Out of title hunt, Tigers play on

Though at Princeton it often seems as if only the very best are rewarded, losing sight of the Ivy League title has not stripped the women's basketball team of its drive heading into the last weekend of conference play.

The Tigers (11-14 overall, 5-6 Ivy League) head out on the road to face Brown (5-21, 3-9) tonight at 7 p.m. in Providence, R.I., and Yale (11-15, 4-8) at 7 p.m. tomorrow in New Haven, Conn. They will wrap up the season at home against Penn next Tuesday.

With last weekend's loss to Harvard, Princeton is tied with Penn for fourth place in the league, out of the running for the Ivy title that it tied for last season. Harvard is one win away from securing first place, with a league record of 10-1. While the title is out of sight for the Tigers, they hope to use the end of the season to move up in the rankings.

"We're looking to win all three, one at a time," head coach Richard Barron said. "We'd like to finish our season on a positive note and improve our standing in the league."

Princeton swept Brown and Yale when the teams faced off in Jadwin earlier this season. If it wins both games this weekend, it will mark just the second time the Tigers have swept all four games against the Bears and Bulldogs since the beginning of double round-robin play in 1983.

"Our game plan will be the same," Barron said. "Rebounding and turnovers will still be a point of emphasis, and both Yale and Brown will pressure the ball defensively."

In its last meeting against the Bulldogs, Princeton was out-shot and out-rebounded but still held the lead for the majority of the game. The last time the Tigers faced the Bears, they led from start to finish and junior forward Meagan Cowher nailed her 1,000th career point.

Now Cowher has a few more personal milestones in reach. She is currently the leading scorer in the Ivy League this season, with an average of 17.9 points per game. At 447 points for the season, she also has a chance to match the Tigers' single-season scoring record of 480 points set by Sandi Bittler '90 in the 1989 season.

"Personal achievements will be the last thing on my mind as we enter our last weekend of Ivy League play," Cowher said. "Our focus is on getting our seniors three more wins so that they can end their amazing careers here at Princeton on a positive note."

One of those seniors, Casey Lockwood, is en route to ending the season on a personal high. Scoring in double digits in the last five games, Lockwood has the longest such streak of the season. She and Cowher both had double-doubles against Dartmouth, the first time all season that two Tigers have had double-doubles in the same game.

While neither the Bulldogs nor the Bears have a chance at the title, they both have reasons to play hard this weekend. Saturday will be the last home game for Yale's seniors. Senior Erica Davis currently leads the Ivy League in three categories: rebounding with 9.2, blocks with 2.4 and field goal percentage at .530. After tying Princeton and Dartmouth for first place in the league last season, Brown will now be looking to move out of last place, where it sits just one game behind Columbia and Yale.

"It can be tough playing these games, knowing that they have no bearing on post season competition," Cowher said. "But this is a great group of competitive girls, and we want to win now just as much as we did back in October."

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The Tigers are not where they would like to be in wins and losses, but a strong end to the season will bode well for next year's team. With just three games left, against three teams Princeton has already beaten this season, the Tigers have a chance to go out with a bang.