Women's hoops looks to pull off upset against Quakers

Anyone glancing over the records for Princeton and Penn would not give the rivalry-charged game on Tuesday a second thought. The Quakers have romped flawlessly through league play, compiling a 6-0 record and a 13-game winning streak while Princeton can claim only one win. Penn's roster is dominated by returning members of last year's second-place team and includes only three freshmen while Princeton has only three upperclassmen.

Few would doubt that the Tigers are the obvious underdog. But that does not mean they are beaten. Anyone who didn't give the game a second thought would be missing half the story. Princeton has been in this position before — and won. It would not be the first time.

Last year's final home game, Feb. 26 against Dartmouth, Princeton proved that it can rise to the occasion. The Big Green — who went on to narrowly lose in the first round of the NCAA tournament against Purdue — were leading the league with a 9-1 record. Princeton had a meager 3-7 league record and had previously lost to Dartmouth by almost 20 points, 74-57. But when things moved to Jadwin, the Tigers shot 61 percent from the field in the second half to hold off the Big Green, 64-51.

What does this say for tonight's matchup? Don't count Princeton out. Two of the three leading scorers from that upset are back. Then-sophomore forward Hillary Reser was the leading scorer for the Tigers with 18 points and also pulled down seven rebounds. Then-freshman guard Allison Cahill came off the bench and was perfect on three-point shots, contributing a total of 11 points.

In the momentous Dartmouth game, Princeton jumped out to a 9-0 lead, a feat it has already duplicated at home this year against Harvard. The message being that playing in Jadwin came as a huge advantage.

Luckily, Penn is traveling to Jadwin and this year's Tiger squad knows that it thrives on the wave of enthusiasm Princeton fans can generate at home. And the team is intense — this is the game they've been waiting for.

"This is one of our biggest rivalries," freshman forward Maureen McCracken said. "We'll be ready to go."

If Princeton is going to come up with a surprise victory, it can not just count on adrenalin. One of its most important tasks will be shutting down senior forward Diana Caramanico. Caramanico owns the all-time Penn records in both points and rebounds and her average of 21.3 points per game puts her ninth in the National Collegiate Athletic Association in scoring. This weekend Princeton practiced dealing with a strong inside game against Harvard, but were unable to keep freshman forward Hana Peljto from contributing 18 points to the Crimson win. The defense will have to find a new approach if it is going to keep four-year veteran Caramanico from pushing Penn toward a win.

"Carmanico is our biggest problem defensively," McCracken said. "She's a more dominant force inside. We've been trying to mix up our defenses during the game so we can try to catch them off guard."

Quaker senior forward Erin Ladley is also high up on the Princeton defense's priority list. Ladley leads the Ivy League in assists, and should the game be close, she has proven herself to be an incredible pressure player, tipping things Penn's way in multiple overtime showdowns.

Offensively, Princeton will look for outstanding performances from sophomore forwards Maureen Lane and Lee Culp — who combined to lead the scoring for the Tigers in the Harvard and Dartmouth games this weekend — in addition to Reser and Cahill. But the offensive plan is simple.

"We live and die by the three-pointer," McCracken said. "But we have to keep working on our inside-out game, we still haven't nailed it. Sometimes there's a lot open but they don't fall. We need to get inside more. That way when we kick it back out it creates more shots."

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Winning against a confident Penn team tonight is definitely going to be a stretch. It may be unlikely but it is far from impossible — we've seen it before.