Penn tops Princeton

Everything that went right against Yale last Friday went wrong Tuesday night against the Quakers, who handed the Tiger women's basketball team a 58-50 loss at the Palestra.

Princeton (12-11 overall, 4-6 Ivy League) ultimately lost the game on poor free throw shooting and an inability to control Penn's offense in the last eight minutes of the second half. The Tigers led by nine, 36-27, with 15 minutes, 12 seconds to play but saw their lead evaporate into an eight-point deficit by the end of the game.

From tipoff, the first half was wild. Penn (13-10, 6-4) gained a 10-2 lead before a three by freshman guard Ali Prichard started the Tigers on an 8-2 run to close in on the Quakers. From then until the end of the half, the two teams played back-and-forth ball, with the Tigers trailing Penn 24-23 at halftime.

Princeton came out blasting in the second half, starting out with a 13-3 run. Penn responded with an 11-2 run to tie the score at 38.

In a contest full of streaks, it was the game's final run that sealed the win for the Quakers — they went on a 15-4 streak to close the game.

In the end, Penn's lead proved insurmountable for the Tigers, who went scoreless in the last 1:18 of play. Though Princeton pulled within three points in the final minutes, 53-50, the Quakers earned the game's final five points. By quelling their opponent's offensive front, the Quakers were able to hang on for the 58-50 victory.

"We definitely didn't play up to our potential," Lockwood said.

Scoring was certainly not Princeton's strength Tuesday night. While the Tigers shot 43 percent from the field, Princeton's free throw shooting was particularly abysmal: the Tigers shot only 37 percent from the line, compared to Penn's 73 percent.

Moreover, Princeton, stifled by Penn's defense, took only 18 shots in the second half. The Quakers ended up scoring 22 points against the Tigers off turnovers alone, where Princeton only managed four points off Penn's turnovers.

"We missed our opportunity to pull away,? ," sophomore forward Casey Lockwood said. ?

"We let them back in it because we didn't make adjustments on defense, and everyone was looking for someone else to make a play instead of taking on that challenge themselves."?

Lockwood led the team with a season-high 14 points. Junior forward Becky Brown, playing in her first game since injuring her left ankle against Yale last Friday, added 12 points of her own. They were the only Tigers in double digits.

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Freshman guard Meagan Cowher also returned from the disabled list to contribute two points off the bench in Princeton's losing effort. Fellow freshman forward Ariel Rogers, who scored four points for the Orange and Black, got her second start for Princeton.

Princeton's players were clearly frustrated by the loss, which brings to mind memories of the game against Cornell two weekends ago in which Princeton nearly let the Big Red come back to win.

"We were all upset because none of us have ever won a game at the Palestra, and we definitely were in a position to [on Tuesday night]," Lockwood said.

The Tigers have been searching for consistency all season. After the past two-win weekend it looked as if Princeton might have found its stride, but it has proven elusive yet again. With four games left in the season, however, there is still work to be done.

"We have to move on from this loss quickly because this home weekend coming up is huge for us in terms of having a winning season and going .500 in the league, which would be a huge step for us as a program," Lockwood said.

The Tigers will face Columbia this Friday night at Jadwin Gym, looking to regain their momentum from the past weekend. With the teams tied at fifth place in the Ivy League, the game is sure to be hotly contested — both Princeton and the Lions are struggling to work their way up to the top half of league standings as the 2004-05 season draws to a close.