Women's hoops shocks league favorite Harvard, falls to Dartmouth

Women's basketball played the preseason first and worst in the Ivy League this weekend. With a win over preseason favorite Harvard (9-5 overall, 1-1 Ivy League) and a loss to bottom-feeder Dart-mouth (5-8, 1-2), Princeton had an all around unexpected weekend.

"We were really energized and enthusiastic [for the Harvard game]," sophomore forward Kelly Schaeffer said. "We just didn't play with the same intensity [against Dartmouth] as we did the night before."

Princeton jumped out to a quick lead on the Crimson, shooting 46.7 percent from the field in the first half and hitting five three-pointers. The Tigers went into the intermission with a 33-24 lead.

"We were the underdogs coming in, and they might have overlooked us a little bit," Schaeffer said.

If the Crimson overlooked Princeton in the first half, they came out smoking in the second. Coming back to lead by six, Harvard gave the Tigers a battle, but an 8-0 run late in the game gave Princeton a lead it would keep. Harvard ended up winning the second half by five points, but losing the game by four.

"It came down to a belief that we could win," Schaeffer said. "We just seemed like we wanted it more."

Coming off an emotional win over Harvard, the Tigers welcomed Dartmouth into Jadwin Gym. The risk of every emotional win is a letdown afterwards, which is exactly what happened to Princeton against the Big Green.

Dartmouth, 0-2 in the Ivy League coming in, entered Saturday's game where most people had expected them to be, at the bottom of the league. However, playing the underdog worked just as well for the Big Green Saturday night as it had for the Tigers the night before.

Dartmouth started off the game by going 60 percent from the field, making five more baskets than the Tigers, while only taking one more shot. However, with five three-pointers and five free throws to Dartmouth's one and one, the Tigers went into halftime down only two at 32-30.

In the second half, Dartmouth continued its hot shooting and tacked on 12 free throws. However, the big story of the game was not that the Big Green made so many shots — they went 55.6 percent from the field in the game — but that they pulled down so many misses. They finished the game with 38 total rebounds to Princeton's 24.

"We didn't win the hustle plays," Schaeffer said. "And we were out-rebounded. We [still] feel we can compete with anybody in the Ivy League."

Senior forward Lauren Rigney has played one of the most important roles in the one year turnaround that the Tigers have enjoyed this season. However, the captain's chronic back injury has been a problem throughout the season for the young team. Rigney left Saturday night's game for some time after aggravating her injury taking a charge in the first half. She returned late in the game, but was visibly in pain.

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"It's a big loss when she's not on the floor," Schaeffer said. "She has still been at every practice, and she leads us with her enthusiasm. But when she's not on the court, we're not the same team."

Rigney was able to play this weekend, but with her status always in doubt, junior guard Allison Cahill has risen to a level of leadership.

"Allison is an emotional leader for us," Schaeffer said. "She's a competitive person who really wants to work hard and win. She has increased our energy level with Lauren [Rigney] out."

The Tigers will not play again until Jan. 29, when they will visit Stony Brook to take on the 9-4 Seawolves.