Last Saturday Princeton beat Columbia 77-59 in the Ivy women’s tourney title game to earn an automatic bid to this week’s NCAA tournament. The Tigers have now won 17 games in a row and will be facing #6 seed Kentucky on Saturday in Bloomington, IN. Earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with Princeton SR Abby Meyers about that incredible winning streak and heading back to the NCAA tourney.
You grew up in Maryland: what made you choose Princeton? I loved watching Maryland women’s basketball games and knew that I wanted to stay close to home and go somewhere with a tight-knit supportive community. For me, that was Princeton.
You play for Coach Carla Berube: what makes her such a good coach, and what is the most important thing that you have learned from her so far? Coach Berube is so passionate about being great every day and holds us to a very high standard when we play for her. She makes it a fun and competitive atmosphere that teaches us to fail and then learn how to bounce back from that.
In the 2018 Ivy tourney title game you scored 18 PTS in a win over Penn: how were you able to play your best when it mattered the most? My mom always says that when the going gets tough I rise to the occasion. I love playing on a big stage such as the Ivy Tournament. In the end, I want to do anything to help my team win and know I can do that by putting the ball in the basket because that is one of my strengths.
In the 2018 NCAA tourney you scored a team-high 13 PTS in a loss to Maryland: what did you learn from that game that you think can help you this year? This year we have a lot of players who have never played in the NCAA tournament, and during this postseason run experience is everything. I will try my best to use my experience to prepare my younger teammates for the 1st round of tournament play. From that game against Maryland, I learned that you have to play your best to beat the best.
Last year the entire Ivy League basketball season was canceled due to COVID: what was your reaction when you heard the news, and what did you do for 12 months? Of course I was disappointed to hear about the season being canceled, but I looked at it as another opportunity to get better. I was fortunate enough to live on campus and train with some of our returning players and the coaching staff. I grew my leadership skills as well as the trust between me and the coaches.
Last December you scored a team-high 18 PTS including the game-winning basket in a 3-PT win at FGCU (1 of their only 2 losses all year): where does that rank among the highlights of your career? Playing against FGCU was such a fun and competitive environment. They had a packed gym, and as I said before I love playing on a big stage, so I made sure to rise to the occasion and perform well. That definitely was a highlight of my career: beating a top-25 team.
Last Saturday in the Ivy tourney title game you scored 16 PTS in a win over Columbia: what did it mean to you to win another title, and what was the reaction like after you got back to campus? It meant a lot to win another Ivy title. It being my last, I made sure to take in the moment as best I could and cherish it. My parents were able to come to watch and so that was a special moment to hug them after the game. They have been rock-solid throughout my basketball career: celebrating with them was like the cherry on top of my last Ivy League game ever. The university and my friends have been so supportive and congratulatory. We say that at Princeton it really is the team around the team that enriches our success.
Since losing to Seton Hall in mid-December your team has won 17 games in a row: has it reached a point where people expect you to win every time that you step onto the court? At the end of the day, people’s expectations of our team are just noise that we have to block out. We know that there is a target on our back, but our success in the latter half of the season has been due to sticking with the principles of our team, the game plan set by our coaching staff, and playing great defense every single game.
Your twin sister Olivia also attends Princeton: who is the best athlete in the family, and who is the best student?! I am by far the least-smart sister in the family. My twin has the brains and I have the brawn. In terms of athleticism, my twin is actually very athletic: she is even faster than me so I cannot say who has the better genes there. I just used them to my advantage by playing a D-1 sport. I think that she could have gone anywhere for basketball if she devoted herself as much to the sport as I have.
How do you feel about being a #11 seed? I am happy with where we are. At the end of the day, we will take what we get and go from there.