Basketball coaches constantly preach the importance of beginning games with second-half intensity, and this weekend the women's basketball team (10-11 overall, 4-3 Ivy League) found out the rough consequences of a flatfooted start.
With the three best teams in the Ivy League playing one another, the weekend unfolded as a chance for any of the three to firmly establish itself atop the league standings, but cold shooting and early turnovers doomed the Tigers. In both Friday night's 80-57 loss to Harvard (8-12, 6-1) and Saturday night's 75-46 defeat at Dartmouth (11-10, 5-2), Princeton allowed its opponents to develop early leads that the Tigers were unable to overcome.
Early in the game against the Crimson, Harvard broke a 6-6 tie by firing off 16 straight points. In that stretch the Tigers were held scoreless for more than six minutes of play, and the large deficit forced Princeton to change its strategy for the remainder of the contest. The lead was cut to seven points a little later in the period, but Harvard reopened a 16-point lead by halftime.
In the first half alone, the Tigers committed 11 turnovers, and well over half of Harvard's points came as a result of those giveaways. To compound its problems, the team struggled on the offensive end as well, shooting just 26 percent, eight of 31, from the floor.
Princeton picked up its play in the second half and took better care of the ball, but the lead Harvard had built in the first 20 minutes proved to be too large to overcome. Forced to play catchup until the final whistle, the Tigers were unable to get within 10 and the Crimson cruised to the 23-point victory.
Senior forward Meagan Cowher and sophomore guard Jessica Berry paced the Tigers with 14 and 13 points, respectively, but their production was not enough to overcome the strong play of their Harvard opponents, who had four players in double figures.
For the game, the Tigers shot just 36 percent from the field and committed a total of 21 turnovers, the most they have given up in all of their Ivy League games. From those 21 turnovers came 35 Crimson points, much more than the final point difference. Perhaps the worst area for Princeton, however, was its shooting from behind the arc, where the team went just five for 23.
In comparison, Harvard shot 44 percent and allowed only 16 giveaways. The Crimson also controlled the glass, an aspect of the game that Princeton head coach Richard Barron said would be crucial in beating one of the biggest teams in the league. In all, the Tigers were out-rebounded, 42-36, undoubtedly a critical contribution to the loss. Controlling the boards both eliminates second-chance points for an opponent and allows a team multiple shots per possession, and the Tigers were unable to accomplish either Friday night.
Following the Harvard loss, the team drove to Hanover, N.H., to take on Dartmouth, the two-time defending Ivy League champion and preseason favorite to win the crown for a third straight year.
Princeton stayed with the Big Green for a majority of the first half, but as it did the night before, a long scoring drought doomed the Tigers. Down 14-16 with a little under seven minutes left in the first half, Dartmouth went on a 10-0 run to take the lead for good. The Tigers, scoreless in over four straight minutes of play for the second game in a row, struggled to regain composure following the run and went into halftime down 31-19.
Princeton cut the lead to nine early in the second half, but that was the closest the score would be for the rest of the game. The Big Green went on a 9-0 run shortly thereafter, eventually winning 75-46. The 29-point deficit was the worst loss against Dartmouth in Princeton's history.
Senior forward Casey Lockwood's 12 points led Princeton, who fell victim to the Ivy League's second-best defense. Cowher, the Tigers' leading scorer on the year, was held to just nine points, her lowest total this season.
The two losses dropped Princeton from first to fourth in the Ivy League standings, with one game against every team still yet to be played. Harvard, at 6-1, is currently alone in first, with Dartmouth at 5-2 and Cornell at 5-3 close behind.
The Tigers will look to bounce back next weekend as they travel to Cornell on Friday night and then to Columbia on Saturday night.
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