The first round of both terms of March Madness was a lot of fun for Princeton.
A day after the men’s team, the No. 15 seed, shocked No. 2 seed Arizona, the women’s team stunned No. 7 seed NC State in a wild upset to wrap up their first day of tournament play.
NC State, playing without leading scorer Diamond Johnson due to an ankle injury, looked to have taken a 63–55 lead with 5:41 remaining in the fourth quarter. Those would be the last points the Wolfpack scored for the remainder of the game.
The Princeton defense forced five turnovers and held NC State to 0-for-5 shooting over the next 10 possessions as its offense slowly pulled the team back into the game, leading with 4.7 to Grace Stone’s 3. To the pointer. seconds left.
Moments later, Princeton had a victory.
Stone finished with 22 points on 7 of 18 shooting, tied with teammate Kaitlin Chen for the game lead. The Tigers’ defense was relentless, recording 13 total steals and five blocks. Five of those steals and four of those blocks came from two-time Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year Ellie Mitchell, who also had four points and 11 rebounds.
Princeton’s bounty will advance to the second round on Sunday to face No. 2 seed Utah.