Strong rebounding yields second win versus St. Francis

The women's basketball team succeeds when it's free to run the floor, but over the past week, Princeton (2-6 overall) has seen that approach deliver mixed results.

The Tigers out-rebounded St. Francis (2-4) en route to a 63-55 win on Thursday, but then stalled in the second half against Duquesne (4-3) on Saturday and fell, 58-71.

For a change, the Tigers had to look for points from someone other than senior forward Meagan Cowher. The co-captain scored only 23 combined points in those games, a step down from her recent achievements, which included 32 points in Princeton's loss to Lafayette on Nov. 24.

Against the Cougars on Thursday, junior guard Caitlin O'Neill and senior forward Ali Prichard stepped in to fill Cowher's shoes, netting 14 and 16 points, respectively. O'Neill's total was a career best.

On Saturday, though, no one volunteered to spearhead the Tiger offense. The Dukes took advantage of the disorganized, lackluster Princeton squad and opened up a solid lead after halftime, and to the end the Tigers could not find a way to fight back.

Head coach Courtney Banghart admitted that Cowher's performances over the last week were not the norm.

" Poor Meg — Meg never struggles; she's superhuman," Banghart said. "But [when she does struggle], we have to be able to have alternate scorers to pick up the slack."

O'Neill and Prichard proved to be those alternates Thursday, showing their mettle from outside the arc. A three-pointer from O'Neill nine minutes, 25 seconds into play thrust the Tigers into the lead for the first time, but St. Francis capitalized on back-to-back turnovers soon after, and a three-point goal from the Cougars' Tiffany Hill put her team back on top, 20-17.

For the last seven minutes of the half, O'Neill and Prichard battled to keep Princeton within range, scoring two three-pointers each to combat the team's five turnovers in same time period. By the buzzer, though, the Tigers had reaped their rewards; the score read 33-31 in Princeton's favor.

Determined to keep the Cougars off their backs, the Tigers hit the ground running in the second half, tearing away on a 16-2 run in the opening 7:06 of play. Cowher and Prichard owned the glass, combining for 10 rebounds in the second half alone.

The Cougars' free-throw percentage tanked as St. Francis went three-for-nine at the foul line, crippling any comeback attempt, and the Tigers came out eight points ahead by the buzzer.

The game against Duquesne on Saturday started out like Princeton's previous game — the Dukes held the lead over the Tigers for nearly nine minutes. Coming off a media timeout, though, freshman Addie Micir took the initiative and drove the ball into the paint for a layup, putting Princeton up 11-10.

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Those kinds of drives, however, were rare. Duquesne's tight coverage often frustrated the Tigers, forcing them to keep passing the ball around the arc as set plays failed to generate opportunities.

"We get most of our points in transition," O'Neill said. "We have to fall back on set plays if that doesn't work — it's our goal not to run them."

Defensively, Princeton struggled to clamp down on the Duke duo of Kristi Little and Jade Singleton. Despite the Princeton pep band's jeering, Little, the five-foot, four-inch point guard, played effectively against her taller opponents, scoring 13 points and snaking nine assists around the Tiger defense. Most of these bounced directly to Singleton in the post, who drove 23 points home for Duquesne that night.

Beset on both sides of the court, Princeton nonetheless held its own for most of the first half, buoyed by six three-pointers from Prichard, Micir and freshman guard Shelbie Pool. The Dukes only pulled ahead with 3:10 to go, and their late 7-3 run left the Tigers trailing 28-35 at the halftime buzzer.

In the second half, Princeton tried to alter the game to fit its fast-break style, instituting a full-court press and, in the last six minutes, assigning freshman guard Krystal Hill to shadow Little. While Hill managed to shut down Duquesne's point guard considerably, Princeton's offense remained disorganized and unable to sustain a counterattack.

Four Princeton fouls in the last two minutes of play only helped the Dukes widen the gap, as they netted seven free throws to trump the Tigers, 71-58.

Princeton will play again on Dec. 5, facing NJIT in Newark, N.J. If the Tigers can pull themselves together and step up their transition offense, Princeton may have a shot at another win.