Title road runs through Dartmouth

Nearly one month ago, the women's basketball team (10-9 overall, 4-1 Ivy League) suffered a tough 70-66 loss at home to Cornell (8-11, 4-2). The game was only the team's third Ivy League matchup and the last before its three-week Intersession break. The Tigers had mounted a strong push back into the game that barely fell short, but regardless, it was not the result any team wants to take into a long break.

Fast-forward a month, where the streaking Tigers are now in a tie with Harvard (6-12, 4-1) for first place in the Ivy League. Princeton's skill and determination may not have been evident watching it play against the Big Red, but if the rest of the Ivy League did not take notice then, it has certainly noticed by now.

"Our intensity and focus improved after the Cornell loss," said head coach Richard Barron, whose team came back from the break with an impressive, 83-73 victory over Yale (10-10, 3-3) and an 18-point thrashing of Brown (3-17, 1-5).

A large part of Princeton's success this season has been due to the stellar play of junior forward Meagan Cowher, whose 19.5 points per game leads all Ivy League scorers.

"Meg is a great scorer around the basket and with the midrange shot," Barron said of the six-foot, one-inch junior. "She has proven to be very reliable in her role as a scorer and with our offense, it is tough for [opposing] teams to double team her."

Last weekend against Brown, Cowher scored her 1,000th collegiate point, a tribute not only to her success this year but also to the work she put in as a freshman and sophomore. She has twice been named Ivy League Player of the Week, and this season she has yet to score fewer than 22 points in an Ivy League match.

There is no question that Cowher has been the Tigers' strongest player this year, but basketball is a team game, and Cowher would not be where she is right now if it weren't for her teammates, who are quietly fueling Princeton's drive. Senior forward Casey Lockwood is currently fourth in the Ivy League in field-goal percentage, sophomore guard Jessica Berry is fifth in assists, and junior forward Ali Prichard is the league's second-best three-point shooter.

"We need everyone to play well [to win]" Barron said. "We have to have production from at least three or four of Prichard, Lockwood, [sophomore forward Whitney] Downs, Berry, and [sophomore guard Caitlin] O'Neill, [junior center Ariel] Rogers and [sophomore center Julia] Berger."

So far this season, Barron has received the production he is looking for. Cowher has led the team in scoring in its last six games, but in that same stretch, the Tigers have had four different players finish second in the scoring column.

This weekend will be crucial for Princeton, as it faces off against the only two Ivy League teams that it has yet to play: the perennially tough Harvard Crimson and the preseason-favorite Dartmouth Big Green (9-10, 3-2).

Friday night's match against Harvard will mark more than just a showdown between the Ivy League's top two teams. The Tigers and Crimson also boast the top two offenses — the Tigers averaging 66.8 points per game to Harvard's 66.1 — and both are among the league leaders in rebounding and field-goal defense.

Harvard started the season 1-10, but behind the superior guard play of sophomore Emily Tay, the Crimson has won five of its last seven games. To shut down Tay, the Tigers will need to continue doing the small things that have been instrumental in their success this season. This means controlling the boards, both offensively and defensively, and protecting the ball. Handling rebounds cuts down on opponents' second chance points, while limiting turnovers gives the Tigers more opportunities to score.

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Following the Harvard game, the Tigers will pack and head up to Hanover, N.H., for their Saturday night showdown with the Big Green. Dartmouth has won the Ivy League crown the last two years and was expected to repeat that performance this season, but — like Harvard — struggled early. After starting a dismal 2-8, the Big Green has picked up steam and heads into this weekend having won seven of its last nine contests.

Princeton will have its hands full with Dartmouth senior guard Ashley Taylor, the league's second-leading scorer, but Barron knows that if they play to their potential, the Tigers will prevail.

"We must control the easy buckets that come from penetration, low post position and offensive boards," Barron said in reference to the keys to the game. If that happens, the Dartmouth defense — statistically the best in the league — will have a long night.

A sweep this weekend would put the Tigers in sole possession of first place in the Ivy League and leave them in prime position to start the second half of the season, but as Barron is quick to point out, there are still nine games left on the schedule and in that time, anything can happen.

"[Returning with one or two wins] would be terrific, but there are still a lot of games to be played," Barron said. "We just have to take everything one game at a time."