PHILADELPHIA - The Princeton Tigers capped off a perfect regular season with a hard-fought victory against their rival.
When the final buzzer sounded, Courtney Banghart and her Tigers could finally celebrate their remarkable accomplishment - going 30-0.
After a subdued celebration Saturday when the Tigers beat Columbia to clinch the Ivy title, Princeton enjoyed Tuesday night's 55-42 win against Penn. The Tigers jumped with each other at center court celebrating their achievement.
Princeton was then presented with the Ivy League championship trophy which they held aloft much to the delight of the many Tigers fans who made the 45-minute trip down from campus. One fan held up a sign saying "Go Tigers! 30-0 Perfect!"
The 13th-ranked Tigers became the 15th team to enter the NCAA Tournament unbeaten.
"People started mentioning to me at the end of non-conference season," Banghart said of the chance to be undefeated. "We have such great respect for this league and the back-to-back games are such a challenge. Halfway through the league after we had seen everybody, we knew it was a possibility."
Senior guard Blake Dietrick entertained the idea of perfection earlier than her coach.
"I think we really started recognizing it after Michigan," said Dietrick, who had 11 points, seven assists and five rebounds in the win. "It was a monumental win for us against a nonconference team. Very, very early in the season I asked Annie Tarakchian, "If we go undefeated will you bleach your hair?' We were 2-0 at that point. Annie will now have bleached hair for the tournament."
Princeton is hoping this historic season doesn't end with another disappointing first- round loss in the NCAAs. The Tigers want to become the second Ivy team to win a game, joining the 16th-seeded Harvard squad that upset No. 1 Stanford.