. The league is open and we are taking that as seniors knowing it is ours for the taking.”