Women's basketball continues dominance, trounces Columbia and Cornell

This weekend, the Princeton women’s basketball team matched a program best with 21 consecutive wins this season. The Tigers (21-0 overall, 5-0 Ivy League) took down Columbia 83-44on Fridaynight, continuing on to beat the Big Red 75-47on Saturday.

After the first jumper by junior guard Michelle Miller, the Tigers maintained a lead over the Lions for the entirety of the game. Senior guard Blake Dietrick then netted a three-pointer a minute later before Columbia’s Carolyn Gallagher managed to break through with a layup to put Columbia on the board. Miller then went on to score another jumper before junior guard Amanda Berntsen scored on a steal and Miller netted a layup. With 14 minutes left in the half, Berntsen scored a layup and two free throw shots before the Lions attempted to rally with two layups and a jumper to come within 11 points of the Tigers. The Tigers responded, and junior forward Alex Wheatley scored two layups to widen the point margin to 15 points. The Tigers took off from there, shooting 56.7 percent during the first half to finish the period with a 20-point lead.

The second half saw quick layups from Dietrick and junior forward Taylor Williams to put the Tigers up by 24, and the Tigers continued to play impeccably, with their lead hitting 29 points with 13 minutes left on the clock. After a three-pointer from Columbia’s Camille Zimmerman and a layup from teammate Tori Oliver, the Tigers allowed the Lions no field goals for just over 12 minutes until Zimmerman finally managed one layup in the final 20 seconds of the game.

Two Tigers scored in the double digits during the game against Columbia, with Miller scoring 16 points and Wheatley scoring 10. Mariah Smith scored nine points during the game, while Dietrick and Williams each managed to score eight points.

In the game against Cornell, three players scored in the double digits, with Miller posting a double-double on 14 points and 11 rebounds. Wheatley also netted 14 points but with eight rebounds, while Williams scored 10 points and Berntsen scored nine points. Again, after a game-opening layup from Wheatley, the Tigers maintained a lead for the entirety of the game. The Tigers scored the first eight points of the game, with layups from Dietrick, Berntsen and sophomore guard Vanessa Smith accounting for the rest of the opening streak.

Cornell’s first points of the game came from Nia Marshall on a layup, after which the Big Red pushed back to keep the point differential around 5 points before the Tigers responded with a 14-2 run to push the difference up to 17 points. Up by 18 points at halftime, the Tigers came back and continued to push through, reaching a 27-point lead halfway through the period after holding the Big Red from scoring any field goals for over five minutes. The Tigers led by as much as 32 points with4:23left on the clock after a jumper from Miller, finishing the game with a 28-point lead. The Tigers held the Big Red to shooting 34.9 percent during the game while shooting 55.9 percent themselves.

The Tigers will continue Ivy League play on Friday at 7 p.m. with a game at Brown.