Women's Basketball: Resurgent squad looks to dethrone Big Green

With the women’s basketball season set to kick off on Friday against Stony Brook, the team is already beginning to look ahead to this year’s Ivy League campaign, which begins against Penn on Jan. 9.

Princeton finished third in the Ivy League last season and will look to dethrone Dartmouth, Ancient Eight champions four of the past five years. The Big Green is also ranked first in this year’s Ivy League preseason poll. Dartmouth will remain a formidable opponent, with the return of reigning Ivy League Player of the Year forward Brittney Smith, who led her team in points per game (14.1) and rebounds (8.2) last season.

Opponents will also have to contend with Smith’s versatile older sister, Margaret, who was second on the team in points and rebounds.

The Big Green also relies on its staunch defense, which allowed only 56 points per game last year, to grind out victories.

Despite being blown out by ACC powerhouse Maryland, 82-53, in the first round of the NCAA tournament, Dartmouth is certainly no pushover. The Tigers will be looking to avenge two heartbreaking losses to the Big Green last year.

Several of the Tigers said they are confident they can compete against last year’s Ivy League champion.

“I think that we have a bit of a different dynamic this year, particularly with one-third of our team being [freshmen], so in our games against Dartmouth we will show them a different team than last year,” sophomore center Devona Allgood said in an e-mail.

“I think that if we play with toughness, competitiveness and the will to win, our strengths will certainly show and hopefully overcome the hegemony of Dartmouth,” she added.

“Right now, we’re ahead of where we were last year,” head coach Courtney Banghart said. “We have to continually improve this season, and while it’s certainly hard to beat tradition, we believe we have a good chance.”

The Tigers will also compete for the title with Harvard, last year’s second-place finisher. The Crimson returns only two starters from last year’s squad, which led the league in points per game, with 68.5. Two players, forward Emma Markley and guard Brogan Berry, were the team’s offensive sparkplugs.

Markley led the team in points per game with 14, and also rebounds, with seven per contest. Berry, last year’s Ivy League Rookie of the Year, was the team’s third leading scorer, posting an average of 11.7 points per game.

Yet doubts remain if Harvard’s current squad, which includes five incoming freshmen, can continue last year’s Ivy League success.

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Princeton will be looking for at least one victory over the Crimson this year, having dropped both of last season’s games by margins of 82-73 and 54-50.

“We’re competing with two teams this year, Dartmouth and Harvard,” Banghart said. “We see ourselves as one of the leaders of the Ivy League.”

“I think I speak for the team when I say that Harvard-Dartmouth weekends are some of the biggest games of our season,” Allgood said. “We really look forward to those games.”

Princeton will also have to be wary of Columbia, Penn and Cornell, which all ended last year’s Ivy League campaign with identical 6-8 records.

Columbia will be the most dangerous of these opponents. Forward Judie Lomax had a remarkable season, averaging a double-double — 14.2 points and 14.3 rebounds per game. She also became only the second Ivy Leaguer to amass 400 rebounds in a season.

Returning four starters — including guard Sara Yee, Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year — the Lions will look to improve on last year’s mediocre campaign.

Meanwhile, Penn will be struggling to cope with the loss of forward Carrie Biemer, who led the Ivy League in points per game (17.5) last season.

The squad, which was devastated by injury last year, will be able to gauge this season’s chance for success when they play Iowa State and Northwestern in the Doubletree/Mildred & Roger L. White Invitational over the Thanksgiving break.

Cornell, the only league team to defeat champion Dartmouth last season, returns four starters. Difficult early-season contests against Colgate, Manhattan and Miami (Fla.) will set the tone for the Ivy League campaign.

Yale, which upset non-conference opponents North Carolina State, 65-61, and UC Irvine, 75-66, last year, will be looking to pick up more conference victories this season, while Brown will be hoping for a competitive campaign.

Despite the squad’s tendency to look ahead to January, Banghart is telling the team to focus on winning its non-conference games before thinking about the Ivy League.

“Every game this season has significance for us,” Banghart said. “We’ve got a tough opening road game [against Stony Brook] followed by games against American and Delaware, so we’ll be thinking of those before anything else.”

Though there are a lot of unknowns heading into Princeton’s season, one thing is certain: the Tigers will be ready to battle against all of their Ancient Eight foes when they open their league schedule.