Women's basketball improves by nine games with new 'run-and-gun' offense

Two years ago, to say that the women's basketball team had a rough season would have been an understatement.

Left to dangle vulnerably under interim head coach Kevin Morris, the Tigers lost 25 games — and won two.

This year was rebuilding time.

With a vibrant new head coach, promising freshmen, and some determined returning players, the Tigers achieved their highest win total since the 1998-1999 season. They finished 11-16 overall and 5-9 in the Ivy League.

New head coach Richard Barron, stepping in after a successful nine-year tenure at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn., cleared away the debris of the previous season's unsuccessful offensive strategy in favor of a "run-and gun" offense.

The new, faster-paced offense accomplished exactly what its name says it would — it sent the Tigers "running" on frequent fast breaks and opened up multiple three-point "gunning" opportunities in the quick transition between defense and offense.

If the Tigers took anything with them from their 2-25 season, it was experience. 10 of the 12 Tigers were returning players, including the top four scorers from the previous year and a second-team All-Ivy League selection, Maureen Lane '03.

The determined Tigers started off the season with gusto. After two games, they had already matched their previous win record with convincing wins against Lehigh and St. Francis.

Against Lehigh, the Tigers' convincing 15-point margin of victory proved that they were a new team. Guard Karen Bolster '05 in particular showed that she would be a major addition to the squad. She scored 24 points — the most ever by a Princeton women's player in her first game and the second-most ever by any Tiger, behind only the 27 scored by Bill Bradley '65 in 1962.

Bolster set a freshman record for most three-point baskets in a season with 52 in 27 games played, and she led the team in steals with 43, earning her all-rookie team recognition.

The Tigers alternated wins and losses for the remainder of the preseason, giving them a satisfying 6-5 record as they entered Ivy play.

The Tigers did not just enter Ivy League competition — they leapt into it with a 66-56 victory over rival Penn. Lauren Rigney '02, returning from a back injury, played like a warrior, registering 20 points, three taken charges, three rebounds, two assists, one blocked shot and one steal in the second half alone.

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Kelly Schaffer '04 achieved her first double-double against the Quakers with 14 points and 10 rebounds, foreshadowing what she would bring down the road. Later on in the season, after a 15-point performance in 31 minutes against Dartmouth, Barron said of Schaeffer, "She has given us more leadership than anybody on the team as a sophomore."

In their next Ivy game, the Tigers surprised preseason favorite Harvard with a 59-55 win. Point guard Allison Cahill '03 displayed her characteristic composure under pressure as she calmly knocked down a three-pointer to break a 53-53 tie with two minutes remaining.

Cahill's poise during critical moments, not to mention her team-high 14.2 points per game average, team-high 83 assists, and 4.4 rebounds, won her second-team All-Ivy honors.

The Tigers' victories against Penn and Harvard put them alone at the top of the Ivy standings — much to the surprise of preseason forecasters, who had picked Princeton to finish last and Harvard and Penn to finish first and second, respectively.

The Tigers' moment at the top was short-lived, however. Beginning with its first matchup against Dartmouth, Princeton fell into a scoring drought that lasted for four straight games.

Against the Big Green, Princeton made 35 percent of its shots, while Dartmouth drained 60 percent. Against Columbia, the Tigers' shooting got worse, falling to 32 percent. They shot a mere 30 percent against Cornell and improved only slightly to 33 percent against Brown.

Yale brought Princeton's Ivy losing streak to five in the following game. The Tigers did, however, finally break out of their scoring slump. They scored 80 points in an overtime thriller in front of a record crowd of 3,067 at Jadwin Gym.

Princeton dropped the following three games against Dartmouth, Harvard and Yale, extending its losing streak to nine.

With four games left to play, the Tigers decided it was time to rally. They played spoiler against Brown with a 60-53 win and knocked off Cornell, thanks to hot shooting from Schaeffer, Bolster, Cahill and Lane.

Princeton was not able to hold on to its winning streak against Columbia, who dealt Princeton its ninth and final Ivy loss of the season. But the game was a gripping one, marked by 18 lead changes and 11 ties and ending in overtime, 73-72. For the second-straight night, Princeton tied the school record for three-pointers made with 13 — five of them from Schaeffer.

In its final game of the season against rival Penn, Princeton, once again, had its fans on the edges of their seats. Lane, with 30 points, was the star of the game. Her two clutch free-throws edged out Penn 66-65, giving the Tigers the sweep.

"We are more concerned about changing the team culture and building a sense of excellence than we are with trying to quantify what our total should be this season," Barron said before the season started.

Mission accomplished.