Women's Basketball: Crimson snaps 22-game conference streak

The loss broke the Tigers’ 22-game conference winning streak which had extended all the way back to a road defeat at Dartmouth nearly two years ago in the 2008-09 season. Last season, Princeton went undefeated in the conference, won the Ivy League and reached its first-ever NCAA Tournament. The Tigers continued this streak early in the conference schedule with a win over Penn at home and road victories over Brown and Yale, but on Friday they simply could not persevere after overcoming an early Harvard lead.

“They’ve got four players averaging in double figures, and we know they’re a very potent offensive team,” head coach Courtney Banghart said of Harvard. “We just came out very flat offensively. I didn’t like our attack on the rim in the first 20 minutes.”

The Crimson began the game with a dominant 11-1 run in the first five minutes, letting the Tigers know that this game would not be easy. The initial lead, however, did not prove insurmountable for Princeton. Junior guard Laura Johnson, who played 30 minutes off the bench and led the Tigers with 16 points on 6-12 shooting, had 11 in the first half, leading a 19-9 run which tied the game. The visitors couldn’t hold the lead for the remainder of the half, though, as the Crimson went on a 15-5 run to head into the break up by 10.

Harvard maintained a lead that hovered at around 10 points for the first 10 minutes of the half. With the Crimson up 46-38 with 11 minutes, 31 seconds remaining in the game, senior guard and co-captain Addie Micir blocked a layup attempt by Harvard guard Christine Clark. On the other end of the floor, junior center Devona Allgood sunk a layup to pull her team to within six. On the next possession, after a steal by Micir, Allgood hit another layup, and two minutes later she beat the shot clock with her first career three-point attempt to pull her team to within four points.

Senior guard and co-captain Krystal Hill, who scored eight of her total 11 points in the second half, took over from there. With Princeton down by seven with 5:37 to go, Hill hit a three-pointer and followed with a steal and jumper, pulling her team to within two points.

The Tigers tied the game at 57 and took a three-point lead with under three minutes remaining, but Harvard answered with a 7-0 run, mostly sealing the game. Princeton pulled to within two with 11 seconds left, but Harvard made five of its six free throws in the final 20 seconds to prevent the comeback. Ultimately, Harvard’s strong 50 percent shooting for the game proved too exhausting for the Tigers.

“They’re a really good home team,” Hill said. “At some points it seemed like they couldn’t miss.”

Just a day later, the Tigers cemented sole possession of second place with a dominant win over Dartmouth in a game in which they took the lead three minutes in and never looked back. Boosted by 38 bench points to the Big Green’s nine, Banghart gave Micir, Allgood, and junior guard Lauren Edwards — each of whom had played 37 minutes or more against Harvard — a bit of rest. Sophomore center Meg Bowen led all scorers with 14 points, and Hill added 12.

“We needed our bench, and they were there for us all weekend,” Banghart said.

The loss increases the pressure on Princeton to defeat Harvard when the Crimson comes to Jadwin on March 5. If the Tigers win and tie the season series, the two teams could face off on neutral territory — which, according to Banghart, would mean playing at Yale — to determine the Ivy League champion and NCAA tournament berth.

“It’s just one game,” Banghart said of the loss, explaining that there is still hope for the season. “It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon.”