Women's Basketball: Close loss to UCLA avenged against UC-Irvine

Its undefeated record was spoiled, but the Tigers were still pleased with the results of their trip to the West Coast. Princeton nearly knocked off UCLA (4-2 overall) before succumbing, 69-59, last Wednesday night, but it recovered to blow out UC-Irvine (1-4) on Friday, 78-50.

The Tigers’ calling card this year has been their defense, and they displayed it right off the bat against the Bruins. Princeton forced UCLA to commit three turnovers in the first three minutes, capitalizing on those plays to take an early 8-2 lead. Trailing by three points later in the half, the Tigers again turned up the defensive pressure, allowing just one basket in a seven-minute span to take a seven-point lead. But a late UCLA run cut the deficit to just two at the half.

“We knew that they were all really experienced players, especially playing in the Pac-10 [conference],” sophomore forward Lauren Edwards said. “It was probably our hardest game defensively of the season, just because of their sheer size and their talent. We basically had to focus on stopping transition offense, getting back on defense and disrupting their sets.”

Edwards was the team’s standout on offense, pacing Princeton with 11 points in the half and 17 for the game. But the Bruins showed their strength inside the paint, forcing the Tigers to take a number of jump shots — 13 of their 28 attempts from the floor in the first half were three-pointers, and only three of those found the net. UCLA’s strength carried over to the glass as well, as it outrebounded Princeton 47-27 for the game.

The Tigers opened the second half strongly and led, 37-33, after a layup from freshman guard Niveen Rasheed two minutes into the period. But they didn’t stay ahead for long, as UCLA guard Darxia Morris took over, scoring three consecutive baskets to give the Bruins the lead for good. Meanwhile, the Princeton offense became stagnant, managing just six points over the next 10 minutes.

Seven consecutive points, four from Edwards, brought the Tigers back to within one, but that was as close as they would come to reclaiming the lead. The Bruins kept hitting shots, including two three-pointers from Erica Tukiainen to ice the game, while the Tigers just could not get their attempts to fall. Princeton shot just 29 percent from the floor in the second half, going one-of-10 from beyond the arc.

After resting on Thanksgiving, the Tigers traveled south to take on UC-Irvine. Princeton took the lead from the start and never relinquished it. Sophomore center Devona Allgood dropped eight points in the first six minutes on her way to a season-high 14, and junior forward Addie Micir hit three treys in the half, the last of which extended the lead to 15.

The Anteaters threatened to get back in the game, scoring on seven consecutive possessions between the first and second halves and cutting the margin to single digits, but Princeton did not let them get any closer. The Tigers slowly pulled away, and a layup from Rasheed halfway through the period extended their lead to 20 points. A 10-1 Princeton run shortly after erased any doubt about the outcome of the game.

This game it was the Tigers who had the advantage against their California opponent: Princeton grabbed 15 more rebounds and outscored the Anteaters, 40-16, in the paint. Rasheed earned a double-double, finishing with 17 points and 10 boards, while Micir added 15 points.

“We got to play some good teams, and we got to play two games with a quick turnover, and it’s definitely going to help down the road when we have quick turnover games in the Ivy League season playing Friday and Saturday,” Micir said. “Just playing two good teams early on in the season is really good to help us prepare and focus, see what we need to work on, see what we do well and keep building from there.”