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Sports Recap: Basketball sweeps the league, WIH splits, WRE suffers tough home opener

Matt Allocco
The men’s basketball team celebrates after Matt Allocco secures the win against Cornell for the Tigers.
Courtesy of GoPrincetonTigers.com

WBB vs. Harvard, Cornell 

The women’s basketball team had a successful debut in the Ivy League with wins against the Harvard Crimson and Cornell Big Red. 

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In their home opener against the Crimson, the Tigers dominated the court 68–50. Princeton held onto the lead for the majority of the game with the exception of a 14-all game in the second quarter. The Tigers took the lead once again with a 11–0 run against the Crimson, entering half-time with a 31–22 lead. Senior guard Abby Meyers secured her second double-double of her career with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Junior guard Julia Cunningham and sophomore guard Kaitlyn Chen scored 15 points each to lead the Tigers to victory. 

On the road at Ithaca, N.Y., Princeton defeated the Big Red 68–41. Meyers led the Tigers in scoring with 28 points, shooting 65 percent in the paint and 50 percent 3-point field goals. Sophomore guard Chet Nweke and freshman forward Parker Hill added seven and eight points, respectively, to the scoreboard. Overall, the team shot at a high 85.7 percent at the free throw line to contribute 12 more points. 

In a home game against Towson on Wednesday evening, the Tigers added to their win streak with a 68–54 victory. The teams were well matched throughout the game with neither team dominating. However, Princeton gained momentum in the 4th quarter with a 13–0 run, giving them the biggest lead of the game. Meyers led the team with 18 points, Cunningham with 15, and Chen with 14.

Their next league match will be on Saturday, Jan. 15 against the Brown Bears in Providence, R.I. 

MBB vs. Columbia, Cornell 

The men’s basketball team secured two league wins against Columbia and Cornell this past week. 

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In an Ivy home opener against the Lions, the Tigers won 84–69 despite being down by 12 points in the first half. Princeton quickly flipped the score in their favor with a 15–0 run in the second half of the game. Junior forward Tosan Evbuomwan led the Tigers with 22 points, followed by senior guard Jaelin Llewellyn with 21 points. Senior guard Ethan Wright contributed 17 points and 8 rebounds of his own. Overall, the team shot 46.8 percent in the paint, 28.6 percent for three-point FGs, and 75 percent at the free throw line. 

The Tigers followed their first league win of the season with an exciting, buzzer-beater 72–70 comeback against the Cornell Big Red. At halftime, the Big Red had a 39–25 advantage and stretched it to an 18-point lead early in the second half. But the Tigers were not finished. Senior forward Drew Friberg successfully made two three-point field goals, closing the score gap with 14 minutes left in the game. The Tigers had switched to a 1-3-1 defense to pressure Cornell, allowing the Princeton offense to find rhythm in their plays. With 3:07 left on the clock, junior guard Ryan Langborg tied the game 64-all, and free throws by Wright gave the Tigers their first lead of the game. A layup by Cornell with 6 seconds left on the clock gave the Big Red the lead once more. But in the last play of the game, right as the buzzer went off, sophomore guard Matt Allocco successfully hit a three-pointer off a pass from Langborg, adding to their 9–0 home win-streak. 


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The Tigers are now 12–3 overall, and 2–0 in the league. They will be competing against the Brown Bears with a home advantage on Saturday, Jan. 15 at 4:00 p.m. 

WIH vs. Long Island, Clarkson  

Despite beating Long Island 1–0 at Hobey Baker Rink in the Tigers’ first game back from the holiday break, women’s ice hockey were unable to keep up the momentum, losing against ninth-ranked Clarkson 1–3 on Friday.

Freshman forward Mia Coene scored the sole goal of the game against Long Island with seven-plus minutes to go in the opening period. Freshman forward Ellie Marcovsky had picked up a loose puck in Princeton’s defensive zone, sending it across the ice before Coene fired it in, securing a victory for the Tigers. 

On Friday, just before the midpoint of the second period against Clarkson, sophomore defender Kate Monihan attempted to score from inside the blue line. Although she was unable to, Marcovsky succeeded in snatching the puck away from the Golden Knights, allowing sophomore forward Annie Kuehl to skate in and send it away into the net for a Princeton lead. This lead only lasted four minutes, however, with Clarkson’s Haley Winn, Gabrielle David and Brook McQuigge scoring one goal in the second period and two in the third, breaking the 1–1 tie and securing a definitive win for Clarkson.

Princeton was scheduled to return to play on Friday, Jan. 14 at Union; however, the game has been postponed with a makeup date to be determined. The Tigers’ scheduled game for Saturday, Jan. 8 against St. Lawrence has been postponed to Tuesday, Jan. 18 at 2 p.m.

WRE vs. North Carolina State

In the team’s first home dual of the season, No. 5 North Carolina State took down No. 19 Princeton 32–9. 

The match began at heavyweight with North Carolina State’s Tyrie Houghton winning over sophomore Matt Cover with a 6–3 decision. Junior Patrick Glory was then forced to injury default, the loss proving to be key in securing NC State a lead they would not lose for the remainder of the game. The Wolfpack proceeded to win the next four matches of the day with Princeton only getting on the board when junior Jake Marsh used a third-period takedown and a riding-time point to defeat AJ Kovacs at 165, 5–4. Three matches later, sophomore Aidan Connor closed the match by overcoming Isaac Trumble with a pin with 16 seconds left in the first period.

The Tigers will face No. 6 Arizona State at Jadwin Gymnasium next Sunday, Jan. 16 at noon.

Correction: This piece was updated to clarify that the Harvard Crimson Women’s Basketball Team are not ranked 14th in the nation. Additionally, the story originally confused the University of North Carolina with North Carolina State University. The ‘Prince’ regrets these errors.

Julia Nguyen and Sreesha Ghosh are Head Sports Editors for the ‘Prince.’ They can be reached at sports@dailyprincetonian.com.