NCAA tournament is goal for Tigers

With the inception of the college basketball season rapidly approaching, the question dominating discussion has nothing to do with how the women's basketball team will fare this cold December. Rather, what everyone wants to know is this: Will this team be going to the Madness?

After all, when it comes to college basketball, March is king. Or queen, in this case.

Last season, Princeton put together a tremendous season, earning a portion of the Ivy League title. The Tigers' dreams of an NCAA berth were dashed, however, when Dartmouth overcame Princeton in a tiebreaker. Which leaves us with one question: can this year's team take the next step and earn a berth to the big dance for the first time since 1999?

The cast of characters that will be called upon to take the team to the next level is a seemingly incongruous mix of experience and naivete, of grizzled veterans and fresh youngsters.

Princeton will undoubtedly miss the presence of Becky Brown '06, the school's third-leading scorer of all-time. Members of the 1,000-point club are a rarity not easily replaced. The absence of guard Katy O'Brien '06 also leaves a large hole to be filled.

So, while the Tigers have suffered the departure of two amazingly talented players, they now also enjoy the boons of having a team with a bench nearly as long as the football team's.

Princeton returns 11 players and boasts a 17-deep roster. Because of their seemingly bottomless depth, one thing the Tigers won't have to do is play a lot of freshmen. "This might be the first year that we don't play a lot of freshmen, which is a good thing," head coach Richard Barron said.

With so many veterans on the squad, the rookies won't have to be rushed into service — instead, they can be eased into the swing of things. Among the freshmen recruits this year are guard Tani Brown, guard Lauren Cowher, forward Elizabeth Pietrzak, guard/forward Jillian Schurle and forward Cheryl Stevens.

The Tigers will be led by a quartet of hardworking seniors — captain and forward Casey Lockwood, guard Shelly Slemp, guard Elyse Umeda and guard Lillie Romeiser.

Those are the four reasons that Barron has for feeling optimistic about his team's chances to continue to improve upon last year's showing.

"I feel great about it. Casey Lockwood is our captain, and it's her third year as a captain," Barron said. "We've got Lillie Romeiser, Elyse Umeda and Shelly Slemp, who are three of the hardest workers you could ever have, as seniors. They set a great tone for all the others, and they are also very nurturing people, so they're great at bringing other kids along, helping other people do the drills, or learning the system or whatever it is."

A talented group of juniors complement the gritty seniors, led by the indomitable forward Meagan Cowher. She leads a class that is experienced and expected to earn plenty of playing time throughout the season.

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"In our junior class, we've got Meg Cowher, [forward] Ali Prichard and [center] Ariel Rogers, along with [forward] Katy Digovich — but especially those first three, who are veteran players now, who have great leadership qualities," Barron said.

Lockwood and Cowher will return to lead a very deep, experienced frontcourt. Last year, Cowher earned first-team All-Ivy honors after pouring in an average of 14.6 points per game. Lockwood contributed 7.5 points per game but also played a major role on the defensive end of the floor by coming up with 54 steals on the season, tops on the team.

Prichard and Digovich, who returns after taking a year off, will most likely earn large chunks of court time as well.

The backcourt is much more of a question mark for Princeton. Sophomore guard Jessica Berry will man the point for the Tigers this year. Replacing O'Brien at the other guard spot will be a tough task, but sophomore Caitlin O'Neill appears to be a strong contender for the job.

"I think the two players who have maybe looked the best of all right now are Caitlin O'Neal and Casey Lockwood," Barron said. "I think they were very motivated with what they did over the summer with their private work."

The Tigers have eight guards on their roster, so depth is not an issue. Slemp, Romeiser and Umeda have all been solid contributors at the guard position over the course of their careers at Princeton, so the likely scenario is that the first and second positions won't be dominated by a particular player.

Finally: who will replace Brown? An unbelievable presence at center last season, the Tigers are certainly left without a true, back-to-the-basket center on their squad. They certainly have the talent to develop one in sophomore center Julia Berger, but with regards to last season's squad, no one is currently able to step into that role.

Which leads into the most interesting change of the off-season: the offense. The most important change this year may not have been personnel-wise but rather philosophy-wise.

Princeton plans to run like crazy this season — and with good reason. "We have a very strong, capable point guard in Jessica Berry," Barron said. "We have a lot of depth at the guard and 4 positions, but we don't have a true back to the basket center. So what this does is it makes it tough to guard. Our offense looked very good, very difficult to defend in scrimmages."

The change will obviously lead to a transition period, a period where everything may not run as smoothly as it could. But that's one of the dangers with picking up a much more aggressive offense.

"When you increase the number of possessions as much as we're doing, you're going to increase turnovers, you're going to increase opportunities for the other team, you know," Barron said. "You're not trying to think your way through the game, you're just reacting, and for some players, once they've make that adjustment, they look great. Casey Lockwood, for example, looks fantastic."

To that effect, Barron foresees a well-balanced attack that can threaten the very best of defenses.

"It's not just the usual suspects — obviously, Meg Cowher is the one that everyone thinks of, but I think that we could easily have four or five players that average in double figures," Barron said.

The change forces a lot of adjustments for just about everyone on the team. Some players will feel very relaxed in the new system, Barron said, while others may require more time and effort to adjust.

The Tigers don't know at the moment how things will work out exactly — nor are they likely to know after tomorrow's season-opener against Wagner, or for a while after that. But for now, at least, it looks like there's a method to this madness.