Cowher, women's basketball show signs of bright future

If the women's basketball team walked away from the 2004-05 season muttering "wait 'til next year," it's hard to blame them.

In head coach Richard Barron's fourth season at the helm, the Tigers (13-14 overall, 5-9 Ivy League) were still undeniably in the midst of an oft-painful rebuilding process. But this year's Princeton squad exceeded expectations — finishing fifth in the league after preseason polls picked it seventh — and showed flashes of brilliance and promise.

Perhaps no performance boded better for the future than that turned in by freshman forward Meagan Cowher en route to earning the Ivy League's Rookie of the Year award. After posting a double-double in her very first college game, Cowher went on to earn Ivy Rookie of the Week honors four times. A stress fracture ended her season six games prematurely, but she still finished second on the team in scoring (11.1 ppg) and rebounding (4.8 rpg). She was joined on the All-Rookie team by forward Ariel Rogers, who emerged as a talented scoring threat after Cowher's injury afforded her increased playing time. While Cowher's rookie season drew the most attention, including mention in Sports Illustrated — perhaps thanks in part to the fact that her father, Bill, is the Pittsburgh Steelers' head coach — it was an inside-outside junior tandem that formed the Tigers' steady core. Center Becky Brown led the team in scoring (13.8 ppg) and rebounding (6.7) for a third straight year, earning second team All-Ivy honors, thanks in large part to the deft passing of point guard Katy O'Brien, an honorable mention All-Ivy player. O'Brien also showed drastic improvement in her long-range shooting this season, making opponents pay for double-teaming Brown and Cowher by draining over 40 percent of her shots from beyond the arc.

Middle of the Pack

After opening their season 2-5, including losses to Wake Forest and Georgia Tech, the Tigers rebounded to string together a six-game winning streak in late December and January.

But that momentum didn't quite carry into the Ivy League season. In the season opener, the Tigers suffered a heartbreaking 63-62 loss to Brown on a free throw with two seconds remaining on the clock. After rebounding to beat Yale, Princeton dropped another heartbreaker, falling to Penn in double-overtime after Cowher missed a chance to tie it at the free throw line.

The Tigers then dropped a weekend set to Ivy powers Harvard and Dartmouth, before winning three of four to climb back into the league race. But Princeton dropped four of its final five games, dropping the team into the middle of the Ivy standings. That stretch was marked by the absence of sophomore starting forward Katy Digovich, who was kicked off the team by Barron. Digovich declined to disclose the reason for her dismissal and told the 'Prince' she's unsure whether she'll play for the team next season.

With or without Digovich, the Tigers appear poised to make the leap into the upper half of the league standings next year, after inking another strong recruiting class. It's about time, Orange and Black faithful would agree, for "next year" to finally arrive.

— Staff writer Steve Armenti contributed reporting to this article.