Penn falls to Princeton in the Ivy League tournament, but not before making things interesting

NEW YORK — Penn held Princeton scoreless through the first two minutes of Friday’s Ivy League women’s basketball tournament semifinal.

By the standards of the Tigers’ dominance of the rivalry in recent years, that felt like an accomplishment. Princeton came in on an 11-game winning streak in the series.

With just under a minute to go in the first quarter, Penn held an eight-point lead, and that caused a stir.

At halftime, the Quakers were up by two, and there was a bigger stir.

The contest went down to the final seconds, but in the end, Princeton did just enough to hold on for a 59-54 win.

Had the aura of a Tigers (24-4) squad that was nationally ranked for five weeks this season failed to find the entrance from Broadway to Columbia’s bandbox-sized Levien Gymnasium?

No. Instead, this was Penn (15-13) giving everything it had to pull off what would have been a huge upset. Every time it seemed like No. 1 seed Princeton was about to pull away, the No. 4 Quakers — 7-7 in conference play this year, compared to the Tigers’ 13-1 — fought back with gusto.

» READ MORE: Penn coach Mike McLaughlin knew how tough the task would be against Princeton

Penn’s Mataya Gayle played a brilliant game, showing why she was the Ivy League’s rookie of the year. Princeton held her to nine and five points in Penn’s two previous matchups this season, but this time the 5-foot-7 guard poured in 20 points, five assists, four rebounds, and a steal.

“I don’t feel like I’d played them at my best yet,” Gayle said. “I feel like coming in today, I had something to prove to them and to myself. … I felt like I was really locked in today, and I wanted to compete as hard as I could.”

It was all the more impressive because Princeton’s two-time first-team All-Ivy League guard Kaitlyn Chen was often in Gayle’s face. Didn’t matter: three-pointers, driving layups, Gayle went at her again and again — and delivered.

“I think she embraced the environment, and she grew,” Penn coach Mike McLaughlin said. “She was really special today in some of the shot-making that she’s capable of doing, and I’m excited for where the future lies for her, and us as well.”

Princeton coach Carla Berube offered her own praise from across the floor.

“She’s really a talented, skilled, athletic, smart player that plays really, really hard,” she said. “I’m not looking forward to coaching against her for the next three years, but it’s fun just to have great players like that in our league. It really elevates the games.”

But the Tigers’ overall talent was simply too much. Chen had 18 points; backcourt partner Madison St. Rose had a team-high 19 points; and forward Ellie Mitchell had 12 rebounds to go alongside her six points.

“Both teams fought really hard, but this loss hurts, so it’s one we won’t forget,” Gayle said. “I think it’s something that’s going to stick with us going into next season.”

There was a controversy at the end. With 14 seconds left and Penn trailing, 57-54, Jordan Obi drove the lane and was called for a charge. Quite a few people didn’t think it was, including McLaughlin.

“I’m a pretty transparent person, and that was a block at the end,” McLaughlin said, adding that he’d watched replays on the way to his postgame news conference. “I think anyone who saw it … would say the same thing. That’s as far as I’ll go.”

Princeton, the Ivy League’s regular-season co-champion and tournament No. 1 seed, advanced to Saturday’s final against No. 2 seed Columbia (5 p.m., ESPNews). The Lions edged No. 3 Harvard, 53-51, in Friday’s second semifinal.

The NCAA Tournament selection committee will be paying close attention, because Princeton and Columbia are candidates for at-large bids.

“I think it looks good, but I’m not going to leave it to those on the committee,” Berube said. “I’d love to get that AQ [automatic qualifying bid] and just relax.”

» READ MORE: How managing 9 younger siblings prepared Mataya Gayle to run Penn’s offense