Princeton back in Top 25 after tough nonconference schedule prepared Tigers for Ivy play

Princeton coach Carla Berube put together a difficult nonconference schedule so her team would be ready for the rigors of the Ivy League as well as potentially another NCAA Tournament run if the Tigers can get back there.

The Tigers lost a tight game at UCLA in early November and then beat Oklahoma before losing to Indiana in a Florida tournament.

"We got to challenge ourselves early on and see who we are and where we need to get better. You want to play against some of the top players and teams in the country,” Berube said in a phone interview Monday. “You figure out you can play with them and then you feel like you can compete and win those games. We were right there with them.”

Those games have helped the Tigers run off a 10-game winning streak and earn the No. 25 spot in The Associated Press women's basketball poll released Monday. It's the second time Princeton has been ranked this season.

“Things are clicking better, we have a great balanced group with some experienced players and some young talent,” Berube said. "You find out about yourself, and we wanted to be playing some of our best basketball when Ivy League season began.”

Princeton has won its first five league games, the closest being a 15-point victory over Columbia.

Berube said her team is getting back into its normal routine now because Princeton had been on winter break until Monday. The Tigers have two home games this weekend against Yale and Brown.

“It's been a long break, but now it's business as usual today,” she said. “Excited to be back on the court.”

The coach said she wouldn't address being ranked with her team, though she knows the players are aware.

“I think it’s great, we were putting on a really great season,” she said. "I'm glad that we get the recognition. We're just going to keep doing what we are doing here.”

TEST TIME

Kansas State moved up to No. 2 on Monday to match its highest ranking ever. The Wildcats have a difficult week in front of them, with games at Oklahoma and Texas.

ALONE AT THE TOP

Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer now owns the record for most appearances in the poll at the same school, as Stanford was ranked Monday for the 619th time. She broke a tie with Pat Summitt, who had 618 appearances with Tennessee. VanDerveer, who owns the all-time win record in Division I basketball after passing former Duke men's coach Mike Krzyzewski, has 646 total appearances in the AP Top 25, including her 27 at Ohio State.

CLIMBING THE RANKINGS

Caitlin Clark has a good shot to move into second all-time on the career scoring list when Iowa plays at Northwestern on Wednesday. She has 3,389 points and is four behind Missouri State’s Jackie Stiles (3,393) and 13 away from Ohio State’s Kelsey Mitchell (3,402). Passing Mitchell would give Clark the Big Ten scoring mark. Kelsey Plum holds the all-time mark with 3,527 points.

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AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball