Women’s hoops preview: Princeton’s post-Chen era; Seton Hall, Rutgers optimistic
Women’s hoops preview: Princeton’s post-Chen era; Seton Hall, Rutgers optimistic
Featuring one player to know on all eight Division I teams in the state.
What do you do when you graduate a former Ivy League Player of the Year and a three-time Ivy Defensive Player of the Year?
If you’re Princeton, you forge right ahead. It’s not a matter of “reloading” the way many programs do when they pillage the transfer portal. The Tigers already have their next wave of difference-makers waiting in the wings.
For the first time in a while, Princeton was not the unanimous favorite in the Ivy preseason media poll; the Tigers earned 10 of 16 first-place votes, Columbia garnered five and Harvard had one. That reveals a modicum of doubt in a Tigers program that bade farewell to Kaitlyn Chen, Ellie Mitchell and Chet Nweke, who became a key starter by the home stretch of last season.
But Princeton returned three of its top five scorers and has several young players ready to ascend into larger roles and responsibilities.
From the outside looking in, this appears to be Madison St. Rose’s team, and the junior told me about her role as a leader entering 2024-25. While players have always had to put the team first, St. Rose said there are more expectations now that she’s an upperclassman and the Tigers’ top player on the court.
“I feel like being vocal during the drills, making sure the energy’s up throughout the whole entire practice,” St. Rose said. “Whether we’re just doing passing drills, whether we’re playing against each other, making sure there’s always good vibes, making sure that we’re playing with poise, making sure that if stuff starts to go downhill that we come together, that we talk about what’s going on and then try to adjust from there. Basketball is like a roller coaster – there’s gonna be really, really good times and then there’s gonna be really bad times – but it’s up to me to make sure that the team stays together through whatever goes on.”
St. Rose has already experienced not only two Ivy League championships but also the thrill of making noise in the NCAA Tournament. In her freshman year, the Tigers upset NC State in the first round and took a great Utah team down to the wire in the Round of 32. Last year, they made it close against West Virginia in the first round before falling 63-53.
“I have really good faith in our team,” St. Rose said. “We are showing a lot on the court, we are really skilled, really talented. We play like we leave everything else on the floor, and that’s in practice, so I can’t wait to play in games. We want to win the Ivy League, we want to win the conference, we want to hopefully go to March Madness, but we have to take it day by day. It’s not going to come easy to us, and we still have a lot to learn, a lot to put in.”
It’s not all on St. Rose, a shooting guard and Old Bridge native, to keep Princeton’s winning tradition going. She’ll be playing with some new starters around her in 2024-25.
Ashley Chea apprenticed under Chen last year and played in some big moments. The Tigers expect her to take over that spot, and St. Rose has loved what she’s seen in the preseason.
“I feel like she’s stepping into a really big role being our leading point guard,” she said. “I feel like you guys have seen some sparks in her last year and you saw what she’s capable of doing, but now you’re really gonna see her true talent, her being a really good point guard and I’m excited for her.
“Her vision is crazy. Sometimes she gets me when she’s trying to make these blind passes and it gets us every time. She’s a really good shooter too, and I feel like she’s just a good floor general. She’s learning how to control the pace and she’s doing a really good job at it.”
The frontcourt will look different without Mitchell vacuuming up every rebound that comes her way. Parker Hill is the Tigers’ top returning rebounder and the likely starting five on opening night, and coach Carla Berube will have Paige Morton and some others to work into the fold.
St. Rose acknowledged there’s a long season ahead before the Tigers can think about tournament runs or championships. They have five power-conference foes in the first five weeks of the schedule, including a trip to Utah.
“(I’m) making sure that I’m taking care of my body when we get to the end of this season,” St. Rose said, “because that’s most important when I have to take care of myself, I have to make sure that my teammates are taking care of themselves. … It’s really about the heart, it’s about the hustle and it’s about the little things that the coaches keep telling us day in and day out that we just have to execute.”
I wrote about St. Rose in this space last preseason, picking her as my one key Princeton player you should know about. She turned in an excellent season with 14.8 points, 2.6 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.7 steals per game along with vastly improved shooting percentages.
So let’s run it back and try out the same exercise, where I’ll highlight one key player to know from all eight Division I women’s teams in New Jersey:
Rutgers: Kiyomi McMiller, G
The Rutgers men aren’t the only ones who landed a rare five-star recruit. McMiller, a Maryland native by way of Life Center Academy in Burlington, is the X-factor who may bring Rutgers out of the Big Ten basement. The first high schooler to sign an NIL deal with Jordan Brand, she is known for her fantastic ball-handling. I’m sure this won’t be the only time I write about McMiller this season. Coach Coquese Washington said that while she’s still a freshman with plenty to learn, she’s been phenomenal.
“She’s helped elevate the competitiveness in our gym,” Washington said. “Her speed, her skill, her on-court ability has definitely added a lot to our gym. I’m a little biased but I think she’s one of the best talents in the country so I’m excited that I get a chance to coach her. I’m excited that our fans get the chance to watch her play night in and night out.”
Big Ten preseason poll (unofficial, via USA Today): 17th of 18 teams
Seton Hall: Faith Masonius, F
Tony Bozzella absolutely raved about Masonius at Big East media day. The Maryland transfer from Belmar doesn’t have career numbers that pop off the page, but she played more of a supporting role for the Terrapins. Extrapolating to per-40-minute averages, she put up 11.2 points, 7.9 boards and 3.7 assists in her career. Bozzella expects a lot from his group, led by a trio of point guards in Amari Wright, Savannah Catalon and freshman Jada Eads, and it seems he sees Masonius as a crucial connecting piece at forward who can score and pass.
“I mean this wholeheartedly: I was never more nervous about someone making a decision in the 12 years I’ve been the head coach at Seton Hall,” Bozzella said. “And I’ve had some great ones. … I knew the impact Faith would make both with our team, but with myself. I needed to have someone like Faith in my program for myself as much as anything. Someone I could rely on, someone that I think shared a genuine love for basketball.”
Big East preseason poll: Seventh of 11
Princeton: Tabitha Amanze, F/C
In the same Class of 2022 where St. Rose was the No. 46 overall prospect, Amanze ranked No. 43 in the country. But the 6-foot-4 Nigeria native missed all of her freshman year and much of her sophomore campaign due to injuries. We haven’t seen all of what she can do yet, so she has a high potential to surprise opponents when she comes off the bench for Hill.
“She has two years under her belt here, not playing, game experience, but I think she understands what Princeton basketball is all about,” Berube said. “We’re really excited to have her back on the court. She is a dominant threat inside. … (I’m) rooting really hard for her, because she’s certainly been through a lot during her first two years here.”
Ivy League preseason poll: First of eight
FDU: Staci Williams, G
I’ve moved the Knights ahead of all the other mid-majors because they are the preseason favorites in the Northeast Conference. Last year I wrote about Teneisia Brown in this spot and I could have done so again after she averaged 12.6 points and 8.0 rebounds, but Brown, Abby Conklin and Williams all earned preseason All-NEC Team honors. I’m most intrigued by Williams, who was in and out of the starting lineup last year and averaged just 20.5 minutes, but was FDU’s top shooter at 38.8% from three. She has room to grow and increase her impact, which makes this FDU team daunting.
NEC preseason poll: First of nine
Monmouth: Taisha Exanor, F
No team in the CAA rebounded better than the Hawks last year (7.8 rebounding margin). Belle Kranbuhl is the known quantity in that department, but Monmouth also returned Exanor, who I watched grab a career-high 18 rebounds in the regular-season finale last March. She was hitting her stride offensively by season’s end, too. Cait Wetmore is now the head of this program, but former coach Ginny Boggess gave me good insight into Exanor, who spent three years at Pitt before transferring in.
“We knew rebounds per possession, she was one of the top in the ACC, which means it should translate” to the CAA, Boggess said. “… With Big Belle out there, Belle scoops a lot of those up and Belle had a little bit fewer minutes than she’s been playing, so Tai was able to go get them. We put ourselves in a position where when we’re not fouling, we can get them.”
CAA preseason poll: 10th of 14
Rider: Sanaa Redmond, G
The Broncs are starting over, especially in the backcourt, where the program said goodbye to Taylor Langan, Makayla Firebaugh, Jessika Schiffer and Molly Lynch. Rider brought in Gabby Turco from LaSalle and several freshmen, but someone will have to tie the offense together. That should be Redmond, a do-it-all, 5-foot-6 point guard who rebounds well for her position and led the team with 2.5 assists per game but will also need to up her scoring production.
MAAC preseason poll: Ninth of 13
Saint Peter’s: Fatmata Janneh, F
Saint Peter’s (7-23 last year) made progress after an 0-30 season in 2022-23, and one of the main reasons why was Janneh’s freshman campaign. The 6-foot-2 native of England had eight double-doubles and racked up a 24-point, 22-rebound, five-steal game in an overtime win over Marist on March 2. No MAAC player had more rebounds in a single game last year. If she can be less turnover-prone, Janneh could be one of the toughest players to deal with in this conference.
MAAC preseason poll: 10th of 13
NJIT: Trinity Williams, F
The Highlanders’ season was hampered by a nine-game losing streak in conference play before they started putting together some wins at season’s end. They should be encouraged to have back not only top scorer Alejandra Zuniga, but also Williams, who paired 9.0 points and a team-high 6.4 rebounds per game with a conference-best 48 blocked shots.
America East preseason poll: Eighth of nine