After easy win over Centenary, women's hoops hosts Sacred Heart

On Wednesday night, the women's basketball team showed that it was unshaken after a tough weekend in California that included a 95-39 loss to Stanford and a 70-40 loss to Temple.

The offensive struggles in California were shrugged off as the Tigers, led by senior guard Allison Cahill's 28 points, soundly defeated Centenary, 97-69. That night, the offense found the rhythm and consistency that had been eluding Princeton.

"We started the game pretty well," Cahill said. "We got back on our heels, and never let up, pushing every aspect of attack. Our posts were playing well, and because our posts played well, it opened up things on the outside."

Tomorrow night, when Sacred Heart (2-1 overall) comes to Jadwin Gym, the Tigers will try to continue to play like the Princeton team that stepped out on the court Wednesday night.

After starting off the season with a 74-48 loss to UMass, Sacred Heart has also turned things around recently. In the game against UMass, the Pioneers shot a measly 33 percent from the field and were outrebounded 44-27.

Since then the Pioneers have been playing solid basketball, beating Lafayette, 75-70, and Albany, 67-63, to build a two-game winning streak coming into tomorrow night's contest.

At a glance, the Sacred Heart team shares many similarities with the Princeton team, which will result in an evenly matched game. Both teams run fast-paced offenses that frequently rely on the three-pointer. So far this season, Sacred Heart has taken an average of 17 three-point shots per game, just one shy of Princeton's average of 18 per game. In addition, both teams are not particularly tall and struggle with rebounding. The Pioneers have only two players on the roster that top six feet, and have outrebounded only one opponent in their three games.

The Tigers have historically had some trouble on the boards, with mixed results this season. In all three of their wins, the Tigers have been on top in the rebounding game, outrebounding opponents by a combined 122-90. In their three losses, however, the Tigers have been crushed in the rebounding department. This was highlighted by the record-tying game at Stanford, where the Cardinal outrebounded the Tigers 62-27.

Freshman forward Rebecca Brown has been taking large steps in filling the role of a strong post player for the Tigers. In the past two games, Brown has brought down 17 rebounds and scored 38 points. Brown will continue to improve as she gets more familiar with college basketball, and has the potential to be a driving force in the Tiger offense.

Not to be outdone, the Pioneers also boast a freshman prospect that has shown great promise in the early season. In her college debut at UMass, guard Nicolle Rubino went 4-7 from three-point range, scoring a team-high 15 points. Rubino has continued to get a good deal of playing time, and has proven to be a threat from three-point range.

Rubino shoots threes alongside fellow guard Ashley Durmer, who is 8-18 on the year from outside the arc. Her 119 three-pointers made in her college career puts her at fifth in Sacred Heart's history.

The powerhouse of the Pioneer team is forward Brooke Kelly, who just recently surpassed the 1,000-point mark in her fourth year of college basketball. Kelly is the proud owner of an 11-game double digit scoring streak.

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The Tiger defense has been consistent this season, and should continue in tonight's game. The question for the Tigers is whether they can play like they did Wednesday night.

While this task may be especially hard for Cahill, who tallied 28 points and six rebounds in the win, the offense as a whole has a good chance of continuing its play that confounded Centenary.

"Our shot selection was great last night," sophomore guard Karen Bolster said.

"We've been focusing a lot on the offensive switch during practice. The offense has really improved."

Against Centernary, the Tigers were able to create high percentage shots from all parts of the court. They showed a consistency on offense, and good court sense in making cuts.

Now they must do it again on Saturday night.