Free throws the deciding factor as women's hoops upsets Penn

Last night the women's basketball team did two things the men's team could not do this season.

And Maureen Lane found a spectacular way to end the Tigers season on an individual level, scoring 30 points — including three clutch shots.

The Tigers (11-16 overall, 5-9 Ivy League) not only won their last game of the season, but also defeated Penn (12-15, 8-6) — at home, 66-65.

In perhaps the team's most exciting game of the season, coming on the heels of a one-point overtime loss to Columbia last Saturday, Princeton led by as many as nine points in the first half.

The Quakers managed to cut — and even erase — that lead, but Princeton junior wing Maureen Lane's jumper with 33 seconds left in the first half gave the Tigers a 39-38 halftime lead.

Lane would continue to haunt the Quakers throughout the night.

The scoring on both sides slowed considerably in the second half. After shooting over 50 percent from the field in the first half, Princeton managed to shoot only a cool 33 % in the second (10-30).

As in the first game, the Tigers' defense had difficulty containing several of Penn's scorers. Four different Quakers scored in double figures.

Just as it had in the first half, control of the game transferred back and forth between the two teams. Princeton could stretch its lead no further than five, while Penn managed to push out to a nine point advantage with just over 7:00 remaining in the game.

Then the younger players in Princeton offense helped spark the offense.

As part of an 8-0 run, Schaeffer and freshman guard Karen Bolster hit three-point shots on back-to-back Tiger possesions to give Princeton the lead at 63-62.

But five minutes and 37 agonizing seconds remained on the clock. The Tigers were still almost 6:00 away from closing out their season with a win.

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That was more time than Penn needed to regain the lead.

Katie Kilker, who finished the game with 11 points, scored her last points with 5:16 remaining. Her basket returned Penn to the lead on the scoreboard, but would account for the only Quakers points in final minutes.

That left the door open for the deciding series of plays that took place with less than 1:00 left.

Penn's Catherine Makarewich was fouled, but missed the front end of a 1-and-1 situation. Lane grabbed the rebound, was fouled, and cooly knocked down both free throws.

"This was a great way to finish the season," head coach Richard Barron said. "We had a tough stretch, but we found a way to pull ourselves out of it and ended the season playing well."

Overall the season was a success, and there should be reason to expect a trend of improvement to develop.

Frist, in the win column, Barron — in his first year as head coach — equaled Princeton's win total from the past two years (two last year, nine the year before).

Additionally, the Tigers will return key players like Lane, Schaeffer and Bolster.

"I'm very excited about next season," said Barron.