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Halftime recap: Slow second quarter has Princeton trailing Penn in final

Playing a de facto road game at the Palestra, Princeton is trailing Penn 29-18 at halftime of the Ivy League Women’s Tournament Final. 

Penn leaped out to a fast start with a pair of buckets, but Princeton battled back, as a jumper from junior Leslie Robinson and a three-pointer from freshman Bella Alarie cut the deficit to 8-7 midway through the first quarter. However, Alarie, Princeton’s star freshman, was forced to leave the game shortly thereafter after picking up two early fouls. She would eventually return to the game about midway through the second quarter. Meanwhile, sophomore Gabrielle Rush hit a three at the end of the first quarter, bringing the score to 15-14 in favor of Penn.

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In the second quarter, Penn demonstrated why they have been considered the best team in the Ivy League this year; their suffocating defense forced Princeton into bad shot selections, shot clock violations, and turnovers of every kind. Princeton failed to score for the first 6:48 of the quarter, and ultimately totaled only four points total — a season low for the Tigers. Penn, on the other hand, scored 14 points to race out to a comfortable 11 point halftime lead.

In the first half, Princeton only shot 22 percent from the field — though they did make two threes early in the game. Penn, on the other hand, shot 41 percent from the field and responded from an 0-6 start beyond the arc to make two of their last five shots. Penn's Anna Ross leads all scorers with nine, while Rush leads the Tigers with five points off the bench.

With their season on the line, the Tigers have one final half to make a turn-around. They have done it before; we will now see if they have the heart to overcome this deficit and steal a win on Penn’s home court.

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