Princeton University Athletics
Rigney Leads Princeton Over Cornell 46-42
February 20, 2000 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 19, 2000
Box Score
ITHACA, N.Y. - For the first time this season, the women's basketball team has a winning streak, and ironically it came on the road. Last night's victory over Columbia followed by a 46-42 win over Cornell tonight in Ithaca gave Princeton back-to-back victories for the first time since the final Cornell-Columbia series last season.
On Princeton's first possession, Kate Thirolf (Sr., Rockville, Md.) took a pass from Tiffany Scharschmidt (So., San Francisco, Calif.) and drained a three-pointer from the baseline. That set the stage for the first half, as seven of the Tigers' 10 made field goals came from three-point land. After scoring only three baskets in the first 10 minutes of play, Princeton outscored Cornell 8-2 over the next three minutes, on three consecutive buckets by Lauren Rigney (So., Marlborough, Mass.), including two from long range to give the Tigers a 20-7 lead with 7:09 on the clock. A basket by Cornell's Lynell Davis with 2:10 remaining drew the Big Red to within eight at 24-16. After a two and a half minute scoring drought, Hillary Reser (So., Beaverton, Ore.) connected on a three-pointer with 53 seconds to go for a 27-16 Princeton lead at halftime. Rigney led the Tigers with 11 points and four rebounds in the first half. Thirolf added five points and three assists.
Princeton held a seven to 11-point lead for the opening minutes of the second half before a 10-2 Cornell run gave the Big Red a 34-33 lead with 11:58 on the clock. Thirolf hit a three-pointer as the shot clock expired to give Princeton a 36-34 lead at the 10:50 mark, but Cornell's Deborah Stevens knotted the score at 36-36 with 8:53 remaining.
Maggie Langlas (Sr., Missoula, Mont.) stepped up and drained a shot from behind the arc to give the Tigers a lead they would never relinquish. Both teams experienced scoring droughts, and the Tigers led 44-38 with 2:48 on the clock. A Big Red basket at 1:30 drew Cornell to within four at 40-44. Neither team dented the scoreboard until Cornell's Kristi Riccio hit a pair from the free-throw line with 11.5 seconds to play, but Thirolf hit two from the stripe to increase the Tigers lead to 46-42 with 10.7 ticks on the clock. The Big Red had the ball, down four with 10 seconds to play, but a costly turnover with 3.9 seconds allowed Princeton to run out the clock for the four-point win.
Rigney led the Tigers with 13 points, and Langlas tallied 11 points. Thirolf added 10 points and a team-high three assists. Jessica Munson (Jr., Norristown, Pa.) had a team-high five rebounds.
With the win the Tigers improve to 6-17 on the year, 3-6 in Ivy League play. Princeton will be back in action next Friday as it hosts Harvard at 7 p.m.