January 21, 2026
Inside two clutch shots that defined Harvard and Princeton’s overtime battle
A ‘big shot,’ then a ‘dagger to the heart’
PRINCETON, N.J. — On Monday, Princeton and Harvard played such a thrilling, back-and-forth game that not even two shots in the final five seconds of regulation could separate them.
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The 1,857 fans in Jadwin Gymnasium saw Harvard forward Katie Krupa strike first, as the senior hit a straightaway 3-pointer with 4.9 seconds left to put the Crimson up 64-61. But after a Princeton timeout, junior point guard Ashley Chea nailed a game-tying 3-pointer in front of the Tigers’ bench with 0.4 seconds remaining.
The Tigers had had many close games in nonconference play, and they came back to beat Villanova and George Mason despite having less than a 5% chance to win at times in each game. So the Tigers were comfortable in overtime, and they dictated the extra period, leading by as many as eight points and eventually winning 82-79.
“That was so fun,” Chea told The IX Basketball postgame. “I mean, my legs are so tired, but it’s just so fun playing in these moments, especially with a crowd like that.”
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Though Krupa’s and Chea’s shots counted the same on the scoreboard, the two upperclassmen have taken different routes in their careers to come up clutch on Monday.
With 21 seconds left and the game tied, Krupa grabbed a defensive rebound to set up Harvard’s final possession. Head coach Carrie Moore called a timeout and drew up a play, looking to get junior forward Abigail Wright a shot at the rim.
Senior wing Saniyah Glenn-Bello inbounded the ball to Krupa, who passed it to first-year guard Olivia Jones on the perimeter. Jones got a screen from Wright outside the 3-point line, and as Wright rolled toward the rim, two Princeton defenders momentarily went with her.
“There [were] definitely some communication breakdowns,” Princeton head coach Carla Berube told reporters postgame.
But Krupa expected Princeton to pay more attention to Wright, Harvard’s leading scorer this season, and she was ready.
“Abigail’s a powerhouse in the paint, so I kind of knew that they were going to heavily, I guess, be aware of where she is,” Krupa told The IX Basketball postgame. “… So when I felt that [Olivia] Hutcherson was off of me, I just pulled it. … I think my teammates trusted me with that shot. I got a really good pass. And yeah, I just felt like it was going in. So I was proud of the shot.”
Princeton called a timeout to draw up a play, which gave the Crimson a chance to celebrate before refocusing on defense.
“I just felt the joy radiating off of my teammates, which was really just so sweet and just so cute,” Krupa said. “And especially as a senior, that was just a nice moment, with the freshmen coming up and giving me chest bumps, the sophomores, the juniors, just all these amazing girls who are just leading the way right under me.”
Krupa’s journey to make that shot has been full of ups and downs. She averaged 14.4 minutes per game as a first-year, then nearly doubled that in a breakout sophomore season. That year, she started all 28 games, averaged 11.3 points per game, shot 50.4% overall and 43.1% from 3-point range, and was named honorable mention All-Ivy.
As a junior, though, Krupa’s minutes dropped again, and her shooting percentages fell, too. Part of that was because All-Ivy guard/forward Elena Rodriguez had returned from injury, and part of it was Krupa adjusting to the pressure defense that Moore implemented last season. Krupa averaged 4.8 points on 27.5% 3-point shooting in 14.8 minutes per game off the bench.
This season, Krupa is starting and playing over 28 minutes per game again. She is averaging career highs in rebounds (3.3 per game), assists (2.8) and blocks (1.1), and she’s helped the offense flow with her high-post passing at times. But she’s still looking for her shots to fall like they did two seasons ago. Against Princeton, she had just three points on 1-for-6 shooting before her pivotal shot.
“It’s a big shot — a shot that I’ve seen her make a lot in her career,” Moore told The IX Basketball postgame. “… [It took] a lot of courage to take that and make that.”
Krupa’s courage came from four years of knowing that her teammates want her to take shots like that and will support her even if she misses. So she wasn’t thinking about her percentage or her past attempts. She just squared her shoulders and held her follow-through.
“Four years is a long time, and you get ebbs and flows,” Krupa said. “You get mountain peaks and you get troughs. And you just have to work through all of them and kind of experience all of them. … It builds character, it builds toughness, and I feel like a whole new person, honestly, after my four years of being here. It’s molded me into who I am, and I’m very proud of where I’ve gotten.”
Moore has demanded more from her seniors at times this season, especially when Harvard was inconsistent in nonconference play. Though Krupa’s shot didn’t end up winning the game, Moore hopes that it propels her forward for the rest of the year.
“She’s only really scratching the surface in terms of how good she can be in this league,” Moore said. “Unfortunately … it’s like, your clock is ticking a little bit. So let’s get you better and more confident. So I hope that moments like that really fuel her. … When she’s that way, our team is much better.”
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Meanwhile, a veteran Princeton team didn’t panic when Krupa put Princeton ahead. After all, it had played from behind often in nonconference games but emerged with a 12-1 record.
“We were all like, ‘We’re fine. We’ve been in this position before,’” senior guard Madison St. Rose told The IX Basketball postgame. “… We just had to breathe and just really pay attention and execute what Coach was drawing up and, yeah, just play basketball. I mean, whatever was gonna happen on the court, at least we knew we were gonna do it to our best.”
“It was stressful, but we knew that we were gonna pull out the win anyway,” Chea said.
Berube drew up a play for Chea, with options to pass if she didn’t like her shot. She started on the opposite side of the court from the inbounder, junior guard/forward Fadima Tall, who was on the baseline in one corner. Chea then curled around stagger screens from sophomore guard Toby Nweke and St. Rose.
“As soon as I felt her girl [hit my screen], I knew she had no idea I was there,” St. Rose said. “And I just saw Ashley running. She was wide open. And from there, she just walked into the shot like it was a practice shot.”
Chea caught the ball outside the 3-point line, and her momentum took her farther to her left. She has been lethal over the years going left behind the arc. She caught the ball and shot it in one fluid motion. When it swished through the net, she leaped in the air and punched her right fist down in front of her.
“She’s just got ice in her veins,” Berube said. “She wants those moments, so we give it to her.”
Krupa, who was guarding St. Rose on the play, remembered being dialed in on not letting St. Rose catch the ball.
“I looked over my right shoulder, and then it’s Chea shooting a three,” Krupa said. “And … before it went in, I knew it was tough that she even got a shot off. And hats off [to] Ashley Chea. That girl has the clutch gene, the clutch DNA, in her system. I don’t know how she consistently does it, but it’s just a dagger to the heart.”
Chea has been one of the Ivy League’s best players over the past 1 1/2 seasons. She was Princeton’s backup point guard as a first-year, then took over the starting spot as a sophomore and was named first-team All-Ivy. That season, she averaged 12.6 points, 3.6 assists and 3.2 rebounds per game while making 36.2% of her 3-pointers. And against Harvard at Jadwin Gymnasium in January 2025, Chea hit a long 2-pointer at the buzzer, not far from where she was on Monday, to beat Harvard.
So when Chea caught the ball with the clock ticking down on Monday, the finish felt like a foregone conclusion.
“That’s on me,” Moore said, “to not even allow her to even curl things to the perimeter. I mean, [we] just cannot lose to them like that anymore.”
Chea ended the game with 19 points on 6-for-10 shooting and was named Ivy League Player of the Week on Tuesday.
“Ashley just is always on the court having a great time,” said St. Rose, who is the Tigers’ leading scorer this season. “I mean, some of the shots she took, I was like, ‘Wow, she’s such a good shooter, because I wouldn’t have shot that shot.’ But I just like to see all the confidence that she has and just all the heart and energy that she brings. … It makes a big difference.”
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After Chea’s shot, the Tigers felt like they had all the momentum going into overtime. “We have so much confidence, especially when we’re all heated up and we’re all super lit up for each other,” Chea said.
Harvard didn’t flinch, either. As Krupa pointed out, it wasn’t the first time they’d faced a figurative gut punch from Chea. Only this time, there were still five minutes to play.
But Chea’s shot gave Princeton just enough time to recover from its rocky first half. Against Harvard’s pressure, the Tigers tried to go one-on-one too often and played too fast for Berube’s liking, which led to 12 first-half turnovers. Yet the score was tied at halftime, so the Tigers were bullish about how the game would go if they handled the ball better.
They did that, committing just five turnovers the rest of the way. In overtime, their defense clamped down, forcing Harvard to miss seven of its first eight shots. The Tigers also grabbed defensive rebounds and got out in transition, where they’re scoring more efficiently this year than in any of Berube’s previous five seasons.
Combine that with a few plays where Harvard almost had the ball but couldn’t hang on, and Princeton was in control. There were six ties and 10 lead changes in regulation, but zero in overtime.
“That has to be our ball,” Moore said. “And that’s stuff that we’ve talked about with this particular team pretty much all season. … You need as many possessions as you can have against really good teams. … We gotta learn how to finish.”
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Fittingly, in a game with so much drama, there was one more buzzer-beater still to come. Harvard junior guard Karlee White, who had a game-high 27 points on 10-for-15 shooting and 10 rebounds, caught an inbounds pass with four seconds left in overtime and weaved through Princeton defenders nearly the full length of the court. She pulled up for a 3-pointer at the buzzer and nailed it.
That one, though, wasn’t quite enough to keep the teams on the floor. Instead, it just emphasized how closely matched the teams were, and how one more possession might’ve changed everything — again.
Written by Jenn Hatfield
Jenn Hatfield is The IX Basketball's managing editor, Washington Mystics beat reporter and Ivy League beat reporter. She has been a contributor to The IX Basketball since December 2018. Her work has also appeared at FiveThirtyEight, Her Hoop Stats, FanSided, Power Plays, The Equalizer and Princeton Alumni Weekly.
