Hot-shooting Lions, Big Red too much for women's hoops over Intersession

The women's basketball team played three discouraging games in New York his past week, losing consecutive matches to Stony Brook, Columbia, and Cornell and dropping its Ivy record to 2-3.

On Friday night, Columbia defeated the Tigers 79-61. But in a game that ended with a total of 53 fouls, 30 of which were called against Princeton, perhaps it would be more accurate to say that the Tigers defeated themselves.

Columbia shot a staggering 78.9 percent from the free throw line in the first half, sinking 15 out of 19 attempts. Over a third of its 42 first half points came from the line, in sad comparison to the Tigers' paltry 5 for 10.

But that was just the beginning. In the second half the Lions added yet another 17 foul shots to the scoreboard, almost half of their second period points.

Lethal

Freshman forward Nicole Lesko of the Lions was particularly deadly, leading Co-lumbia with a total of 15 points — seven of which were foul shots.

Even more devastating for the Tigers was the fact that the Lions were on fire from the field as well. They shot a season-high of 52 percent while the Tigers staggered behind, shooting 32 percent from the field.

Junior forward Maureen Lane had one of the highlights of the game when she connected with her 25th and 26th three-pointers of the season, as she finished the game with a team-high of 13 points.

Sophomore forward Kelly Schaeffer led the team with five rebounds, and sophomore guard Mary Cate Opila added four assists.

But even that did little to propel the Tigers much farther beyond their 14-point halftime deficit.

Princeton did not fare much better in Saturday night's game against Cornell.

The Tigers' severe scoring drought of 52 points was a season low, in stark contrast to the 61-point average Princeton holds in conference games.

Cornell shot an incredible 9 for 15 three pointers, three of which came from senior scoring leader Do Stevens. She ended the night with 19 points, six rebounds, and six assists.

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The tally, however, conceals the blazing display put on by freshman guard Karen Bolster, who sunk four consecutive three pointers in the last half of the first period to bring the Tigers within 10 points.

Other team leaders of the night were Schaeffer, who grabbed another five rebounds and completed seven assists, and sophomore Eileen Powers who led the Tigers with seven rebounds. Junior Allison Cahill also contributed eight points for Princeton.

Yet these individual feats were simply not enough to keep the Big Red from stealing the show. With 10 minutes left to play, Lane hit a three pointer — the last basket Princeton would score in the game.

Tuesday night Stony Brook dealt Princeton a 75-63 defeat. The teams were neck and neck for the majority of the first period. Schaeffer's three-pointer at the 9:40 mark pulled the Tigers ahead, 14-11.

By the opening of the second period, Princeton had been shooting 52 percent from the field. But the Seahawks committed no fouls in the opening stanza, and a slew of turnovers by the Tigers resulted in Stony Brook's 40-36 edge at the half.

The Seahawks dominated the latter 20 minutes of play by shooting 59 percent from the field, and freshman Karen Bolster's game-high of five three-pointers was not enough to seal a Princeton victory.

This week, the Tigers must put this losing streak behind them and focus on the next opponents. With a doubleheader coming up this weekend against conference rivals Brown (Feb. 8) and Yale (Feb. 9), Princeton will get a chance to redeem itself at home in Jadwin Gym.