Delaware destroys w. hoops in Tigers' bid for fourth victory

Most teams do not have the chance to go into their fifth game of the season with an opportunity to double the previous season's win total, but that is exactly where the women's basketball team found itself last weekend. At 3-1, Princeton was looking to get win number four.

Saturday night, the Tigers traveled to Newark, Del., to tangle with the Delaware Blue Hens (3-1), a team that has been to the NCAA tournament the last three years. Princeton (3-2) has not defeated Delaware since 1995, the last time the Tigers started a season, 3-1.

"We went in to win," senior forward Lauren Rigney said. "They are definitely a better team, but we had a good mental attitude going in."

Despite their recent resurgence after last season's 2-25 record, the Tigers came away with an 85-57 loss to the Blue Hens.

"They are a good team," junior guard Allison Cahill said. "We really believed we could beat them, but we knew we would have to play a great game to do so. We didn't play well at all."

The Tigers scored the first basket of the game, but soon fell behind 5-4 and never regained the lead.

"We were hanging with them in the beginning, but when they started to make a run, we got back on our heels," Cahill said. "Then it just snowballed and got out of control."

The Blue Hens went on a 15-0 run that covered six minutes in the first half, ballooning their lead to 25 points with 1:16 to play before the break.

During the first half, the Blue Hens shot 23 free throw attempts on their way to 43 for the game, while Princeton only shot six from the stripe in the first half, ending with a total of 19 attempts. The score at halftime was 48-28.

"We continually fouled them," Rigney said. "They ended up getting a lot of points in the first half that way."

The Tigers were never able to recover and used the second half as a "huge learning experience," as Rigney put it. "On the mental side, we learned when to stay tough and how to think a little more out on the court. At halftime we decided things needed to change, and we needed to compete."

The biggest thorn in Princeton's side against Delaware was Blue Hen guard Megan Dellegrotti, who finished the contest with a game-high 29 points, 22 of which came in the first half demolition the Blue Hens administered to the Tigers. The win extended Delaware's home winning streak to 20 games.

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Princeton was led by Cahill, who had a career-high 17 points in 35 minutes, and Rigney, who chipped in eight points and a career-high 11 rebounds.

This was the second game that Princeton has been unable to reach 60 points in — and, consequently, their second blowout loss. Princeton has scored at least 76 points three times this season and has won all three of those shootouts. This can be attributed to the new offense installed by first year head coach Richard Barron.

"[Coach Barron] has been teaching and reteaching every part of basketball," Rigney said. "Everyone on the team believes in him. People are buckling down, and we had a lot of hard work in the preseason."

"We had a fresh start, a whole new system and a new coach," Cahill said. "His style suits this team better. Now we have a couple of wins under our belts and a lot of confidence."

The Tigers still have a lot of work to do if they want to be able to hang with the likes of Delaware.

"We're a young team," Cahill said. "We haven't learned how to win, and we still have a long way to go."

Wednesday night the Tigers take on Lafayette in Jadwin Gym at 7 p.m. in their next attempt to win their fourth game and further distinguish themselves from last year's 2-25 team.