W. hoops sweep Ivy competition

O'Brien summarized it, "We played to win verses playing not to lose."

Princeton swept both its Ivy League opponents this weekend with wins over Brown, 66-53, and Yale, 66-58 at Jadwin Gymnasium.

The Tigers (5-11 overall, 2-1 Ivy League) started Saturday off with an upset of Brown (9-8, 2-2), pulling it down from its No. 1 standing in the Ivy League. The Bears had won their past seven games prior to their defeat by Princeton, two against Ivy League competition.

Brown was led by senior forward Nyema Mitchell who averages 14.8 points per game and senior point guard Tanara Golston with 11.5 points per contest. Golston also leads the league with 7.5 assists per game. But the Tigers knew that to win this game, they would need to do more than just contain these two players.

"We have been focusing on competing for 40 minutes and playing with confidence and consistency," O'Brien said.

Freshman Katy Digovich started things off for Princeton by scoring the first five points of the game. After hitting a three, Digovich immediately stole the ball and took it in for a layup before the Bears had even gotten the ball down to the Tigers' side of the court.

In the first four minutes of the game, all five Tigers managed to put in a bucket. In the first half, sophomore guard Ali Smith and freshman guard Katy O'Brien combined to make five of nine shots from behind the arc while Golston made the lone three-pointer on the Bears' six attempts. Mitchell, Brown's highest scorer, was held to just four points for the half.

Brown also managed to miss seven of its first nine shots and turn the ball over 10 times in the first 12 minutes of the game. The Tigers forced 16 turnovers throughout the course of the game.

"We knew their style of game," Smith said. "We stopped them on offense. We stopped them on defense. We stuck to our game plan and executed it well."

The second half, the Bears came out with renewed vigor but were still unable to penetrate the Princeton man-to-man defense. Nor were they able to prevent the Tigers from going on their own offensive runs. Mitchell, held to just four points in the first half, scored 15 more points in the second half.

For Princeton, there was no one player that made this win possible. Five Tiger players hit double figures.

Lockwood finished with 16 points for the game and tied a previous career high of 11 rebounds, making this her fifth double-double of the season.

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O'Brien was the top scorer, with 21 points, 14 of which came in the first half. Digovich had a season high 14 rebounds and contributed seven points and five assists.

Sophomore post guard Becky Brown and Smith also had 11 and 10 points, respectively, to push the Tigers to the win over the Bears.

In the battle against Yale (3-14, 0-4), it was O'Brien who started things rolling with back-to-back three-pointers. Much like the game with the Bears, the Elis ran into difficulty with the Tiger defense. Princeton forced six turnovers in the first six minutes of the game. Yale ended up committing 24 turnovers by the end of the game.

Smith said, "They play really fast, and they're excellent three-point shooters. We knew we had to get out at the shooters."

The Elis made six of 14 attempts from the three-point line, three by junior Morgan Richards. Richards led the team in points and rebounds with 11 and seven, respectively.

For the Tigers, O'Brien made three of six attempts from behind the arc and Smith made two of three in the first half to give Princeton a 33-25 lead at the break.

Yale came out strong at the break, making 14 points in the first seven minutes to give the Bulldogs their only lead of the game, 39-37.

But the Tigers were not content to watch their win go out the door. Digovich rebounded the ball and took it down the court. She missed a jumper but managed to get the rebound only to miss the layup as well. Brown got the rebound and made a layup to tie the game up again. A jumper by Digovich and a layup from Lockwood nailed the coffin on the Bulldogs' first and last lead of the game.

Richards scored all 11 of her points in the second half of the game while trying to make a late-minute rally but was rebutted every time. "We played 40 minutes both nights. When they made a little bit of a run, we responded," Smith said.

Brown led the Tigers in scoring with 18 points, followed closely by Lockwood with 15 points and 10 rebounds. This is her sixth double-double of the season and second of the weekend. O'Brien and Smith finished with 12 and 10 points, repectively. Digovich contributed nine points and four assists.

In both games, the Tigers did not let up. They played a full 40-minute game and every player contributed to make it happen. With these wins, Princeton is in good position to carry the momentum into next weekend's conference play against No. 1 Dartmouth.