Senior guard Blake Dietrick scored a game-high 25 points and her 1,000thcareer pointon Saturdayas the Tigers upset defending Ivy League champion Penn in the opening game of Ivy League play. The women’s basketball team, 17-0 overall and 1-0 Ivy, beat the Penn Quakers by an impressive 29 points, winning by a final score of 83-54.
Tiger junior guard/forward Annie Tarakchiannetted the first basket of the game, and after Penn responded with a quick field goal, consecutive scores by junior forward Alex Wheatley, junior guard Amanda Berntsenand Dietrick capped a 7-0 Princeton run that gave the Tigers an early advantage. A 10-5 run by Penn followed, pulling the Quakers to within 2 points, but the Tigers responded and widened the score to 20-12.
With7:39left in the first half, Dietrick scored a three to give her over 1,000 career points. Dietrick is the 22ndplayer in program history to pass the 1,000-point mark. In the final four minutes of the first half, the Tigers outscored the Quakers 9-5, extending the Tiger’s lead to 35-25 at halftime.
During the second half of the game, the Tigers shot over 65 percent from the floor, scoring the first 11 points of the second period to put the Tigers up 46-25. Forcing a steal, Wheatley ran the floor to score and further cushion the Tiger lead. Penn’s Beth Brzozowski finally scored the first Quaker points of the second half, but the Tigers maintained control of the game, firing off another impressive 10-2 run and leaving the Tigers up 27 points. Contributing to the lead, sophomore guard Vanessa Smith shot 3-for-4 from the charity stripe.
Up by 33 points with less than3:00left on the clock, the Tigers continued to play well through the final minutes of the game, closing the 83-54 Ivy League opener on a final layup from freshman forward Leslie Robinson. The Tigers held the Quakers to 39.2 percent shooting (20-51), while shooting 50 percent both on the floor (33-66) and from long distance (9-18). The Tigers forced 17 turnovers while committing only eight, a season low.
Tarakchian was named MVP of the game, finishing with a career-high 17 rebounds in addition to 8 points and 4 assists. Three players scored in double digits, lead by Dietrick’s 25 points with 5 assists and 4 boards. Junior guard Michelle Miller scored 15 points with 4 assists and 4 rebounds, while Wheatley scored 13 points with 2 assists, 3 blocks and 6 rebounds.
Saturday’sgame shows just how far the Tigers have come this season, working hard on both their offense and defense to pull together a team that is gaining recognition on the national stage. Princeton is currently ranked 22nd nationallyin the Associated Press poll and 24thin the USA Today Coaches Poll. The Tigers have started off the season on an incredibly strong note and hope to carry their momentum through to their Jan. 30game against the Crimson.
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