Women's hoops looking to snap league losing streak

This coming weekend, the women's basketball team will try to end its current six-game losing streak. The Tigers have not won since they handed Harvard (15-5 overall, 6-1 Ivy League) its only Ivy League defeat, 59-55, on Jan. 11. That game was followed by a 68-65 loss to Dartmouth (6-14, 2-5), beginning the streak.

Now, Princeton (8-12, 2-5) will travel to face both these teams in what has become a do or die stretch of the season. With only seven games remaining, the Tigers will need to win and hope for several upsets in order to have a shot at the Ivy League title, which seemed nearly in reach earlier in the season. After the Harvard game, the Tigers were 8-6 overall, 2-0 in the Ivy League.

Half of the Ivy League season is over, and Princeton has an uphill climb, sitting at sixth in the standings.

"Mathematically, it looks tough [for us to win the Ivy League title]," junior guard Allison Cahill said. "I don't see Harvard losing four games."

After a heart-breaking 85-80 overtime loss to Yale (11-10, 4-4), the Tigers look to bounce back with the same effort they gave in that contest.

"[The Yale game] was a definite step up," Cahill said. "We were playing loose again, with confidence."

Princeton had played with an obvious lack of enthusiasm. While the Yale game remedied this, the team is still looking to get off their six-game slide.

"We took a step in the right direction with the Yale game," head coach Richard Barron said. "The energy we brought to that game was much improved."

Facing Dartmouth on Friday will be a chance to exorcise the demons that have haunted the Tigers since they lost to the Big Green and started their losing streak.

"We were coming off two wins against Penn and Harvard," Cahill said. "It was a game we should have won. We came out flat. We are excited to have that chance back."

Saturday, Ivy powerhouse Harvard is on the Tigers' schedule. The Crimson have not lost to a team other than Princeton since Dec. 20 against Syracuse.

"Harvard is pretty tough. They only have one loss in the league. I'm sure they're excited to have a shot at us," Cahill said.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

The second half of the Ivy schedule is a virtual repeat of the first, so one would think that the Tigers probably do not have a much better shot at winning than they did in the first half. But this team has exceeded expectations before, winning, in two games, the same number as last season's total — two, though that was never their goal.

"We play to win," Cahill said. "We just want to get better every game."

Princeton spent the beginning of the season winning games and setting up what looked like a surprise run for the league title. However, the Tigers have not been winning games, lately, lapsing into last year's form, losing game after game.

Barron denied that this was a major problem, saying, "We haven't tried to set goals with wins and losses. That would have been premature, considering the circumstances with a new coaching staff."

This road trip will predict how the Tigers will fare the rest of the season. With only five games after the weekend, Princeton will be mathematically eliminated from the Ivy race if it loses both games.

"It's a new season now," Cahill said. "We went 2-5 the first half. We know we can do better than that."