NEW YORK, NY (SMI-SPORTS-COLLEGE, 02.23.22)-Kaitlyn Chen and Grace Stone combined for 34 points in the first half as top-ranked and undefeated Princeton's women basketball team ( 20-4,12-0 IVY) defeated Columbia 73-53, during an Ivy League play and on national televised game at Levien Gym, Columbia University.

The Tigers who currently hold the longest conference winning streak in the nation as well in the Ivy League history with 37, beat the Lions in a showdown match for first place with strong offensive attack from the start,  with 2 consecutive spree of 16-0 and 10-1, unanswered points led by guard Kaitlyn Chen-who scored 21 points and went 3 for 5 beyond the arc and Grace Stone added 13 points and 3-rebounds for 47-21, for Princeton comfortably lead at the half.

In the second half, Columbia tried to start a run with 7 consecutive points but the huge deficit of 30-points during the third and fourth quarter appeared to be a burden for the Lions that could not find their rhythm in the game and ran out steam in trying to overcome the score in the game.

The turning point of the game; Princeton took advantage of the 17 turnovers committed by Columbia and scored an average 28-points and the 7-steals added an additional 10 points for the final victory of 73-53, over the Lions.

The Tigers were led by Kaitlyn Chen with 27 points, 11-20 FG, went 3/5 out of the arc, Stone Grace added 19 points and Abby Meyers contributed with 12 points and 6 rebounds in the victory.

With the victory, Princeton improve to 20-4, 12-0 Ivy League and still in first place in The Ivy Standings with two games left in the season.
The Tigers also with the win sweep the season series against Columbia and extend their conference and Ivy League winning streak to 38.

Starlight had the opportunity to attend the postgame press conference
after the game and this is what head coach Carla Berube and player Kaitlyn Chen said:

Opening Statements at Post Game Press Conference:

Carla Berube: What a great atmosphere for an Ivy League game on Wednesday night. To come out with 20 points victory here in some of hostile environment. It's great and I'm really proud of my team  I though we were dialed in and focus very well in what we wanted to do out there and we were able to make some adjustments throughout the game.Got some really great looks for Kaitlyn, she certainly capitalized on them. She really had a great first half and we knew that we had a nice lead at half time but Columbia was going to come roaring back, They certainly were tough throughout and just happy to come out here with the win and there is a good chance that we might see them in couple weeks in Cambridge.
Lot's to be proud but back to work tomorrow.

Press: You haven't loss an Ivy League since 2019, obviously the roster has change since them, how do you manage to keep the winning streak with such different roster ?

Carla Berube: It's a different roster but there are some really great players that I'm very fortunate to coach. They all worked really hard day in and day out. They play very well together whoever is in the court  everyday in practice and then we wanted to transfer to games we certainly we were able to do that in the Ivy League Season.I think we are doing a good job just taking one day at time, this game was just as important as our last game against Yale and it's going to be as important our game against Harvard on Saturday. The changes does a great job of coming out to work everyday and making it really fun to coach them.

Starlight: Congratulation on the win today and for the sensational season.You seemed to put the game away in the first half with huge lead. Is this some type of strategy in putting the game away very early to win games?

Carla Berube: I think today we were very excited to play this game and we just came out on fire and Kaitlyn  had some great looks and put the pressure on and I'm not sure why this game but we made some shots and made some plays and good things happened.

Starlight: You shot few triples(3-Pointers) during the game and at one point  we notice that you were battling Abbey Hsu on the court in numerous occasion, Were you looking to face-off against Abbey Hsu on this game to see who score the most 3-Pointers ?

Kaitlyn Chen: No, I feel that's never really on my mind. I just shoot when I'm open and just take the shot they gave me.

Starlight: You have special recipe or secret you want to share that keeps players and team overall on winning momentum ?

Carla Berube: We really focus on our defense. We think that can help us win basketball games if our shots aren't fallen . We think it lead to easier offense when you are defendant well.I don't think we rebounded the ball very well defensibly today, clearly that's something we are going to work on the next couple days before Saturday. But there is not secret really we just I think we play together and we play hard, we play for each other  and they have a lot fun out there. You could see in the bench and you could see in the court like they are always pulling for each other and want the best for everybody. I have the great staff that prepare them for these games.