Women's Basketball: Micir directs victories over Dartmouth, Harvard

Since the beginning of the season, the women’s basketball team had this past weekend circled on their calendar. And though Princeton (17-2 overall, 5-0 Ivy League) got off to a terrific start to the year, the Tigers knew they would have doubts until they faced preseason favorites Harvard and Dartmouth. But with a pair of double-digit victories at Jadwin Gymnasium, the Tigers passed their biggest test to date with flying colors and cemented their status as the team to beat in the Ivy League.

Princeton fought off early deficits to dispatch both rivals, extending its streak to twelve consecutive double-digit victories and remaining undefeated in conference play. On Friday, the Tigers posted a convincing 73-54 victory over Harvard (12-7, 3-2). The next evening, Princeton took on defending champion Dartmouth (8-11, 3-2), breaking the game open in the second half to win 58-47.

“These programs have won [or shared] the Ivy title in all but four years the title has been given out, and the hard part about them is that they’re back to back,” head coach Courtney Banghart said. “And we were able to knock them both out one at a time. They’re very different — a very offensive-minded team the first night and a very defensive-minded team the second night — and I just give all the credit to my kids. They fight hard, and they’re fun to watch.”

The Crimson may be an offensive-minded team, but the Tigers were able to neutralize its firepower by forcing low-percentage shots, one of their strengths all season long. Harvard came into the game second only to Princeton in the Ivy League in field-goal percentage, making 42.2 percent of their shots from the floor, but the league’s best defense held them to just 28.4 percent shooting.

Despite facing one of the league’s best post players — four-time Ivy League Player of the Week forward Emma Markley — the Tigers were able to dominate the interior. The home squad grabbed a season-high 55 rebounds and outscored Harvard 40-18 in the paint. Princeton blocked seven shots and allowed the Crimson to shoot just 11-41 from inside 10 feet.

“[Guarding Markley] was a team effort,” sophomore center Devona Allgood, Markley’s primary defender for much of the game, said. “On the help side, people took charges, and just guarding her one-on-one took a lot of effort. We all played hard, and we did really well.”

In many of their victories this year, the Tigers have put their opponent in a hole with early runs. This time, though, it was Harvard who took the initial advantage, using three-pointers from guards Christine Matera and Brogan Berry to take a 10-4 lead going into the first media timeout.

Princeton remained in a hole until the 10-minute mark, when sophomore guard Lauren Edwards hit two consecutive three-pointers to tie the game. Edwards paced the Tigers with 19 points, shooting 7-11 from the floor.

A 12-0 run near the end of the half, bookended by buckets from junior guard Addie Micir, gave Princeton a lead it would never relinquish. The Tigers held Harvard scoreless for 10 consecutive possessions over that span and held a 34-23 lead heading into halftime.

Princeton came out firing to open the second half and made their first three attempts, capped off by a corner three from Micir. Freshman forward Niveen Rasheed was one rebound shy of a double-double in the first half alone; she finished with 15 points and 15 boards, as well as five assists.

Moments later, Matera — who finished with an incredibly efficient 19 points on nine shooting possessions — hit her second three-pointer to close the gap to 11.

But Edwards responded, scoring on a triple of her own and a pull-up jumper two possessions later. And despite sending Harvard to the line 13 times in the second half, the Tigers would never see their lead drop below 10 the rest of the way, coasting to a 73-54 victory.

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Princeton had very little time to celebrate its victory, as just 23 hours later the Orange and Black welcomed Dartmouth in a much-anticipated matchup.

The Tigers lost two thrillers to the Big Green last year — an overtime defeat at home and a one-point loss on the road — and Banghart played and coached for the Big Green before coming to Princeton. Most importantly, Dartmouth represents the most successful program in the Ivy League, with 17 conference titles to its name, and before the season it was predicted to repeat as champions.

Princeton again got off to a slow start. A three-pointer from sophomore point guard Laura Johnson provided the Tigers’ only points of the first four minutes, and they quickly fell into an 11-3 hole.

They switched to a zone defense near the 12-minute mark — a risky strategy considering that Dartmouth was already getting most of the rebounds — that succeeded in making the Big Green work harder for points.

The Tigers slowly battled back, behind Micir’s hot shooting. The junior hit a three-pointer from the left corner to bring her team within one possession, and, several minutes later, she hit a pull-up jumper to tie the game at 19. The two teams traded baskets for the rest of the half, capped by a tough drive by Micir with ten seconds to play. Still, the Tigers went into the locker room in the middle of their toughest league game with the score tied at 25-25.

Dartmouth relied on its physical play in the first half. The Big Green came into the game having attempted 346 free throws to their opponents’ 216. True to form, Dartmouth earned eight foul shots in the first half, to Princeton’s one.

The Big Green like a methodical style of basketball, and this game was played at their pace, with only 59 possessions (Princeton averages roughly 69 per game).

Dartmouth really excelled on the boards. The Tigers, generally a strong rebounding team, did not grab a single offensive rebound in the first half, while the Big Green had nine. Princeton was only able to keep the game tied with some strong shooting, making 46 percent of its attempts from the floor.

In the second half, though, the Tigers came out and beat Dartmouth at their own game. On the very first possession, Rasheed grabbed two offensive rebounds, enabling Allgood to score from the post and convert a three-point play.

Moments later, Edwards grabbed another rebound and hit a jumper, giving Princeton a five-point lead. In fact, the Tigers grabbed five offensive boards in the first five minutes of the second half, after being shut out for the first 20 minutes.

Neither team had much success putting the ball in the basket for the majority of the second half. Two more buckets from Micir were the only points scored in a six-and-a-half minute span midway through the period, until a three-pointer from guard Meghan McFee brought Dartmouth within six. But a minute later, the Tigers took one of their few opportunities to push the tempo, getting the ball up the floor off a miss to Edwards, who converted the layup and extended the lead to double digits.

Dartmouth hung in the game, and a jumper from guard Margaret Smith pulled the Big Green within five with 3:15 to play. But Rasheed took over the next two possessions, setting up Edwards for a drive and then scoring from the post.

Princeton became even more active on the defensive end, registering a number of deflections and breaking up plays.

With a minute and a half left, the Tigers were up eight points and looked to put the game away. As the shot clock ticked down, Micir found herself with the ball well beyond the arc, put up the shot from 25 feet and watched as it hit nothing but net.

The bucket sent a dagger through any hope Dartmouth had remaining, as Princeton closed out a 58-47 victory.

“We were just looking to get a shot at the end of the clock, so Niveen drove, kicked to [freshman guard Lauren Polansky] and she found me open,” said Micir, who finished with a season-high 25 points. “It was a little bit of delaying the clock, making them scramble, then my teammates got me open.”

In the second half, the Tigers garnered 11 offensive rebounds, compared to only two for Dartmouth.

Meanwhile, the free throw disparity also essentially disappeared, as the visitors earned six foul shots while Princeton shot five, plus another five in garbage time. These two radical changes from the first half, combined with the fact that Princeton took care of the ball very well (a season-low eight turnovers for the game), enabled the Tigers to pull away despite actually shooting for a lower percentage than Dartmouth in the second half.

After two convincing wins over top teams, Princeton is now two games ahead of the rest of the Ivy League.