2017–18 Princeton Tigers women's basketball team

The 2017–18 Princeton Tigers women's basketball team represented Princeton University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Tigers, led by eleventh year head coach Courtney Banghart, played their home games at Jadwin Gymnasium as members of the Ivy League.

2017–18 Princeton Tigers women's basketball
Ivy League regular season and tournament champions
NCAA Women's Tournament, First Round
Conference	Ivy League
2017–18 record	24–6 (12–2 Ivy)
Head coach	Courtney Banghart (11th season)
Assistant coaches	Milena Flores (11th season) Carrie Moore (2nd season) Kaitlyn Cresencia (1st season)
Home arena	Jadwin Gymnasium

2017–18 Ivy League women's basketball standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Princeton †	12	–	2		.857			24	–	6		.800
Penn	11	–	3		.786			22	–	9		.710
Harvard	10	–	4		.714			18	–	11		.621
Yale	8	–	6		.571			19	–	13		.594
Dartmouth	7	–	7		.500			15	–	12		.556
Brown	3	–	11		.214			15	–	12		.556
Cornell	3	–	11		.214			7	–	20		.259
Columbia	2	–	12		.143			8	–	21		.276
† 2018 Ivy League Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

The Tigers finished the season with a 24–6 overall record and 12–2 in the Ivy League. They finished first in the conference and defeated Penn in a playoff to earn a 12-seed for the NCAA Tournament. However, they lost in the first round to 5-seed Maryland.[1]

Previous season

The Tigers finished the 2016–17 season with a 16–14 overall record and 9–5 in the Ivy League. They finished second in the conference to play Penn in a playoff to determine which Ivy League team will get a first-round bid for the NCAA Tournament.[2] Penn won, but the Tigers' postseason continued with play in the Women's National Invitation Tournament. However, they lost in the first round to Villanova.[3]

During the season, freshman Bella Alarie was named USWBA National Freshman of the Week once, Ivy League Player of the Week three times, and Ivy League Rookie of the Week nine times. She went on to be named Ivy League Rookie of the Year, made the Ivy League All-Tournament Team (with junior Leslie Robinson), as well as the All-Ivy League team (also with Robinson).[4]

Alarie was also named to the 2017 USA Basketball Women's U19 National Team.[5] The team won a silver medal, after losing to Russia in the finals.[6] Coach Courtney Banghart was on the coaching staff of the U23 National Team.[7] The team competed in and won the inaugural U24 Four Nations Tournament in Tokyo, Japan.[8]

Roster

2017–18 Princeton Tigers women's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Hometown G/F 31 Bella Alarie 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) So Bethesda, MD F 22 Taylor Baur 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) So St. Louis, MO F 3 Sydney Boyer 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Fr Woodstock, GA G/F 5 Caroline Davis 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Jr Newark, DE F 4 McKenna Haire 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Fr Charlotte, NC G 24 Kenya Holland 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Sr Stafford, VA G 23 Qalea Ismail 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Jr Bel Air, MD G/F 20 Sydney Jordan 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Jr Manassas, VA G 2 Carlie Littlefield 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Fr Waukee, IA G 11 Abby Meyers 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Fr Potomac, MD G 0 Jordan Muhammad 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Jr Charlotte, NC G 10 Jordan Reid 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) Jr DeWitt, MI F 45 Leslie Robinson 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Sr Corvallis, OR G 25 Gabrielle Rush 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Jr Hinsdale, IL F 33 Jordan Stallworth 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) So Buford, GA G 32 Tia Weledji 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Sr Overland Park, KS	Head coach Courtney Banghart (Dartmouth) Assistant coach(es) Milena Flores (Stanford) Carrie Moore (Western Michigan) Kaitlyn Cresencia (Connecticut College) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: July 21, 2017

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
Nov 10, 2017* 6:30 pm		George Washington	W 72–52	1–0	Jadwin Gymnasium (803) Princeton, NJ
Nov 16, 2017* 7:00 pm		at Seton Hall	W 85–83	2–0	Walsh Gymnasium (716) South Orange, NJ
Nov 19, 2017* 1:00 pm, ESPN3		Georgia Tech	L 56–67	2–1	Jadwin Gymnasium (852) Princeton, NJ
Nov 25, 2017* 1:00 pm		at Davidson	W 63–57	3–1	John M. Belk Arena (523) Davidson, NC
Nov 29, 2017* 5:30 pm		No. 25 Villanova	L 59–62	3–2	Jadwin Gymnasium (525) Princeton, NJ
Dec 2, 2017* 5:00 pm, NBCSPHI+		Delaware	W 78–60	4–2	Jadwin Gymnasium (699) Princeton, NJ
Dec 6, 2017* 6:00 pm		at Lafayette	W 53–45	5–2	Kirby Sports Center (554) Easton, PA
Dec 9, 2017* 1:00 pm		at Quinnipiac	W 60–46	6–2	TD Bank Sports Center (502) Hamden, CT
Dec 13, 2017* 6:00 pm, BTN		at Rutgers Rivalry	L 50–70	6–3	Louis Brown Athletic Center (1,247) Piscataway, NJ
Dec 17, 2017* 1:00 pm		at Wagner	W 58–37	7–3	Spiro Sports Center (147) Staten Island, NY
Dec 20, 2017* 2:30 pm		vs. St. Joseph's Gator Holiday Classic	W 63–54	8–3	O'Connell Center (1,054) Gainesville, FL
Dec 21, 2017* 2:30 pm		vs. Chattanooga Gator Holiday Classic	W 59–49	9–3	O'Connell Center (1,008) Gainesville, FL
Dec 30, 2017* 4:00 pm		UMBC	W 77–40	10–3	Jadwin Gymnasium (828) Princeton, NJ
Ivy League regular season
Jan 6, 2018 1:00 pm, NBCSPHI+		at Penn	W 70–55	11–3 (1–0)	Palestra (1,003) Philadelphia, PA
Jan 12, 2018 5:30 pm		Columbia	W 69–47	12–3 (2–0)	Jadwin Gymnasium (679) Princeton, NJ
Jan 13, 2018 4:30 pm		Cornell	W 75–54	13–3 (3–0)	Jadwin Gymnasium (760) Princeton, NJ
Feb 2, 2018 6:00 pm		at Yale	L 59–73	13–4 (3–1)	John J. Lee Amphitheater (688) New Haven, CT
Feb 3, 2018 4:00 pm		at Brown	W 77–62	14–4 (4–1)	Pizzitola Sports Center (402) Providence, RI
Feb 9, 2018 6:30 pm, ESPN3		Harvard	W 80–47	15–4 (5–1)	Jadwin Gymnasium (986) Princeton, NJ
Feb 10, 2018 5:00 pm		Dartmouth	W 82–63	16–4 (6–1)	Jadwin Gymnasium (1,091) Princeton, NJ
Feb 13, 2018 6:30 pm, NBCSPHI+		Penn	W 60–40	17–4 (7–1)	Jadwin Gymnasium (672) Princeton, NJ
Feb 16, 2018 6:00 pm		at Cornell	W 72–40	18–4 (8–1)	Newman Arena (424) Ithaca, NY
Feb 17, 2018 4:30 pm, SNY		at Columbia	W 74–46	19–4 (9–1)	Levien Gymnasium (469) New York City, NY
Feb 23, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Dartmouth	W 79–67	20–4 (10–1)	Leede Arena (796) Hanover, NH
Feb 24, 2018 7:00 pm, NESN+		at Harvard	L 58–72	20–5 (10–2)	Lavietes Pavilion (1,085) Cambridge, MA
Mar 2, 2018 6:30 pm, ESPN3		Brown	W 79–44	21–5 (11–2)	Jadwin Gymnasium (743) Princeton, NJ
Mar 3, 2018 5:00 pm		Yale	W 64–53	22–5 (12–2)	Jadwin Gymnasium (1,272) Princeton, NJ
Ivy League Tournament
Mar 10, 2018 6:00 pm, ESPN3	(1)	vs. (4) Yale Semifinals	W 78–57	23–5	Palestra  Philadelphia, PA
Mar 11, 2018 4:00 pm, ESPNU	(1)	vs. (2) Penn Championship Game	W 63–34	24–5	Palestra  Philadelphia, PA
NCAA Women's Tournament
Mar 16, 2018* Noon, ESPN2	(12 KC)	vs. (5 KC) No. 16 Maryland First Round	L 57–77	24–6	Reynolds Coliseum  Raleigh, NC
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. KC=Kansas City Region. All times are in Eastern Time. [9]

Rankings

2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings

Regular Season Polls

Poll	Pre- Season	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6	Week 7	Week 8	Week 9	Week 10	Week 11	Week 12	Week 13	Week 14	Week 15	Week 16	Week 17	Week 18	Week 19	Final
AP			RV																	N/A
Coaches

Legend

		Increase in ranking
		Decrease in ranking
		No Change
(RV)		Received Votes
(NR)		Not ranked previous week

References

1. "Charles, Maryland beat Princeton 77-57 in NCAA 1st round". USA Today. Associated Press. March 16, 2018. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
2. Princeton Tripped Up By Penn, 57-48, In Ivy Tournament Championship
3. Franklin, Paul (March 17, 2017). "Villanova eliminates Princeton women in NIT tournament". The Trenton Times. NJ.com. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
4. Princeton reaches eighth straight postseason tournament
5. Ivy League Duo Forms Special Bond As USA U19 Teammates
6. Alarie and USA Basketball Win Silver At U-19 FIBA World Cup
7. "Jeff Walz, Courtney Banghart And Michelle Clark-Heard To Lead 2017 USA Basketball Women's U23 National Team". usab.com. April 19, 2017. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
8. "Women Capture U24 Four Nations Tournament Title". usab.com. August 15, 2017. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
9. Princeton Tigers women's basketball schedule