It is true that in NCAA athletics, each competitor is talented and successful when it comes to his or her respective sport.
It had been more than a calendar year since the women’s basketball team lost a game at Jadwin Gymnasium, but it appeared that streak might come to an end Friday night. At the twelve-minute mark, sophomore forward Niveen Rasheed was whistled for her fifth foul, disqualifying the Tigers’ leading scorer as the hosts trailed Drexel.
Everything they could do, he could do better.
December has been busy but extremely successful for the women’s basketball team. The Tigers (7-2) opened the month with a win against Delaware on Dec. 1, followed by a home win against Rider four days later. The team followed that with a dominating performance against Navy, and on Monday, Princeton topped Lafayette 90-58. Next up for the Tigers is Drexel (6-1), against whom the team will look to defend its undefeated home record on Friday at 7 p.m. at Jadwin Gymnasium.
The wrestling team looks to overcome a number of obstacles this weekend in its final team dual meet of the calendar year. The Tigers (1-4) travel to Bucknell in Lewisburg, Pa., to take on Bucknell and Drexel on Friday.
Coming off two dominating victories over University of Massachusetts Lowell last weekend, the men’s hockey team will travel to the University of Connecticut to finish the 2010 portion of its season at the annual Toyota UConn Classic. The Tigers (8-5 overall, 6-3 ECAC Hockey) will compete against three non-conference opponents: Bowling Green (6-12-2), Connecticut (5-7-3) and Holy Cross (6-7-2). Princeton will face Bowling Green on Dec. 29 and either Connecticut or Holy Cross on Dec. 30.
Who would have ever thought that Joe Paterno would outlast Urban Meyer as a head coach?
The men’s basketball team will defend its five-game win streak on Dec. 17 in Staten Island, N.Y., when it takes on Wagner College (4-5). This game will be the Tigers’ (7-3) third consecutive road game in a series of six.
The women’s hockey team is on a three-game win streak going into winter break. Before the start of reading period, the Tigers (6-10-1 overall, 4-6-1 ECAC Hockey) will face non-league opponent Boston College (11-2-4) — currently ranked No. 6 in the country — on Dec. 31 and Quinnipiac (13-6-1, 6-5) on Jan. 3. The Tigers’ slow start to the season has picked up considerably, with two wins over Syracuse on Friday and Saturday and a win over Brown on Dec. 4.
Senior defender Laura Martindale has been a force on the women’s hockey team’s blue line this season. She has appeared in all 17 games, racking up five assists and a minus 2 rating, both good for second among defenders. While off the ice, Martindale, an ecology and evolutionary biology major, enjoys rocking out to Christmas music regardless of the season. If you ever hear anyone call for “Grams,” look around; Martindale is likely to be near you, wearing her Princeton Athletics sweatshirts and sweatpants.
Let’s start with the good news. None of the top baseball free agents this winter will be wearing a New York Yankees uniform next season (unless you count Derek Jeter, which I don’t). The Washington Nationals humorously overpaid Jayson Werth, teaming bearded slugger with a dude named Bryce, Stephen Strasburg’s to-be-surgically-repaired arm, and approximately nobody else. According to baseball-reference.com, the San Diego Padres’ roster of players with guaranteed contracts currently consists of Aaron Harang, Dustin Moseley and Chris Denorfia, a formidable roster for MLB’s new spinoff, three-on-three Xtreme Fighting Baseball. The New York Mets will pay a combined $80 million this year to three outfielders over 30 years old who keep getting injured, an ace starter who is out for at least half the year and an ace reliever whose future is in question after assault charges. Wait, that’s not good news. That’s just awful.
In the spirit of reflection, here is a recap of what were arguably the top five sports events from Princeton’s fall-season sports in 2010.
The fall athletic season saw a number of impressive individual performances. In a season in which Princeton brought home five Ivy League titles, choosing just five athletes for their accomplishments proved a difficult task. But whether on the turn of Class of 1952 Stadium or the grass of Roberts Stadium, these five individuals stood out for contributions to their teams’ successful seasons.
The men’s and women’s track and field teams opened their seasons confidently Saturday at the New Year’s Invitational, breaking records and snagging victories across the board. The Tigers hosted 11 schools — including in-state rivals Rutgers, Rider and The College of New Jersey — in Jadwin Gymnasium. After winning 16 of the 25 events last year, Princeton had a lot to live up to. Fortunately, the Tigers had no problems living up to those expectations.
Senior sprinter Jim Behot of the men’s track and field team confessed that he has been injured for most of his Princeton career. After a host of hamstring strains and a new hip injury this fall, he said he is ready to come back in full force for the team’s next meet against Navy on Jan. 8. He has been rehabilitating his hip and hopes to compete for the rest of the year. When he returns, he will run the 60m, 200m and 300m races. Behot will add to an extremely powerful men’s track and field team that showcased its talents with a series of victories at Saturday’s New Year’s Invitational.
Winter break is almost here. For most students that means a long-awaited trip home; for the ardent basketball fan, however, it means the NBA has completed a quarter of its season. The season has offered us exciting plays, great players and interesting storylines so far, all of which I have compiled in this list of First Quarter Awards for the 2010-11 NBA season.
Despite eventually pulling off a dominant 74-61 victory over Navy on Friday, the women’s basketball team initially struggled to earn a definitive lead and was up by just three points at the half. That certainly was not the case Monday night against Lafayette when Princeton (7-2) got off to a 52-27 first-period lead en route to a 90-58 victory over the Leopards (5-6) in front of its home crowd in Jadwin Gymnasium.
The women’s hockey team (6-10-1 overall, 4-6-1 ECAC Hockey) had an exciting and successful end to the first half of its schedule this weekend, beating Syracuse (8-9-2) twice. On Friday night, Princeton outscored the Orange 4-2 and followed that performance with an even more decisive 5-0 win on Saturday. The Tigers have now won their last three games in a row.
A hat trick, 13 goals and 87 shots over the weekend solidified a powerful offensive performance for the men’s hockey team as it rolled over University of Massachusetts Lowell in a weekend doubleheader.
