It all seemed so eerily familiar. A Princeton basketball team falls way behind Penn, then makes a dramatic comeback.
This time around, however, there would be no miraculous victory for the female Tigers. There would be no Palestra Miracle at Jadwin Gym.
In Saturday's Ivy League opener for both schools, Princeton trailed the Quakers by as many as 22 points before cutting the Penn advantage to two, 74-72, with three minutes, 28 seconds remaining.
Yet, behind the dynamic duo of guard Mandy West and forward Diana Caramanico – who combined to score 58 points, while going 12 for 14 from the free-throw line in the last 1:49 – the Quakers (7-4 overall, 1-0 Ivy League) shortcircuited the Princeton comeback and pulled out the victory, 92-82. With the win, Penn, the preseason league favorite, starts the Ivy season 1-0, gaining a one-game advantage over a Tiger team (2-12, 0-1) that was ranked No. 2 in the preseason polls.
The Tigers are left to ponder not just what went wrong in the first 10 minutes – when they fell behind, 27-5 – but how they came out so flat in a game they wanted and needed so much.
'Nothing to lose'
"When you're down 24-4, you have nothing to lose so you go out and play like gangbusters," head coach Liz Feeley said. "I think we can build off of this, but we've got to get out of that mode."
Perhaps more surprising than Princeton's lethargic start was that the Tiger underclassmen led the comeback, stepping in for three of the Tigers' experienced leaders.
On a day when senior guard Kate Thirolf's oft-injured left knee acted up again, limiting her to 26 painful minutes, junior guard Jessica Munson had to sit out the last 13:43 with an ankle injury and senior guard Maggie Langlas suffered a spell of cold shooting, the younger Tigers had to pick up the slack.
Freshman forward Maureen Lane and freshman guard Alison Cahill responded to the call. They singlehandedly led Princeton's first-half comeback by scoring 23 of the Tigers' last 24 points in the frame, bringing Princeton within eight of Penn at 40-32.
"[Coach Feeley] gives us the green light to shoot every game, whenever we want," said Lane, who at one point connected on three straight three-pointers. "I felt confident and so did some other players."
In a back-and-forth second half, Penn's lead bulged to 14 at two junctures, 48-34 and 58-44.
Sticker
West was a thorn in the side of the Tigers' comeback bid the entire afternoon, never more so than in the second half. She continually punished Princeton for every missed shot by taking outlet passes from her rebounder and pushing the ball up the floor. With the Tigers' transition defense slow to get back, West easily set up uncontested jumpers for her teammates.
"Our transition defense I wasn't really pleased with at all," Feeley said. "If they shot 52 percent [from the floor], that means we weren't even getting there to contest shots."
Down 64-52 with 10:44 on the clock, Princeton made one final push. A three from sophomore guard Hillary Reser and an inside layup from senior center Brooke Lockwood put the Tigers on the cusp of tying the preseason league favorites, 66-64, with 7:07 left.
The lead fluctuated between two and six for the next three minutes. When Princeton needed that one final basket to deadlock the game, though, it failed – twice thwarted by blocked shots from Caramanico.
"[When we cut it to two], we set up to get particular shots off," Feeley said. "Maybe we shouldn't have done that. Maybe I was thinking too much by setting up plays."
As the game neared conclusion, the Tigers looked noticeably uncomfortable without the regular floor general, Munson, running the show.
If Princeton appeared lost at game's end, it didn't look much better from the opening tip. Penn tore apart the Tigers' retooled 3-2 zone, jumping out to an early 13-0 edge and pushing it to 27-5 before Princeton responded.
"At the beginning of the game, I wasn't pleased with the shots they were giving up in the zone," Feeley said. "They weren't even threes. They were skipping [players with passes] for 12- to 15-foot jumpers on the wings."
Feeley wisely switched to a man-to-man defensive scheme, but it was not enough. There were just too many glitches in trying to generate another extraordinary comeback against Penn.
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