Five straight wins for streaking w. basketball

With so many positives to focus on heading into a 20-day break from games, the women's basketball team has one very large reason to feel confident: the Tigers finally beat a winning team.

The streaking Tigers (7-5 overall) won their fifth straight game on Wednesday night at Jadwin Gym, thoroughly dominating the Black Knights of Army (6-6) in the second half en route to a 64-53 victory capped by a stellar 23-point effort from junior forward Becky Brown. The win means the team has already equalled its win total from all of last season.

It had been, until now, a season in which Princeton had beaten up on some bad teams and lost games to the better ones. The Tigers entered the Army game knowing that the combined record of the teams from its six victories thus far was just 11-51, a pitiful .177 winning percentage. Four of those wins came against teams with a combined 2-39 record (.049).

None of it mattered on Wednesday night, however, as the Tigers used a potent mix of strong rebounding and perimeter defense to shut down a Black Knight team that had no answer for Princeton on either side of the ball in the second half.

"We have a new attitude," Brown said. "We have [a confident] approach, and that's led to success."

Part of this new approach has been a rededication to crashing the boards. In the Army game, the Tigers outrebounded the Black Knights, 43-34, getting a game-high 12 from freshman forward Meagan Cowher and nine from Brown. Cowher added 19 points to tally a double-double and played the entire 40 minutes.

The team also cut its turnover tally significantly. Princeton had a positive assists-to-turnovers ratio for just the third time this season, with 14 assists against just 11 turnovers. It was the Tigers' second lowest turnover total of the season. Junior forward Katy O'Brien had a team-high six assists to go with six rebounds.

More than anything, however, the team's recent success has been due to a strong commitment to an interior presence, of which Brown's scoring surge has been the most evident indication. Early in the season Princeton relied heavily on three-point shooting, often living or dying by their success from beyond the arc. Wednesday night, however, the Tigers attempted just five shots from long range in the second half, making one, and still scored a healthy 37 points for the period.

For the game Brown shot 11-for-16 from the field, and she credited her teammates for getting her shots despite some earlier struggles.

"I was missing some shots [in earlier games]," she said, "but I've had a lot more confidence the last couple games and I'm getting a lot more shots."

While so much has been going right for the team recently, Princeton now must gear up for an opponent it has little control over: the calendar. The Tigers won't play another game until a Jan. 25 matchup against Lafayette. That game will be their last before the start of Ivy League play. If Princeton can maintain its momentum, Brown believes the team can contend for the title.

"If we win our next game, we enter [league play] with the best overall record," Brown said.

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And, in a sign that winning breeds anticipation, Brown succinctly summed up the mood of her team: "We are really looking forward to the Ivy League season."