The women’s basketball team left little drama to the outcome of its game against University of Maryland, Baltimore County on Sunday afternoon. Princeton (5-2) scored the game’s first 22 points while keeping the Retrievers off the scoreboard for nearly 10 full minutes, eventually prevailing 93-46 for head coach Courtney Banghart’s 100th victory.
Thanks to 24 offensive rebounds and 22 forced turnovers, Princeton took 75 shot attempts to UMBC’s 46. No Tiger scored more than senior forward Kate Miller’s 13 points, but five reached double figures and two more added eight points apiece.
“You don’t know where it’s going to come from, and it doesn’t matter,” Banghart said of Princeton’s scoring. “It’s unbelievable how much offense we’re getting ... everyone’s staying in their role and doing their part.”
Princeton forced turnovers on three of the first four possessions, turning those miscues into seven points, while the visitors missed their first 12 shots from the field. In the entire first half, UMBC (3-5)
made only two field goals — the latter a banked three-pointer in the final minute — and scored eight points on 33 possessions.
Meanwhile, the Retrievers had no answer for Princeton’s versatile offensive attack. Four different Tigers scored in the first three minutes of the game, helping the hosts build a quick 14-0 advantage that ballooned to 25-1 on a three-pointer by sophomore guard Blake Dietrick at the midway point of the first half.
Princeton continued to aim from the outside, as its last five baskets of the half all came from three-point range. The Tigers’ reserves led the sharpshooting, including freshman guards Amanda Berntsen, Annie Tarakchian and Michelle Miller, who each hit two of Princeton’s 10 triples in the first period. The hosts finished the half with a 51-8 lead, although no individual scored more than eight points.
The second half was less lopsided, as UMBC matched the hosts for eight minutes before Princeton reeled off a 10-0 run, making the score 76-23. The Tigers went colder from the perimeter, shooting just 2-for-13 from outside in the second half, but with four freshmen on the court for the final 10 minutes, Princeton cruised to a 47-point victory.
In the first half, Princeton recovered an absurd 68 percent of its own missed shots with offensive rebounds; for the game, the Tigers outrebounded the Retrievers 54-24. Senior center Megan Bowen led the Tigers with a career-high 13 rebounds, adding 11 points for her first double-double.
“I thought our whole team meshed pretty well today. They were finding me down on the block, which is always great,” Bowen said. “I felt like I was making my shots, so I was going to continue taking them.”
Senior guard Niveen Rasheed scored 12 points, while Miller and sophomore forward Kristen Helmstetter added 10 apiece, helping the Tigers win their 10th straight home game.
With Sunday’s blowout victory coming three days after Princeton hammered Rutgers 71-55, the Tigers appear to be peaking heading into one of the toughest stretches of their schedule. After hosting Hofstra on Wednesday night, Princeton will embark on a four-game road trip that includes visits to Delaware and DePaul, the last two teams to beat the Tigers at Jadwin Gymnasium.
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