Young Tiger team tips off against St. Joe's tonight

If the result of past meetings are the basis for predicting the outcome of the women's basketball game against St. Joseph's on Friday, Princeton faces an uphill battle. The Hawks have claimed the last six games over the Tigers. But as with any statistic, context is important — the last time Princeton faced Saint Joseph's was in the 1982-83 season when the majority of this team's members were not even born.

The Tigers, ranked third in the preseason Ivy League poll, will face a team looking to prove itself at home in Philadelphia. Ranked eighth in the Atlantic Ten Conference, the Hawks are led by head coach and St. Joseph's alumna Cindy Griffin, who, like Princeton's head coach Richard Barron, now enters her fifth season.

Despite the Tigers' high league ranking, Princeton has a lot to prove as well — especially with five new freshmen of its own, including starting point guard Jessica Berry.

"We're certainly optimistic about the season, but we're still young," Barron said. "We haven't proven anything yet. We haven't won yet."

An early win would snap the losing streak that carried over from last season when the Tigers fell to Cornell, Harvard and Dartmouth in their last three games. Victory would also give Princeton a boost at the start of its opening 14-game, non-league stint.

Leading the Tiger attack from tipoff will be senior center Becky Brown, who currently sits at 10th on the all-time scoring list, and senior guard Katy O'Brien, who ranks ninth all-time for both assists and shots from behind the arc.

In addition to the seniors, sophomore forward Meaghan Cowher and junior forward Casey Lockwood return to the starting lineup. Both start this season at full strength after battling with injuries last season. Along with Brown and O'Brien, they will provide Berry with an experienced and healthy arsenal of veteran talent as she directs the offense.

"I felt like I've been on a young team my whole time here," O'Brien said. "It's kind of always been more or less excuses [for our performance, such as] 'oh, we've always been young.' This year we have a solid team from top to bottom ... [Barron] really wants us to be a self-running team."

Lockwood and O'Brien will look to run the team both through their play and through their official leadership role on the team as two of the three captains, along with senior Ali Smith.

St. Joseph's boasts the 21st-best recruiting class in the nation this season, welcoming five freshmen who will look to the Hawks' three experienced captains — seniors Maura McBryan and Faith Schutte and junior Ayahna Cornish — for guidance.

McBryan, last year's team MVP and Most Improved Player, stepped up her overall game last season and averaged 8.8 points per game. As the team's recipient of the Most Inspirational Award both her freshman and sophomore seasons, her leadership role transcends just her ability to hit shots. McBryan will be complemented by Schutte, who played her strongest season on record last year, averaging more than six points per contest.

To keep St. Joseph's under control, however, Princeton will need to contain Cornish, a Philadelphia native who recorded an impressive 18.8 ppg last season and was named the team's Best Offensive Player for her efforts in the backcourt.

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Along with the captains, St. Joseph's also has depth throughout the classes of players, including freshman forward Brittany Ford, junior guard Whitney Ffrench and sophomore guard Timisha Gomez, who saw time in every contest last season.

"St. Joe's is going to be a very tough first opponent," Barron said. "They are athletic and drive the ball hard. We think that Gomez and Pollack will be the two players that could give us trouble along with a quick point guard — Ffrench."

The Tigers, however, are more than ready to counter the Hawks' depth with their own and defy history by defeating St. Joseph's for the first time in more than a quarter century.