Princeton University Athletics
Second Half Surge Not Enough For Princeton
March 07, 2000 | Women's Basketball
March 7, 2000
Box Score
PHILADELPHIA, P.A. - The Princeton women's basketball team put forth a valiant effort in the 1999-2000 season finale, but Pennsylvania was too strong, coming away with a 68-54 victory in the Palestra.
The game marked the end of the career for two spectacular seniors-Kate Thirolf (Rockville, Md.) and Maggie Langlas (Missoula, Mont.). Thirolf finished the game with a team-high 17 points on 6 of 12 shooting from the floor, including a 4 for 5 performance from three-point land. She also added six rebounds. She will graduate with 1,174 career points, placing her eighth on the all-time scoring list. Langlas tallied only seven points and two rebounds on the night. She finished her basketball career in seventh place in scoring at Princeton with 1,188 points. The crowd at the Palestra saw a back and forth game in the opening minutes, as there were six lead changes in the first five minutes of play. With the score tied at 11-11, Penn went on 9-0 run over the next three minutes to build a 19-11 lead at the 11:17 mark. Back-to-back three-pointers by Mandy West gave Penn its biggest lead of the first half at 38-20 with 2:53 on the clock. The Tigers put three points on the board in the final two minutes and trailed 38-23 at halftime.
The Quakers held a double digit for most of the second half, and jumper by Diana Caramanico with 13:23 on the clock gave Penn a 49-30 advantage--its biggest of the game. Thirolf refused to let Princeton go down without a fight, scoring nine consecutive points to bring the Tigers to within 12 at 51-39. A layup by Lauren Rigney (So., Marlborough, Mass.) with 7:16 to play cut the Quaker lead to 10 points at 51-41.
The Princeton defense did not allow a Penn field goal during a six-minute span, including four defensive stops on four consecutive possessions. Unfortunately for the Tigers, they were not able to capitalize on the offensive end. A three-point play by West sparked a 10-4 Quaker run for a 61-45 lead with 4:26 remaining. Princeton inched back in the game, and a three-pointer by Allison Cahill (Fr., Uxbridge, Mass.) cut the lead to single digits at 62-54 with 2:02 on the clock. That would be as close as the Tigers would get as Penn outscored Princeton 6-0 over the final two minutes for the 68-54 final score.
Rigney joined Thirolf in double figures, scoring 11 points. She also added four rebounds, a team-high six assists and three steals. Cahill came off the bench to score 11 points on 3 of 5 shooting from three-point range.
The Tigers finish the season 9-19 overall, 6-8 in the Ivy League.