After a dominant 69-52 victory over Lehigh on Sunday, the women’s basketball team will head to Nashville, Tenn., to play University of Southern California, perhaps their toughest opponent so far this season, in the Vanderbilt Thanksgiving Tournament on Friday. The Trojans (2-1), currently in sixth place in the strong Pacific-10 conference, will provide the Tigers (2-1) a big test early in the non-league season.“We’re expecting a battle,” senior guard and co-captain Addie Micir said.Indeed, USC is currently at No. 31 in the ratings percentage index, or RPI, an NCAA ranking that takes into account strength of schedule. Princeton is ranked No. 52 in the RPI, more than 50 slots ahead of the next Ivy League school, Columbia.In their first three games this season, the Trojans have demonstrated a very strong offense. In its season-opening exhibition game against Biola, USC racked up 93 points. Since then, USC has averaged 70.3 points per game, good for third in the Pac-10 and ahead of highly ranked powerhouses like Stanford and University of California, Los Angeles. Led by guard Briana Gilbreath, who averages 14.0 points per game, the Trojans lead their conference in three-point percentage and place third in overall field-goal percentage.This will provide a challenge for Princeton’s defense, which has been stellar this season, giving up an average of only 47.7 points per game and leading the Ivy League in almost every defensive category. In addition to USC’s impressive offensive numbers, the Trojans will also be the biggest team the Tigers have faced this season and will have a height advantage over Princeton in every starting position. Like Princeton, USC features four starters who are taller than 6 feet, including 6-foot-5-inch center Kari LaPlante, who will be guarded by 6-foot-3-inch junior center Devona Allgood.“They’re going to have big players who are also quick and athletic,” said sophomore forward Niveen Rasheed, who was named Ivy League Player of the Week on Monday and posted a double-double in the Lehigh victory. “We’ve got to make sure that not just individually we’re responsible for our own, but that our defense relies a lot on help and having communication.”Micir said the Tigers will need a group effort to shut down Gilbreath, USC’s leading scorer. “They might have a dominant scorer, but we won’t let them play one-on-one; we’ll play five-on-five,” she said. “That’s our whole defensive concept: Play together.” Rasheed noted that if the Tigers can play strong defense, it will lead to success on the other end of the court. “Hopefully everything else comes together, because our defense is one of the main sparks of our offense,” she said. “If we get it done on defense, it will generate our offense.”Micir agreed, noting that Princeton scores a lot off stops and forced turnovers, which lead to fast breaks.Once the Tigers can get the ball on the Trojans’ end of the court, they will encounter a USC defense that has not quite kept up with its offense this season. The Trojans have given up an average of 69.3 points per game so far this season and have a scoring margin of just plus-1, near the bottom of the Pac-10 standings in both categories. However, their only loss, in which they gave up 75 points, came against No. 5 Duke, and they gave up 73 points in a close six-point victory over No. 25 Gonzaga, which ESPN ranked as the No. 3 mid-major team in its preseason poll (Princeton was No. 4). “Part of the reason they’re giving up points is because they’re playing against some of the best teams in the country,” head coach Courtney Banghart said. “They’ve had a really tough schedule, so they’re battle-tested already.”The game will be a chance for Princeton to avenge itself after a heartbreaking buzzer-beater loss to Rutgers last Thursday. The Scarlet Knights are ranked ahead of the Trojans, at No. 30 in the RPI, so a win Friday would prove that the Tigers are indeed able to compete with and beat some of the nation’s best teams.“I believe in who we are,” Banghart said. “If we play to our abilities, I would not trade our team for any team in the country.”
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