Tough times in Carolina: Womens' hoops winless in southern road trip

Always within sight but just barely beyond reach, the first win of the season continues to evade the women's basketball team. Throughout Winter Break -whether in North Carolina, at home in Princeton or traveling through New Jersey - the team was unable to shake the losing streak that has haunted it throughout its first 12 games.

The team made the journey to Elon College, N.C., optimistic and sure that this was its opportunity to turn things around. Elon dashed the Tigers' hopes, however, with a sound 63-37 defeat.

Two days later against High Point, Princeton showed that despite its frustration, it is far from giving up. The team fell behind by as many as 17 points in the first half, but a game-high 20 points from sophomore forward Maureen Lane and 11 points from junior forwards Lauren Rigney and Hillary Reser helped construct an impressive comeback.

Down by 14 points with six minutes, 25 seconds remaining in the second half, the Tigers went on an 11-point run to put them within three. Then a shot from behind the arc by Reser tied the score at 59. But a layup from High Point with two seconds left put Princeton on the wrong side of the 61-59 score.

The game was a turning point for one aspect of the Tigers' game, however, as it was the first in which they outrebounded their opponents. Sophomore Lee Culp led the effort with 12 boards.

"This game showed that we still have the desire to win even though we're frustrated," Lane said. "Coming back from 17 points down showed heart, just like the Rider game. We still believe that we can have a successful season."

Monday, though, was more of the same. The team continued to show great effort yet couldn't break out of its disappointing pattern. Princeton kept the Rider game tight through the first half, and a 3-pointer from Lane with 3:30 left in the game brought the Tigers within three, 63-60. But Princeton scored only three more points to Rider's eight and lost, 71-63.

Between the close games, the Tigers struggled against UNC-Wilmington, Providence and Navy, dropping all three games by considerable margins.

Inconsistent play led to a 65-42 loss against Wilmington Dec. 21. The Tigers' shooting percentage fell from 47.1 percent for the first half, which kept them within eight points at halftime, to just 28.6 percent in the second.

After a 10-day break, the Tigers returned to action Dec. 31 against Providence. Twenty points from Lane and 10 from sophomore guard Allison Cahill were not enough to combat the Lady Friars, who left Jadwin with a 69-42 victory.

In its final game of the break, Princeton was unable to hold on to an early 18-16 lead and fell to Navy, 67-45. Senior guard Jessica Munson led the Tigers with 12 points.

One of the issues the Tigers have been dealing with is turnovers. In the game against Rider, Princeton committed 30 compared to just 14 for the Broncs.

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"We need to think before we pass and to have patience," Culp said. "We all want to win, so we're trying to do that one extra thing and for the most part it's been the wrong thing. But we're going in the right direction. If we can cut down on turnovers, we can turn things around soon. We need the confidence to know we can win, we've kind of forgot how right now."

As it heads into Ivy League competition this weekend against Cornell and Columbia, the team is hoping that confidence will surface; allowing it to turn its season around.

"It will be tough to go in without a win, but at the same time, we have nothing to lose," Lane said. "We're going to play as hard as we can. There's no expectations, so we're just going to have to take chances."