Women's Basketball: Tigers, at 12-2 overall, will face Penn in league opener

At the end of its non-conference schedule, the women’s basketball team is feeling good. With a 12-2 record, Princeton has won more games outside of the Ivy League than any other Tiger squad since the late 1970s. Despite this impressive statistic, the team knows that it hasn’t yet played the games that really matter.

“They won’t care about their record; they won’t care about our record,” head coach Courtney Banghart said. “We’re 0-0 in league play, and that’s what matters.”

On Saturday, Princeton will tip-off at the Palestra against Penn (1-11) in its first game of the Ivy League season. The Tigers were picked to place third in the Ancient Eight in a preseason poll, the same spot they finished in last season. The Quakers, who ended up sharing three-way tie for fourth place last winter, sit at seventh.

“We can’t take the third place thing and be OK with it,” sophomore guard Lauren Edwards said. “We’re obviously going to try as hard as we can to disprove that.”

That fight will begin with Penn, a team currently wallowing at the bottom of the Ivy League. Princeton won both contests against the Quakers last season. While the Tigers boast the best record and scoring margin in the league, the Quakers have the worst. Princeton averages an incredible 17.5 points more than their opponents, while Penn averages 14.2 points less. The Tigers average 71.9 points per game, while Penn nets 47.2. Princeton also ranks first in the league in scoring defense.

It is tough to talk about Ivy League standings when conference play has not yet begun, but the Tigers and the Quakers have already shared quite a few opponents. While Penn has fallen to La Salle, Rider, Lehigh, Lafayette and Drexel, Princeton has dominated these same teams. The Tigers’ winning margin has varied from 17 points over Drexel to a whopping 33 points over Lafayette.

“We’ve played some great teams,” junior guard Addie Micir said. “It kind of shows us what you need to do to win a title — how to play in close games, how to win games. We’ve learned some lessons, and we’ve learned how it feels to win. Playing tough teams has been good experience for the Ivy League.”

Penn’s sole win came in a game against St. Francis (N.Y.) on New Year’s Eve. Senior guard Sarah Bucar leads the Quakers with 10.8 points per game. Though Penn’s offense is the worst in the league at this point, they have held opponents to fewer points than any team in the league besides Princeton.

But the Tigers know that the Ivy League always brings stiff competition, no matter the non-conference results.

“The Ivy League is a crazy league, and anyone can win any night,” Micir said. “We would just like to win those close games and finish better than we did last year.”

Banghart sees this game as a real challenge to and test of Princeton’s growth. At 1-11, Penn has little to lose.

“It’s our first league game and it’s on the road,” Banghart said. “Road games are always hard, and league games are all playoff games. I have a strong hunch that their kids will come out ready to play.”

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If the first half of the season is any indication, certainly the Tigers will too. With impressive depth, Princeton is poised to be a real threat within the conference. Standout freshman forward Niveen Rasheed leads the pack, averaging 16.8 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. She also leads in steals and assists.

Micir, Edwards and sophomore center Devona Allgood also average double digits in scoring. Allgood boasts the best field-goal percentage in the league, hitting 62.6 percent of her shots. Freshman guard Lauren Polansky rounds out the starting five. With Rasheed, Micir and Polansky all top ten in assists, the Tigers top the league in assist-turnover ratio.

“We’ve gotten really good at sharing the basketball,” Edwards said. “On any night, any of us could go off and score. It’s really hard for another team to scout us because they can’t just double up on one player. We have a really balanced attack from both the inside — the post players — and the outside — the guards — so I think that’s one of our biggest strengths.”

This week marks only the second week this season that no Tiger has earned Ivy League Player of the Week or Rookie of the Week, though Rasheed and Micir both made the Honor Roll. Micir and Allgood have been Player of the Week once each, and Rasheed has been Rookie of the Week five out of the seven times it has been awarded.

Princeton has not earned a share of the league title in ten years, and though the Tigers know they have a tough roster of Ivy opponents ahead, they are not lacking in ambition.

“Princeton has never gone to the Tournament, so it’s not going to be easy,” Banghart said. “Unfortunately, 12-2 is great, but none of that really matters. What matters is how you do in the league.”