Women's Basketball: Tigers dominate N.J. rival

Last night, midway through the first half against Rider, the women’s basketball team was in an unfamiliar position. The Tigers entered the game having outscored opponents 125-87 in the first 10 minutes of games this season, and they had trailed at the quarter point only once. So when the scoreboard showed that the Broncs, losers of four straight, held a 11-point lead, it came as a bit of a shock.

“It was different for us, because most games, by the first media timeout, we’re up by at least five or six points,” sophomore guard Lauren Edwards said. “We had to battle back through it … We were on a scoring drought, whereas they were making all shots.”

And battle back the Tigers did. The team known for its quick starts showed that it could finish strongly as well, as Princeton more than doubled its opponents’ point total the rest of the way en route to an 83-57 blowout victory. The Tigers improved their record to 6-2 overall, while Rider fell to 1-7.

After allowing 21 points in the first nine minutes to a team that had averaged fewer than 50 points in its previous three games, it seemed unlikely that Princeton’s defense would become the story of the game. Yet that was exactly what happened, as the Tigers garnered an incredible 22 steals, leading to a number of easy baskets on the other end. Meanwhile, the Broncs’ shooting could not keep up its torrid pace, as Rider managed just 36 points over the final 30 minutes.

“[Getting steals] is not something we’ve been focusing on, but one of our defensive principles is to get in the passing lane,” Edwards said. “Our scouting report always tells us what the other team’s plays are, so we can get in the passing lanes and know where they’re going to pass it. And we knew who their key players were, and when you have key players, teams tend to pass it only to those players.”

One of those key players was Rider’s leading scorer, Tammy Meyers, who was frustrated by the Princeton defense all game long. Meyers managed 13 points, but she needed 15 attempts from the floor to reach that total, and the guard committed nine turnovers as well.

The Broncs scored the game’s first five points, but Princeton recovered, quickly tying the game at nine. But Rider continued to make shots and clamped down on defense, holding the Tigers scoreless over the next nine possessions to take a 21-9 lead. Even during its worst stretch of the game, Princeton had a clear advantage inside — the Tigers allowed only two points in the paint in the entire first half,while scoring 22 of their own. The Broncs instead rode some hot outside shooting, including four three-pointers, to take the early lead.

It did not take long for the Tigers to rebound. After being held scoreless for five minutes, they dropped 11 points in the next two and a half, getting a basket from each player on the court, finished by a trey from junior guard Addie Micir.

Princeton would not rest from there, scoring on eight of 10 possessions to transform a five-point deficit into a 37-30 lead. With one minute to play in the period, Micir hit another three, giving Princeton a 42-32 lead at the break. Micir finished with a game-high 22 points, including four treys.

The outcome was still in doubt coming out of halftime, as buckets from Meyers and guard Amanda Sepulveda cut the margin to single digits. But then freshman guard Niveen Rasheed took over, providing half of Princeton’s scoring in an 18-0 run, including a layup and a foul shot to cap the streak.

Rasheed was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week for the fourth consecutive time on Monday, and she will likely receive some more hardware next week after her performance last night: She stuffed the statistics sheet with 21 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and five steals, all in just 23 minutes. Sophomore center Devona Allgood also was a catalyst for the run, grabbing four steals in a span of less than three minutes.

“That’s just part of playing with intensity on defense, when you can anticipate passes or get in there and mess up their plays,” Allgood said. “I think we all have it in us.”