Princeton University Athletics
There's No 'I' In Langlas
February 28, 2000 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 28, 2000
You are standing there waiting. All the kids are lined up with pen and program in hand, ready to jump as soon as the door opens. Then the locker room empties, and Maggie Langlas makes her way through the crowd, talking to the media, signing autographs and looking to see if her parents made the trip from Montana.
If you had not seen the game yourself, you may not know who won by looking at Langlas' demeanor. Win or lose, there is a smile on her face and positive words flowing from her mouth. She takes a look at the stats, and there could be a little smile that says 18 points against Rider was okay. There could be a very sarcastic "way to go, Maggie" whispered that says the four points against Yale just didn't get the job done.
Either way, it does not matter what the stat line reads, only what the score is at the bottom of the page. She was right when she said basketball was a team sport, and the team's success is top priority. As a senior and a captain, Langlas stays on an even keel for herself and the team. "I try to play composed and keep the same court emotion going, whether we are up by 20 or down by 20," Langlas says. "I think it is good to maintain control and confidence."
In the midst of a tough season, staying positive is important, on and off the court.
"I really hate losing, and this year has been especially tough to maintain that positive attitude," she says. "I believe that if you don't stay positive then it won't be as fun and enjoyable. I love the game of basketball, although I don't enjoy losing at all. I love the sport overall, and I would never want to take anything away from it.
"Especially with our season, it is so long that it is easy to dwell on losing. When someone makes a mistake or you make an individual error, it is easy to get caught up in that and lose sight of learning from your mistakes instead of dwelling on them.
"I think people appreciate having a positive person around. I have my moments of anger and sadness--I get angry on the court from cheap shots and stuff like that. I hate dirty players--but overall I remain positive."
Langlas has plenty of things to remain positive about. When the Tigers began the second half of the Ivy League season, they wanted to use the last seven games to prove the capabilities of this team. Princeton is 2-0 it its "mini-season" after wins at Columbia and Cornell last weekend. Langlas scored 14 points in an eight-minute span, including three straight three-pointers, in the second half against the Lions to propel the Tigers to a 62-44 victory.
Five games remain in the 1999-2000 season, and the two this weekend will mark the final curtain call for Langlas and her two classmates.
"Looking back I cannot believe this is the last weekend I will play at Jadwin [Gym]," Langlas says. "I love playing at Jadwin more than any other gym I have been in, it's like home. "I like shooting there, and I like everything about it. It is weird to think I have only two more games here."
She has scored 540 of her 1,141 career points through 42 games in this building (12.9 ppg). Points are only the beginning. She ranked either first or second on the team in seven offensive catagories last season and six catagories this season. She was a member of the Ivy League All-Rookie team in her first season and earned All-Ivy accolades the following two seasons. She was one of six players selected first-team All-Metropolitian selected by the Women's Basketball Association. Her list of accomplishments and honors go on and on, but you get the point. She is one of three captains on this year's squad, and she is more comfortable leading by example instead of being more vocal.
"I am a firm believer of leading by example. I am not one to get in somebody's face, and I have been criticized for that in the past," she says. "If someone makes a mistake on the court, I want to point out what they did, but at the same time try to draw something good out of it. "I try to work hard at practice every day and instill the value of hard work and the long term payoff."
Langlas learned another important lesson as a Tiger--goal setting.
"In high school we never really wrote down our goals. We always wanted to win the state championship, but we never set specific goals, individually and as a team," Langlas says. "It wasn't very tangible, and we did not realize how important goal-setting was until Coach [Feeley] went over it my first year. Every year it seems to become more important. Now I see how short-term goals benefit in the long run."
More than anything else, the goal for the weekend is winning. In her final performance in front of the home crowd that she has come to know and love, it won't be about Maggie, it will be about Princeton.
No matter what the outcome of the game or how many points she scored, she will leave the locker room the same way she entered, just as she will someday leave Princeton the same way she entered.
With a smile.