The Tigers, whose poise allowed them to maintain a balanced attack and shoot nearly 50 percent from the field in both games, improved to 8-11 overall and 3-2 in the Ivy League with the wins. The weekend sweep marks the first of the season for Princeton.
The Tigers crushed the Big Red (7-11, 3-3) 75-56 on Friday evening at Newman Arena in Ithaca, N.Y. The 19-point margin was the Tigers’ largest margin of victory against an Ancient Eight opponent since the 2004-05 season. Senior guard Whitney Downs led the Tigers with a team-high 19 points. Downs is also a former staff writer for The Daily Princetonian.
“I’m most proud of the way our team responded after dropping two heartbreaking games last weekend,” Downs said. “We really came out and played hard. We had great contribution from the bench.”
The early minutes of the game saw the teams trading baskets. With 16 minutes, 42 seconds to go in the first half, senior forward Julia Berger gave Princeton a one-point lead that it wouldn’t lose for the remainder of the match.
The Tigers increased their lead to 12-5 with 10 minutes to play in the half. Seven minutes later, Cornell came within four points, bringing the score to 31-27 and threatening to spoil the Tigers lead before the teams headed to the locker room. But baskets from Downs and freshman center Devona Allgood, who was named Ivy League Rookie of the Week, widened the gap to 10 by the end of the first half.
At the beginning of the second half, Princeton gained a 43-28 lead before Cornell went on a seven-point run and held the Tigers scoreless, decreasing Princeton’s lead to eight just before the 13-minute mark. Freshman guard Lauren Johnson, Allgood and Downs scored a combined seven points within the next two minutes, bringing the Tigers’ lead to 15 points. With 10 minutes left to play, Princeton held a commanding 52-37 lead.
The Tigers gained their largest lead, 20 points, with 3:31 left, finishing the game with a huge victory and plenty of momentum to battle Columbia (10-10, 3-3) the following day.
“The biggest challenge we faced [his weekend] was playing on the road,” Downs said. When playing on the road, you have to be 10 points better than the other team… We need to work on reading within our offense and making sure we make correct reads… We will continue to take pride in our defense.”
Saturday’s showdown saw Princeton defeat the Lions 69-59 at Levien Gym. The first half began with an 8-0 run by the Tigers, and Princeton looked poised to have another strong performance. Downs and sophomore guard Addie Micir gave Princeton a 12-3 lead with 10 minutes remaining in the first half. The squads traded points for the next three minutes until Columbia made an impressive comeback, bringing the score to 18-17 with 6:36 left in the half.
With the help of Downs, who earned Ivy League Player of the Week honors for her solid play this past weekend, Princeton increased its lead to 27-21 with two minutes remaining. Downs was charged with her third foul soon after and had to take a seat on the bench for the rest of the half, but Princeton held a 31-27 lead when the buzzer sounded thanks to a basket from junior center Cheryl Stevens.
The Tigers got off to an explosive start in the second half, going on an 11-2 run to hold a 13-point lead within the first few minutes. The Lions countered with an 11-4 run to decrease the margin to six points. With 10 minutes remaining in the match, sophomore guard Krystal Hill added a bucket in the paint to increase Princeton’s lead to 14 points.
Hill continued to shine, tallying six of the Tigers’ next eight points, which allowed Princeton to take a 62-50 lead with three and a half minutes to go. Though Columbia managed to score a few baskets as time wound down, Micir’s five free throws toward the end of the game sealed the win for the Tigers.
“That’s the first time that anyone but the seniors have swept on the road in the Ivy League,” Downs said. “Intangible but it does matter. I think that beating these two teams….we know that we’re right there and [looking ahead to next weekend] if we take care of business, we’ll hopefully come out with two more wins.”
The Tigers look to continue their poised play when they face Ancient Eight rivals Yale and Brown on Friday and Saturday, respectively, at home.
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