Women's Basketball: Four seniors bid farewell in final home stint

Hailing from New Jersey, Arkansas, Tennessee and California, forward Julia Berger and guards Jessica Berry, Whitney Downs and Caitlin O’Neill came together for four years, sharing both elation and heartbreak on the court. They’ll have to bid farewell this weekend.

Runners up for the Ivy League Championship in their rookie year, the seniors have played through four seasons characterized by several “almosts,” experiences which have molded them into the team’s formidable backbone. Respecting the seniors’ contributions, the rest of the team plans on sending them off on the right note.

Though Princeton (11-14 overall, 6-5 Ivy League) is not in a position to contend for the Ivy League title this year, the team looks forward to its last two home games of the season, against Columbia (13-13, 6-6) and Cornell (10-14, 6-6).

Saturday’s game will be especially meaningful for the Tigers as it will be Senior Night for senior forward Berger and senior guards Berry, Downs and O’Neill, athletes that have earned the respect of the Princeton faithful over the years.

“We will be motivated to win because we want our seniors to go out on a high note,” freshman forward Lauren Edwards said. “We want to win these next three games for them and to end our season knowing we could have taken first.”

While the Tigers defeated both Columbia and Cornell in back-to-back road games early in February, both the Lions and the Big Red have had strong recent performances against league-leading Dartmouth (15-10, 10-1), and the wins may provide both teams with a surge of confidence.

Cornell pulled off a huge upset of Dartmouth in overtime, dealing the Big Green its first league loss of the season, and Columbia lost a close game the following night against Dartmouth, 63-61.

“Cornell won the Ivy League last year, so they naturally had a certain confidence in their team. We’ve figured out that if we start hard and, more importantly, end hard, we’ll win the game,” Edwards said. “Columbia was a bit more scattered and had completely different kinds of players. They are tough rebounders and penetrators.”

Columbia and Cornell will most likely look for every opportunity to spoil Princeton’s Senior Night. They were defeated on their own Senior Nights by Dartmouth and Harvard, respectively.

It is difficult to estimate the tenacity with which teams can play with when they don’t have a championship in sight, but it would be foolhardy to assume that either team will lay down when playing on the road against a determined Princeton squad.

The Tigers will look to play effectively this weekend and not worry as much about their opponents’ playing styles. Throughout its season, Princeton has maintained a philosophy of focusing on executing its game plan against any opponent.

As head coach Courtney Banghart said following the team’s stretch of losses during winter break, “We’re basketball players. We just want to play anyone, anytime, anywhere.”

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At a certain point, team pride becomes a major motivating factor for any team to win.

The Tigers have defeated both Cornell and Columbia this season, and they are confident in their ability to repeat their performances at home.

“I believe that we are always playing for respect, so that’s part of the motivation,” freshman center Devona Allgood said. “Also, [these are] our last home games, for the seniors especially, and we take pride in winning in our home gym.”

Whatever the outcomes against Columbia and Cornell, these final two games will surely be full of effort and emotion. Hopefully for the Tigers, that effort and emotion will be more than enough to give Princeton a pair of wins and the team’s seniors a proper goodbye.