Tigers fight to earn stripes at the stripe

There are no opponents to dribble by, no hands in the face, and the shot is the same every time. Then again, it's no layup. It's a free throw, a shot that the women's basketball team has struggled to make throughout the season.

Shooting only 58 percent from the stripe, Princeton (3-8) has been plagued all season by its inability to convert at the line. Having missed 66 of their 159 free throws over the season's first 11 games, the Tigers routinely give away points that they can't afford to lose.

"It's painful because free throws can make a significant difference in a game," senior captain and forward Ali Prichard said. "Because of our sub-par performance in that department thus far, it has become a point of emphasis."

The problem is particularly frustrating given that Princeton managed to shoot 67 percent from the charity stripe last season, a startling 11 percentage points higher than this season's clip.

Even looking at Princeton's individual returning players, there has been a significant decline in free-throw shooting since last year. Junior guard Caitlin O'Neill led last year's team with 87 percent free-throw shooting, missing only five of her 37 attempts. This year she has hit six of 12, only 50 percent.

Senior captain and forward Meagan Cowher made 70 percent of her free throws last season for Princeton. This year, despite being the only Tiger with a double-figure scoring average — 17.1 points per game — her free-throw rate is down considerably, to under 56 percent.

The drastic discrepancy in free-throw shooting over the last two years may be a mental as well as a physical problem.

"Free throws are about concentration, confidence and muscle memory," Cowher explained.

The Tigers clearly have the ability to be better free-throw shooters, but how can they reach that potential?

The effort starts in practice, where head coach Courtney Banghart has placed particular emphasis on free-throw shooting, but there is also responsibility on the shoulders of each individual player to shoot 100 free throws every week during free time.

In practice, Banghart punishes misses with conditioning and rewards successful attempts with water breaks. After running traditional shooting drills, Banghart puts her players in pressure situations, where they must hit free throws to earn a water break and avoid sprints for themselves and their teammates.

The first randomly selected player must shoot a one-and-one, which means that a second free throw is earned only if the first one is made. If the player misses the first shot, the entire team has to run two sprints down and back the length of the court. If the player makes the first free throw and misses second, then the team only has to run one down-and-back sprint. After each miss, a new player must toe the stripe, and the drill only ends when a player makes both free throws, at which point the team gets its water break.

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"[The drill] is a great way for us to work on making free throws under pressure, and also a great conditioner," Cowher said.

The free-throw and conditioning drill also simulates a game setting, when players are already tired from running up and down the court, and they have to focus particularly hard on their form to overcome exhaustion and hit their free throws.

The drills might be paying off. Wednesday night against No. 6 Rutgers (8-2), Princeton went to the line 15 times, nearly double the Scarlet Knights' eight attempts. The Tigers made 80 percent of those free throws, which nearly helped them pull off a huge upset in a game they ultimately lost by only five points, 53-48.

As conference games approach in January, free-throw shooting becomes even more important. An additional three or four made free throws, particularly at the end of a game, can easily be the difference between a win and a loss.