Courtney Banghart's 10 on 10: Tani Brown '10 and Cheryl Stevens '10

PRINCETON, N.J. - Recently finishing her 10th season, Princeton head coach Courtney Banghart sits with 208 career victories, 113 of which have come in the Ivy League. She is fourth all-time in the Ivy League in career and conference wins.

Banghart's 10 on 10: The Coaching Staff
Banghart's 10 on 10: The Class of 2013
Banghart's 10 on 10: The Alumni Weekend
Banghart's 10 on 10: Addie Micir '11
Banghart's 10 on 10: Overseas Trips
Banghart's 10 on 10: Bella Alarie's Freshman Season

To celebrate her 10 years at Princeton, the Ivy's all-time leader in overall winning percentage and conference winning percentage, laid out her 10 favorite memories. In this article, Banghart's memories will continue with a look back on the captains of her first Ivy League championship team, Tani Brown '10 and Cheryl Stevens '10.

Leadership.

That's the perfect word to describe the two senior captains for coach Banghart's first Ivy League championship.

"Tani and Cheryl are two of the best leaders this program has ever seen," said Banghart. "They are selfless, passionate, compassionate and fun. Together, they are almost literally a force of nature. They make you laugh and they live in genuine gratitude. They say yes whenever they can and they show up, understanding that you are where you spend your time. While neither Tani nor Cheryl were starters in their time in the orange and black, they ensured that the culture was one of winning, of positive enthusiasm, and of bringing others along."

The two members of the Class of 2010 went through a unique time for Princeton women's basketball. Following their freshman season, head coach Richard Barron left to take a position with the Baylor program. Coach Banghart was hired several weeks later.

"It was definitely a period of uncertainty and adjustment because Coach Banghart hadn't recruited any of us so it took time for us to build trust in her process and her system," said Brown. "Ultimately the collective pride we had for Princeton and leadership from the upperclassman and coaching staff helped us to come together pretty quickly."

Things weren't easy during Banghart's first season and the duo's sophomore campaign as Princeton went 7-23, winning four times during Ivy play. Despite the losing, there were noticeable changes right away.

"I think we as players appreciated the fact that Coach Banghart had been in our shoes (as a player at Dartmouth), because she really understood what we were going through," mentioned Stevens. "The entire coaching staff (Banghart, Milena Flores, Melanie Moore) brought such great energy and enthusiasm, so it was easy to buy into their vision."

Brown discussed her sophomore year by saying "The biggest takeaway was remembering what it felt like to play for a losing program when so many people were sacrificing and working hard to make me a better player and person." She continued with, "From the coaches and the managers to the trainers and teammates, everyone is invested in your success. A takeaway was learning from mistakes and knowing what losing felt like, in order to ensure it didn't happen again."

The tides began to change during Brown and Steven's junior year.

Princeton went 14-14 overall and 9-5 in the Ivy League. The Tigers completed the 2008-09 season on a five-game winning streak, the last two in impressive fashion over Cornell (76-55) and Penn (72-55).

"I remember that we really started to understand what it meant to compete," stated Brown. "I really credit my teammates from the classes of '07, '08, and '09 for always pushing Cheryl and me on and off the court. Each team is different and every year is a fresh canvas, but you take from the culture your teammates have built and left behind."

Every senior wants to end their collegiate career on a positive note. What was the expectation for this group as they sat 34-52 through three seasons?

"I believed we could win the Ivy League title – which was the ultimate goal – from day 1," declared Stevens.

Bold. However, the 2009-10 Princeton Tigers not only achieve that goal, they left no doubt who the best team in the Ivy League was.

The squad began the year with three wins including one over a Delaware team that featured a freshman named Elena Delle Donne. After a loss to Rutgers on December 5th, Princeton would not lose another game for 105 days.

Complete dominance.

Three straight months without a loss. The average margin of victory was 21.2.

Princeton became just the third team in Ivy League history to go 14-0 and won the program's first outright title since 1978.

"I remember us setting that tone in the off-season and repeating it early and often throughout workouts and meetings," Brown articulated. "I think I realized we were capable of winning the Ivy League during pre-season when we started to click as a team during several consecutive games. Our freshman (Class of 2013) provided some incredible energy, but we also had veteran talent in Addie (Micir '11) and Krystal (Hill '11) to provide support on and off the court.

When asked to describe the 2009-10 unit, Stevens conferred, "The team was full of incredibly talented basketball players, so that was obviously a huge factor in our success. But not only did that team connect on the court, but also off the court. We were all exceptionally close, which I think contributed to our success that year as well. When you genuinely love your teammates, and would do anything for them, I think that plays out on the court as well."

"It was one of the best days of my life."

A common statement for any student-athlete on a NCAA Tournament team when watching the Selection Show, but it held extra meaning for Tani Brown and her teammates.

"I remember we all huddled around the screen and screamed at the top of our lungs* when our name was called, said Brown. "It was a once in a lifetime experience that we got to share with everyone invested in the program's success, past and present."

Editor's Note* - The excitement from the team can be confirmed in the photo below. Yes, they did scream at the top of their lungs.

As a No. 11 seed, Princeton fell to No. 6 seeded St. John's 65-47 in Tallahassee, Fla. It was not the result the team wanted, but hardly changed the perspective of what it had achieved.

"Going to the NCAA Tournament was such a memorable experience," replied Stevens. "Knowing that we were the first team to make it in the program's history made it even more special. I remember actively telling myself to soak up every moment of it. Even though we did not perform the way we had hoped, it was an amazing experience to represent Princeton at that level."

Being a student-athlete always creates challenges, but academic deadlines don't change regardless of whether you're in the NCAA Tournament. Brown learned of that first hand.

"The court time and media exposure is highly regimented, and on top of that it coincides with Princeton's senior thesis deadline and finals period so there's a unique sense of pride in representing the school as a student-athlete," Brown stated. "I was redrafting a hundred-page thesis with my advisor via email and studying St. John's inbound plays. It was crazy."

After graduating, Brown joined Google before moving to Vietnam to complete a United States Fulbright Fellowship in Northern Vietnam, teaching college English and managing cultural programs through the U.S. Embassy. Now she is the Head of Account Management at Jopwell, a venture-backed diversity recruitment start-up in NYC that connects underrepresented minorities with career advancement resources.

Following an internship with Ariel Investments in the summer of junior year, Stevens began working at the company after graduation. She worked in Sales and Marketing for four years before joining a boutique executive search firm, PierceGray, based on the north side of Chicago in Evanston. Basketball is never that far away from Stevens as she still plays in tournaments with John W. Rogers '80, who she interned with at Ariel, and other Princeton alums.

Looking back on their time at Princeton, the immense sense of pride is evident.

Stevens pronounced, "Being a captain of the team that was the first in program history to make it to the NCAA Tournament is something I am very proud of. To make it to the NCAA tournament is a big deal, and to accomplish that alongside a group of your best friends is very special."

"I wish the game had gone another way (who doesn't re-live the many moments of their basketball career in their mind?), but it felt like the culmination of years of blood, sweat, and hard work paved by the alumni and coaching staff," Brown explained. "We're honored to have been the first to do it for the program."

Winning didn't stop for the program after 2009-10. That title was the first of four straight while another came in 2015.

Five Ivy crowns in six seasons. Not only did the team win championships, they dominated, just like the 2009-10 team, losing just five conference games during that stretch.

"It's an incredible honor to be a part of something past, present, and future," verbalized Brown. "We all know that we are a part of something incredibly special that started way before us. Our alumni and coaching staff are incredible women who paved the way for the success the program continues to achieve on and off the court every day."

"I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to play a role in the program's journey to where it is today," answered Stevens. "Watching the team have so much success after I graduated fills me with pride."

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