Penn, Princeton look to end streak

After losing five games during winter break, the women's basketball team hopes to end the streak when it really counts: in the first game of Ivy League play. Saturday evening, Princeton (3-13 overall) and Penn (3-11) will take to the court in Jadwin Gym, where the Tigers will fight to end a seven-game losing streak, their longest since 2004, and start two months of conference play with a victory over a great rival.

Princeton has a four-game winning streak over Penn, though the teams ended their seasons last year with identical 7-7 Ivy League records to tie for fourth place in the conference.

"It doesn't matter what Penn's strengths and weaknesses are, or what Princeton does well on either side of the ball — it's a rivalry game," head coach Courtney Banghart said. "And Penn-Princeton is one of the best rivalries in the sport. This game will come down to execution."

Though the Tigers have gone over a month without securing a win, they will defend their home court with relative confidence. They were within five points of their opponents in three of their last seven losses, with two of these tight finishes coming against Syracuse and Rutgers, both top-40 teams.

Penn is coming to Jadwin with an eight-game losing streak, and with the exception of last week's 53-49 loss to Lehigh, the Quakers have finished at least 12 points behind their opponent in each loss.

"We have been battle-tested with our non-conference schedule," Banghart said. "Playing the best is one thing, but learning from it is an entirely different challenge. We have to show ourselves and our opponents that we have learned from our difficult non-conference schedule and are ready to continue to evolve during the Ivy League season."

The Tigers have plenty to think about after last week's game against Vanderbilt. To say the least, the Commodores outplayed the Tigers on both offense and defense in their 81-48 win.

Senior forward Meagan Cowher led Princeton's offense with just 11 points, good enough to extend her streak of double-digit scoring to 19 straight games. Overall, Vanderbilt outshot the Tigers 61.1 percent to 31.5 percent.

Vanderbilt also out-rebounded the Tigers, 38 to 21. The Tigers are 0-12 when they lose the rebound battle and 3-1 when they win it. Princeton, however, will need to make improvements on both sides of the ball before facing the Quakers.

"We are working on three major areas of development in order to prepare for the Ivy League season — we are determined to have consistency on the defensive end, to push the ball up the floor in transition, and to execute on the offensive end," Banghart said.

The Tigers will be watching out for Quaker forward Carrie Biemer, who scored a team-high nine points in the last face off between Princeton and Penn. Biemer is also the Quakers' leading scorer this season. She is not the Quakers' only offensive weapon: guard Kelly Scott led the team with 15 points.

Penn out-rebounded Lehigh 36-33, led by guard Sarah Bucar, who pulled down six rebounds. Bucar has the second-highest rebound total for the Quakers this year, with guard Anca Popovici leading the team with nearly five rebounds per game.

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On average, Penn has been able to out-rebound its opponents this season. The Tigers will have their hands full on defense.

"We are going to have to play solid defense and reverse the ball to force closeouts and create attacking angles in the offense," Banghart said.

Both teams will be fighting to snap their losing streaks in time to start conference play with a perfect Ivy League record, promising fierce competition on both sides of the ball.