Women's Basketball: Quakers unable to keep up

Freshman guard Lauren Edwards had an amazing night, notching 16 points to help the Tigers triumph.

“Lauren was really talented for us,” head coach Courtney Banghart said. “Our effort was hands-down 40 minutes straight. We were relentless in our efforts.”

In the first half, Princeton gained significant ground against the Quakers, who struggled to keep within a 10-point margin. Freshman center Devona Allgood made the game’s first shot on a layup and sparked the Tigers to an 18-3 run in the first eight minutes. Edwards and senior guard Jess Berry had each contributed five points with more than 10 minutes left in the half.

Despite taking numerous timeouts, Penn had difficulty keeping up with the Tigers. The Quakers made it a 10-point game with 10 minutes left in the half. Thirteen of Princeton’s 22 points came off turnovers, whereas Penn reciprocated with only four. At the end of the half, Princeton led 36-17.

In the second half, Princeton and Penn traded point for point, each team making five baskets to bring the score to 46-27. The Tigers took their largest lead of the game when Allgood made two free throws, giving Princeton a 21-point margin with 13:26 remaining. With 11 minutes left, the Tigers led 51-33. The Quakers, apparently deflated, only scored 10 points in the last five minutes, and their effort wasn’t good enough to best Princeton.

The Tigers shot 41.1 percent from the field, 41.7 percent from behind the arc and 76.5 percent from the free-throw line. Edwards led the team with 16 points, while fellow freshman guard Laura Johnson posted 12 points.

“We brought in a great freshman class,” senior forward Julia Berger said. “They’re playing really well right now, and they’ll keep getting better.”

Banghart also emphasized the strength of the freshmen but singled out upperclassmen Berger and Berry as significant members of the team.

“[Berger]’s pivotal on the board, and [Berry] sets our tempo,” Banghart said.

Especially encouraging for the Tigers is that the team scored more than 60 points without double-digit scoring from either sophomore guard Addie Micir or senior forward Whitney Downs, who are first and third on the team with 12.0 and 9.1 points per game, respectively. Downs is a former staff writer for The Daily Princetonian.

On defense, Princeton had one of its best games of the season. The Tigers rang up eight steals, and Penn had 18 turnovers in the contest, while Princeton only turned the ball over 10 times. When the Tigers weren’t prematurely ending Quaker possessions, they altered shots or forced bad decisions. Penn finished the game shooting 32.7 percent.

“We brought a full team effort. Our energy level was there,” Berger said. “Although our top scorers didn’t score that much, we had a great defense, a key to the rest of our season. Defense and transition is what’s going to keep us in games.”

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Princeton can only hope that its defense and transition will be as sharp after a two-week break for final exams. The Tigers will host Dartmouth on Jan. 30 and Harvard on Jan. 31 during Intersession.