Slow start leaves women's basketball well short of preseason expectations

The 1999-2000 women's basketball season was a search for completeness.

Early in the year, Princeton (9-19 overall, 6-8 Ivy League) struggled to play a complete half without collapse — then a complete game. As winter faded, however, the team learned how to put strong performances together back-to-back and managed to claim some Ivy victories — including an epic win on Senior Night.

Entering the year, the defending Ivy League co-champion Tigers were supposed to challenge Penn and Harvard for the conference crown. Poor play on defense instead forced Princeton into a battle with Brown to stay out of last place in the league.

Princeton returned two players who were first or second team All-Ivy in 1998-99 — captains Maggie Langlas '00 at guard and Kate Thirolf '00 at forward. In their final season at Jadwin Gym, the prolific duo finished first and second, respectively, in scoring on the team and each, in fact, scored her 1,000th career point in a 66-55 loss to Fairfield at the Ala Moana Paradise Classic in Honolulu, Hi., on Dec. 23.

Warrior

In a season filled with disappointment, Thirolf carried the team as far as her ailing knees would allow her with intense play. Despite the pain, Thirolf was second on the team in field goal and three-point percentage. For her efforts, she earned first team All-Ivy and Academic All-Ivy accolades.

The Tigers suffered through the early non-conference part of their season due in part to playing the toughest schedule of any squad in the Ivy League. Still, poor second-half performances dropped Princeton to a 2-11 record before the conference slate even began.

The Tigers' free fall continued into their league season as the team dropped six of its first seven Ivy games — the lone win coming in overtime against a weak Brown team, 55-52, on Feb. 4.

"[Against Brown] we got back to playing our game," head coach Liz Feeley said. "We were more patient offensively, [and] defensively, I thought we did a really nice job."

Against the Bears, guard Hillary Reser '02 carried the team throughout the game by snaring 10 rebounds, scoring nine points and drawing several offensive fouls. Langlas sealed the win by scoring all five of Princeton's points in the extra session.

Near the bottom of the league standings, the Tigers regrouped during the second half of their Ivy schedule. The team won five of its last seven games — including the home finale against eventual Ivy champion Dartmouth.

Last hurrah

Before the game against the Big Green on Feb. 26, there was a presentation for the Class of 2000 players: Langlas, Thirolf and center Brooke Lockwood. By the final horn, fans were shedding tears of joy over the upset win.

The Big Green led the league in scoring offense and defense, but nonetheless were outmatched by the Tigers on both ends of the court.

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In her last game on the floor of Jadwin, Thirolf gave a performance to be proud of. She scored 16 points, including back-to-back three-pointers early in the second half that extended the Tigers' lead to seven points. Reser scored a game-high 18 points, including a pair of shots as the shot clock expired.

On the defensive side, Langlas shut down Dartmouth's top gun — sharpshooting guard Courtney Banghart — while forward Lauren Rigney '02 dominated the paint, amassing two blocks, two steals and two rebounds.

The Dartmouth game featured everything the Tigers could have wanted for Senior Night as a team that had stumbled all season produced one final spectacular performance for the home crowd. The result was a complete game — one that Princeton controlled from start to finish.