Princeton University Athletics
Tigers Fight The Cold (Streak) In Montana
December 27, 2003 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 27, 2003
Princeton, N.J. - The women's basketball team comes off its best game of the season and will be in Missoula, Mont. this weekend for the Lady Griz Holiday Tournament featuring Memphis, Idaho and host Montana. The Tigers' first game is against Montana on Sunday, Dec. 28 at 7 p.m. ET.
Princeton enters the tournament at 2-7 overall and with two straight losses to ACC opponents in its home gym. After falling to Wake Forest 58-41, the Tigers nearly upset Georgia Tech who returned four starters from an NCAA-qualifying team including All-America candidate Fallon Stokes. Princeton led 66-62 with a minute remaining but eventually lost when the Yellow Jackets hit two free throws with no time remaining in the game.
The ACC competition added two more losses to Princeton's record but it also provided the Tigers with experience and confidence, knowing they could compete at a higher level than they were used to. Princeton will look to use and build on that experience this weekend. Montana is 7-2 with its only losses coming to two nationally ranked teams, Texas (5) and Oregon (21). Junior Hollie Tyler leads the Lady Griz with 13.9 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game. Senior Julie Deming averages 13.8 points while sophomore guard Katie Edwards adds 10.0 points off 21-for-48 shooting behind the arc. Senior guard Brooklynn Lorenzen leads Montana with 7.1 assists per game.
The competition will remain tough on Day 2 of the tournament as Memphis enters the weekend with an 8-1 record and 16-point average winning margin. Memphis' only loss came to Vanderbilt, who has been receiving votes in the national poll throughout the year.
Idaho is a perfect 7-0 and boasts sophomore Emily Faurholt, the nation's current scoring leader with 25.0 points per game.
Princeton is the only team in the tournament with a losing record but the Tigers have played their best basketball against the better teams on their schedule, such as Nebraska, Louisville and most recently, Georgia Tech.
The Tigers have three players averaging double figures in scoring, led by Becky Brown with 12.0 points per game. Katy Digovich averages 10.9 points and 6.0 rebounds while Casey Lockwood averages 10.0 points and a team-high 8.3 rebounds per game.
Katy O'Brien has led the team in scoring in the past four games, recording at least four three-pointers each time. She is averaging 9.6 points and leads Princeton with 3.9 assists per game. She is shooting 55% behind the arc.