Women's Basketball: Rutgers steamrolls Princeton

Head coach Courtney Banghart knew that her team was fighting an uphill battle against Rutgers, a team that has now won 16 straight games on its home court at the Louis Brown Athletic Center.

“Rutgers is one of the best teams in America, a legitimate Final Four team,” Banghart said. “We can’t lose sight of that, and, this early in the year, it’s hard to game-plan or prepare for a team of their caliber.”

Against Fordham, Princeton overcame an 11-point second-half deficit to secure the victory. Against the Scarlet Knights, however, the Tigers could not mount a comparable comeback.

Rutgers controlled the game from the start, going on a 9-0 run to open the matchup. The closest the Tigers came to mounting a comeback came early in the game. With 15 minutes, 53 seconds left in the first half, senior forward Whitney Downs sunk a jump shot to make the score 11-4.

But after Downs’ basket closed the gap to seven, the Scarlet Knight offense charged forward and never looked back, netting 19 straight points on a run that lasted almost eight minutes.

Downs is also a staff writer for The Daily Princetonian.

The Tigers’ cold 19.7 percent shooting in the first half helped Rutgers build its big lead. The Scarlet Knights exhibited better execution, shooting 54.8 percent from the field in the opening half. Rutgers also had more success off the glass on the game, collecting 47 rebounds to Princeton’s 28.

In the second half, the Scarlet Knights displayed more of the same offensive firepower. Up 45-18 at the break, much of Rutgers’ second-half offensive efforts came from its bench players, who contributed 28 total points.

Throughout the game, Princeton could not come up with a defensive answer for standout guard Epiphanny Prince. The five-foot, nine-inch junior scored 15 points and added two assists in her 24 minutes of playing time, helping secure Rutgers’ 12th straight win over the Tigers.

Downs led Princeton with 10 points and two assists. Senior guard Jessica Berry added six points, and junior center Cheryl Stevens pulled down seven rebounds. Despite the loss, Banghart had high praise for tri-captain Downs.

“Whitney continues to have a tremendous impact on our team,” Banghart said. “She can score in a variety of ways. She has a good catch-and-shoot game and the toughness to attack the rim, with or without the ball.”

Another bright spot for Princeton this season has been its execution from the free-throw line. On Tuesday, the Tigers shot 70.6 percent from the charity stripe, 12-17, including four of four from Downs. Princeton had similar success from the line against Fordham, sinking 23 of its 27 attempts.

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Missing from this game was the solid offensive effort put forward by reigning Ivy League Rookie of the Week freshman forward Lauren Edwards with her 14 points against Fordham. Rutgers, which had the nation’s second-best scoring defense last season, held the promising forward to only four points.

Banghart said she believes that the loss to the Scarlet Knights is not indicative of what her team has accomplished this season.

“The result was not reflective of what we have built together,” Banghart said. “Our system requires that five play together on both sides of the ball, and I’m terribly disappointed that we had so few possessions where that happened.”

The Tigers will look to redeem Tuesday night’s loss when they take the court against Stony Brook at home on Nov. 22.