Women's Basketball: Princeton hot as Ivy season begins

The last few nonconference games are typically time for a team to establish itself before league play. Rotations are set, players become comfortable, and strong showing gives a team momentum heading into its most important games. The women’s basketball team will be counting on that momentum, as it is currently the hottest team in the Ivy League and one of the hottest in the nation.

The Tigers posted three double-digit wins over the holiday break and added another Tuesday, visiting La Salle (5-10) and emerging with a 68-49 victory. Princeton’s record now stands at 12-2, its best start in program history. The Orange and Black begin their league season at Penn (1-10) on Saturday.

The Tigers’ first game of the break came at Houston (6-7) in a showdown featuring two teams riding three-game win streaks. Princeton took a lead midway through the first half but could not pull away, leading by just seven at the break. The Cougars cut the lead to two points early in the second half on a three-pointer from Brittney Scott, who led Houston with 23 points. But the Tigers responded, going on a 12-4 run capped by a layup and one from freshman forward Niveen Rasheed, who finished with a game-high 24 points and 14 rebounds. The visitors were never seriously threatened again on their way to a 71-60 victory.

Though the scoreboard might seem to indicate otherwise, this game was a defensive battle; the inflated score was more the result of Houston’s fast-paced style than of either team’s offensive prowess. Princeton shot just 37.8 percent from the field in the first half, made only three of 14 three-point attempts for the game and uncharacteristically turned the ball over more often than its opponents. Yet the Tigers’ stifling defense stepped up to the challenge, allowing the Cougars to make just one-third of their shots.

The Tigers also dominated Houston inside, convincingly winning the rebounding battle and outscoring the Cougars, 38-20, in the paint. Sophomore center Devona Allgood was the game’s most efficient player offensively, shooting 9-10 from the floor and making all three free throws to score 21 points. Allgood added 11 rebounds and a career-best five blocks.

Ten days later, the Tigers visited Fairleigh Dickinson (4-8). If they were affected by the long layoff, it certainly did not show up on the scoreboard. Princeton set the tone in the first six minutes by racing out to a 15-4 lead, finished by a jumper and three-pointer from junior guard Addie Micir. The Jersey Devils never recovered, falling behind by 23 points at halftime. Princeton cruised through the second half to win, 77-44.

Though they won in a blowout, the Tigers did not dominate most facets of the game. The differences in turnovers and rebounds were minor, and the Jersey Devils actually got to the free throw line seven more times. The difference in this game was almost entirely shooting. Princeton shot a blistering 59.3 percent from the floor in the first half and tied a season high with 11 three-pointers on just 20 attempts. Micir dropped a game-high 16 points in just 19 minutes, and senior guard Tani Brown went 5-7 from beyond the arc. On the other end of the floor, the Tigers were just as dominant. Fairleigh Dickinson made just 12 field goals and hit a mere 21 percent of its shots, easily its lowest mark of the season.

Princeton opened 2010 by returning to Jadwin Gymnasium to face Fordham (6-9). As they have so often this season, the Tigers jumped out to an early lead. Two baskets from sophomore guard Lauren Edwards in the first two minutes keyed a 7-0 run to open the game, and a pair of three-pointers from Micir moments later extended the lead to 19-8.

Junior guard Krystal Hill came into the game at the 10-minute mark of the first period and wasted no time making her presence felt. In her first three minutes on the court, Hill hit a layup, forced a turnover and converted in transition on the other end, and capped off her sequence with a three-pointer. Hill finished with a season-high 12 points, one of four Tigers in double figures in the Fordham game.

The Tigers continued to pull away. Two buckets from Micir in the final minute gave Princeton a 19-point lead at the break. Micir led the team with 20 points, making six of nine three-pointers. Rasheed added 17 and seven rebounds, including a jumper to extend the Tigers’ lead to 32. The Rams got back in the game with a 19-2 run, but they could never cut the lead to single digits, and Princeton held on to a 75-61 victory. The Tigers shot lights-out for the second consecutive game, going eight-of-13 from beyond the arc and making 54.5 percent from the floor.

Princeton went to La Salle for its final nonconference game and dispensed with any drama immediately. The Tigers took a 20-2 lead after 10 minutes, fueled by seven points from Allgood and six from Rasheed. La Salle got back into the game, largely the result of earning nine free throws in the half and making every one, and cut the lead to just one possession. But Princeton ran off seven straight points to end the period up, 35-25.

With a double-digit lead entering the final period, the Tigers closed the game out extremely well. Princeton held the Explorers to just 29.6 percent shooting — remarkably, a slight improvement on La Salle’s first-half numbers. More impressively, the Tigers did not allow La Salle to earn a single offensive rebound in the second half. Allgood paced the team with 17 points and 13 rebounds, while Rasheed added 12 and nine, and Princeton rolled to a 68-49 victory.

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Princeton is now at the halfway point in its season, with only games against Ivy League opponents remaining. This record is certainly no fluke, as Princeton has outscored its opponents by an average of 17.5 points, with losses only to major-conference teams UCLA and Rutgers. The Tigers should be a difficult team for rivals to prepare for due to their versatility. Not only do they have a number of capable scorers, but they have at various times been great at forcing turnovers, collecting rebounds and hitting from the outside, and consistently denying opponents easy shots.

“I think that the overall team support we have is a huge strength,” Allgood said. “Any given night can be someone’s high-scoring night, and it’s nice to know that if you have a game where you’re not really up in scoring, then you have a teammate who’s going to take up your slack. We have scoring threats at every position, so it’s much harder for other teams to defend us.”

Preseason polls predicted that the Tigers would finish third in the league, behind traditional powers Dartmouth and Harvard, but they currently have an overall record three games better than any other Ancient Eight team. The Big Green, last year’s league champion, currently sits at just 4-8, though it has faced a gauntlet featuring several nationally ranked teams, while the Crimson currently ranks second in the league with an overall record of 7-4.