Women's hoops suffers two more heartbreaking home losses

When your team loses a tight game in the last moments of play, it figuratively breaks your heart. When it happens twice in one weekend, the pain becomes almost physical.

Such was the case for women's basketball this weekend. The Tigers dropped two tightly contested games, both of which were decided within the last 20 seconds of play. Far from nursing its wounds, the team is moving forward without permanent damage, sure that these losses will only make them work harder.

Though it dominated the first half and led 39-35 with 7 minutes, 38 seconds left, by the end of the game Princeton (1-21 overall, 1-8 Ivy League) struggled to restrain a determined Columbia offense. Sophomore forward Maureen Lane blocked a last minute Lion shot and sophomore guard Allison Cahill recovered the ball to keep the score tied at 45, forcing the game into an overtime that was ultimately ill-fated.

The same problems that have plagued the Tigers throughout the season — turnovers and poor rebounding — reappeared during the extra session to keep Princeton from avenging its previous 61-48 loss to Columbia (7-15, 5-5).

The Tigers turned the ball over with the score tied at 49. The Lions' Patricia Kern took advantage of the possession by getting the rebound on her own missed shot and scored the game-deciding basket — locking the win for Columbia, 51-49.

"It would've been really easy to give up [after the close loss], but we went back out that next night and showed we are still fighting, we're still right there," freshman forward Maureen McCracken said.

But the frustration continued to mount Saturday when the Tigers returned to Jadwin Gym to face Cornell. Things looked grim when the Big Red (12-11, 5-5) went on a run early in the game.

Far from beaten however, Cahill — who added 22 points to Princeton's offense — battled against the Big Red defense to score seven points in the last two minutes, 30 seconds of play. Trailing 59-53, Cahill executed a three-pointer and followed on the heels of a Cornell two-point response with another layup to keep Princeton within three points at 59-56. Cahill scored again with 23 seconds left in the game to pull the Tigers within one point.

"[Cahill] really stepped it up and played how she can," sophomore guard Lauren Goldbeck said. "We all have a lot of confidence in Allison all the time. She stays composed and she knows how to get to the basket."

But the Tigers lost possession of the ball on a controversial call that marked the end of their comeback. Cahill's last minute heroics did not shake the confidence of Cornell guard Do Stevens and her teammate, forward Jennifer Linker, who sealed the game with consistent foul shooting, each tossing in two shots apiece to end the game, 65-60, and put Cornell at the .500 mark for Ivy play.

"If we hadn't been down so much in the beginning we would've won," McCracken said. "They had an early lead and it was a lot to come back from. Then their shots fell and that's just something we can't control."

Accidents happen and improvement is obvious. While the Tigers had lost to Cornell and Columbia by 16 and 13 points, respectively, this time they were only down by a combined six points for the weekend. Showing resiliancy, Princeton has taken the blow well and is determined to keep on fighting, looking at the losses as hidden encouragement.