“Playing on the road is always a challenge no matter who you play,” senior forward Whitney Downs said. “You’re playing the number one and two ranked teams. It was a challenge to go in there and beat the best two teams on the road in the same weekend.” Downs is a former staff writer for The Daily Princetonian.
On Friday, the Tigers (9-14 overall, 4-5 Ivy League) took on the Crimson (15-8, 7-2) at Lavietes Pavilion in Cambridge, Mass. Though it had a strong first half, Princeton faltered in the second, falling to Harvard 54-50.
The Tigers finished the first half leading with a score of 34-15. Freshman guard Lauren Edwards sparked the Tigers’ lead, making a layup with 16 minutes left in the half. Harvard was scoreless for nearly five minutes as Princeton brought the score up to 16-2 with 11 minutes, 43 seconds left. The Tigers posted another 12 points in the next five minutes, while Harvard only made four baskets off free throws to bring the score to 28-6. Senior guard Jessica Berry and Harvard’s guard Nikki Finelli both made three-pointers with less than two minutes to play. The Crimson ended the half with a pair of free throws, but the Tigers left the court comfortably ahead.
In the second half, however, Harvard made up for lost ground and routed the Tigers. Within the first 14 minutes of play, the Crimson tallied 23 points against Princeton’s two baskets from the field. With five minutes left to play, guard Brogan Berry made a jumper, bringing the score to 40-39.
With two back-to-back free throws, Downs gave Princeton a one-point lead at 42-41. Harvard then went up by four before Edwards made a three-pointer, bringing the Tigers’ lead to 47-46. Harvard regained its three-point lead, but sophomore guard Addie Micir made a long-range three-pointer to tie the score at 50 with less than a minute left on the clock.
Harvard forward Emma Markley made a layup with just more than 30 seconds remaining, and her free throws sealed the Crimson win. The Tigers shot 37.5 percent from the field, while the Crimson shot a close 35.7 percent.
Princeton struggled in its next game as well, losing to Dartmouth (14-9, 9-0) 43-42. The first half started with the Tigers and the Big Green trading baskets. Micir made a three-pointer with less than 10 minutes left in the half to tie the game at nine, but Dartmouth came back with an 11-point run to bring the score to 20-9.
Freshman center Devona Allgood and sophomore guard Krystal Hill each scored two-pointers to end the half at 20-13. Allgood earned Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors last week for the third straight time.
“The freshmen are continuing to make a huge impact on our team,” Downs said. “As much as they bring us, it’s tough to expect them to step up in Ivy League games. They’re gaining the experience they need through all these close games.”
The Big Green started the second half with two three-pointers, but Princeton came back strong with Berry and senior forward Julia Berger bringing the score to 26-18 with more than 16 minutes left. The Tigers then went on a 9-3 run to close the gap to three at 30-27.
The teams went point for point with more than 10 minutes left of play, but Hill made a three-pointer to tie the score at 32. The teams continued to trade baskets and were tied at 40 with less than four minutes left in the game.
Allgood made both her free throws to give Princeton the lead, but the Big Green came back with a layup by guard Margaret Smith. With 12.3 seconds left, Dartmouth regained possession of the ball. Head coach Courtney Banghart called a timeout, and with 10.6 seconds on the clock, Downs passed the ball to Berry, who missed her jumper just as the buzzer went off. The Tigers shot 32.6 percent from the field, and the Big Green shot 35.3 percent.
“We were going to try to get to the basket or get a close shot,” Downs said. “We executed really well, and we got the best shot we could have asked for. When you’re in a situation like that, you can only get the right shot.”
The Tigers face Brown and Yale next weekend on the road.
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