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Princeton looks to build on Ivy League's best-ever start

The undefeated women’s basketball team will host the Binghamton University Bearcats this Saturday looking to continue its nine-game winning streak. The Tigers (9-0) are the only Ivy League team ever to start a season with nine wins and will be looking to continue breaking records in the matchup. The game will be played in Jadwin Gymnasium at 2 p.m.

The Orange and Black is currently coming off an impressive win against the University of Michigan last week, in which it netted its fourth consecutive win by a margin of over 30 points. The Tigers’ strong defense and offense have allowed the team incredible success this season with an average of 72.6 points scored per game with an average scoring margin of 20.8 more points than the opposing team. The Tigers have a field goal percentage of .466 and a .690 free throw percentage, with an average of 41.0 rebounds and 16.0 assists per game. Last week, the Orange and Black received votes in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll for the second week and a row. The Tigers are currently in ninth place in the latest NCAA RPI Rankings and seventh place in the Jeff Sagarin/CBN Women’s Basketball Rating.

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Princeton boasts a large roster of solid shooters, lead by senior guard, the most recent Ivy League Co-Player of the Week and team co-captain Blake Dietrick. Dietrick averages 14.8 points per game and has been shooting .490 from the floor with .479 on three pointers and .709 on free throws. The standout shooter also averages 5.6 rebounds and 5 assists per game. Dietrick played incredibly well last week against Michigan, netting 22 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 steals, while allowing no turnovers in 35 minutes. Junior guard Michelle Miller follows Dietrick in average points per game with 11.8, shooting .422 on field goals, .413 on threes and .786 on free throws. She averages 4.3 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game, and has also been named Player of the Week this season.

Junior forward Alex Wheatley and junior guard/forward Annie Tarakchian have also performing impressively, averaging 10.3 and 10.0 points per game, respectively. Wheatley has been netting .553 on field goals, the highest percentage on the team, shooting .563 from the charity stripe with an average of 5.1 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.3 blocks and 1.1 steals per game. Tarakchian leads the team with free throw percentage (.840) as well as in average rebounds (8.6) and steals (1.2) per game. Tarakchian also shoots .458 on field goals and .484 on three pointers, with an average of 2.4 assists per game.

Going into last week’s matchup against Colgate University, the Bearcats (1-7) averaged 53.9 points per game, scoring over 54 points in a game only twice this season. The Bobcats recently experienced an offensive resurgence, with two players netting 18 points against Colgate: freshmen point guards Jasmine Sina and Imani Watkins. Watkins leads the team with an average 15.9 points per game, while Sina follows with an average of 13.1 points per game. Watkins and Sina have combined received three America East Rookie of the Week honors so far this season. Following the two guards is forward Sherae Swinsin, who shoots an average 10.9 points per game and leads the team in rebounds with an average of 7 per match.

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