Strong second half helps Tigers take down Yale on senior night

Emotion was the theme of the night on Saturday when the Princeton women's basketball team took the court against Yale for Senior Night. With Ivy League action coming to a close and Princeton in the heat of the race, the team had to rein in their emotions to pull off another win, pulling it together in the second half to top Yale 67-52 at Jadwin Gym.

While the significance of the match-up was moderate compared to the intensity of Friday night's game between the Tigers (20-6 overall, 11-2 Ivy League) and Brown, everything was still on the line, and the Bulldogs (3-24, 2-12) were not going to make it easy. Even though Yale is currently in last place in the Ivy League, the Bulldogs came ready to fight. Putting the pressure on early, it was not until four minutes into the second half that Princeton hit its stride, finally using its emotions and getting some support from a previously quiet crowd to help push past Yale.

The night started with a tearful ceremony where seniors were presented with flowers and pictures to commemorate their Princeton basketball careers before their last weekend home game. Both senior center Becky Brown and senior guard Katy O'Brien referred to the experience as "surreal."

Perhaps those thoughts were still overshadowing their concentration at first,because the Tigers began the game flat, whereas Yale came out firing on all cylinders. Starting out strong in the first few minutes and playing very physically under the basket, the Bulldogs were on the attack. They sent Princeton's top two scorers, Brown and sophomore forward Meagan Cowher, to the bench with two personal fouls each less than four minutes into the game.

The Tigers now had to face the task of regrouping. Freshman center Julia Berger and sophomore forward Ariel Rogers were called on to replace Brown and Cowher, a role which freshman guard Caitlin O'Niell also helped to fill. As their offense became based more on perimeter shots and drives to the basket, the Tigers watched as their shots bounced out or got lost on the way in the paint.

"Every couple of games you can expect not to be amazing," said Brown, referring to the slow start in the first half as just a normal part of the course of the season.

The Tigers, however, were not going to roll over and let this game slip away from them. They battled throughout the first half, taking advantage of what opportunities they could, particularly at the foul line.

They went 10-13, 76.9 percent, from the line, while Yale only got four points off of free-throws in the first half. The Tigers went into the locker room with a meager 24-22 lead thanks to a baseline drive by freshman guard Jessica Berry that fell as the buzzer went off.

O'Brien sparks offense

But even the halftime break didn't spark the Tigers. Yale never regained the lead after the half, but they stayed in the game through the first four minutes until O'Brien's first three of the game finally fell. After missing two three-point attempts in the first half, O'Brien's three was the boost the Tiger's needed.

The Tigers suddenly found all of the holes in Yale's defense. With Cowher back in the game and leading the attack with O'Brien, they ran consecutive backdoor cuts with precise passes leading to easy layups.

But the players weren't the only ones getting intense. As Yale called a timeout to try and quell the 14-2 Tiger run, Head Coach Richard Barron was on his feet, pumping his hands to try to get the crowd into the game. Jadwin Gym, like the Tigers, had been quiet all night, and Barron was not going to let this opportunity go without getting the fans going to support his players.

And the Princeton fans responded. Suddenly, a once-dead crowd that had started to wake up with O'Brien and Cowher's offensive show began to cheer loudly. The spirit was back in the crowd and in the team.

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"It was dead in here," Barron said. "We just had to get something going and get the crowd going. Everyone's response was great."

The Tigers went up by as many as 21 points in the second half as everything seemed to come together for Princeton and fell apart for Yale. The Bulldogs' top player fouled out on a technical with 8:31 left in the game and the Princeton lead at 17.

The game that started so slowly turned into another display of Princeton's talent. In addition to the key performance by O'Brien, who finished the night with 15 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 assists, all of the seniors got to play.

Brown, who returned with a presence in the second half and aided the Princeton rally with a three-point play and strong drives into the basket, finished the night with 11 points and five rebounds when she fouled out 3:54 left in the game.

Seniors see action

Co-captain senior guard Ali Smith and senior forward Lauren Nestor made appearances toward the end of the second half and received strong applause upon their departure from their last weekend home game for all of the hard work throughout their four years on the team.

While the night started out a little shaky, the Tigers were finally able to use their emotions to put on quite a performance in the last 16 minutes of the game.

With the win, they tie the school record for both the most total wins and most Ivy League wins ever. They go into Tuesday night's game with the possibility of breaking that record and entering into a tie for the Ivy title with Brown and Dartmouth if they are able to beat Penn for a second time this season.