Running short on time, w. hoops hits the road in search of respect

There are a lot of over-used and tired cliches that can be used to describe the rest of the season for the women's basketball team. We have all heard them, and there is no reason to say them again.

Oh, one more time couldn't hurt.

"It ain't over till the fat lady sings." "Never say never." "Never say die."

How about — "Do you believe in miracles?"

Perhaps it is not yet that drastic a situation for the Tigers (1-9 Ivy League, 1-21 overall), however. Although they have had a disappointing season up to this point, they still have five games left to prove themselves. And as the entire team quickly points out, they have shown flashes of good play throughout the season.

Unfortunately for its record, Princeton has not been able to maintain those flashes for an entire game.

Two games in which the Tigers' inconsistency was especially apparent occurred Jan. 9 and 10 against Harvard and Dartmouth.

Jan. 9, against Dartmouth, Princeton held an early lead. In fact, the Tigers were in control for most of the first half. At halftime, Princeton was trailing by only seven points against a team that was then undefeated in the Ivy League.

But the Big Green came out strong in the second half and went on a scoring spree. They finished the game shooting 53 percent from the floor, despite shooting only 39 percent in the first half. Eventually, Princeton lost 65-48.

The next day's game against Harvard proved to be even more disappointing for the Tigers. Cel-ebrating Nation-al Women in Sports Day, a crowd of 2,100 people showed up to cheer on the women's team. Perhaps inspired by the crowd support, Princeton jumped out to a 9-0 lead to open the game.

The Tigers held that momentum for a 35-23 lead at the half. Things looked great for the Tigers.

And then came the second half.

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Harvard came out of the locker room like a team possessed. Princeton watched helplessly as the Crimson broke the game wide open with a 26-4 run. When the game finally ended, Princeton had fallen 64-58. The Tigers were left wondering just how they had let the game slip out of their hands.

This weekend, the Tigers have a chance to avenge both of those frustrating losses. Although close defeats are always the most difficult, the bright side is that the team knows that it has the ability to beat both Harvard and Dart-mouth.

Against Harvard (6-3 Ivy, 9-13 overall), Princeton will also have to find a way to stop some key personnel from having big games. In the Tigers' last meeting with Crimson, three Harvard players scored in double figures. Forward Hana Peljto paced the Crimson with 18 points and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. Katie Gates added 16 points, and Sarah Johnson came off the bench to shoot 6-for-8 from the floor, adding 13 more for the Crimson.

Dartmouth (5-4 Ivy, 9-13 overall) also has players capable of putting up big numbers. In the Big Green's previous contest against Princeton, Katherine Hanks scored a team-high 17 points. She was supported by Katie Skelly and Keri Downs, who netted 14 points each.

If the Tigers hope to rewrite history this weekend in Cambridge and Hanover, they will have to stop that wide variety of players from playing like superstars. They will also have to string together a full 40 minutes to seal a victory.

"The most tangible reward in basketball is winning, and unfortunately we haven't had that," Morris said. "But I know I can count on the team motivating themselves to win."

And as we all know, "It ain't over till . . ."