Princeton University Athletics
Women's Basketball Is Ready For New Year
December 30, 2003 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 30, 2003
Princeton, N.J. - The women's basketball team used the first part of the 2003-04 season to play against the best teams it could schedule games against. Now, with a 2-9 record against those teams, with invaluable experience and after many lessons learned the hard way, the Tigers hope to exploit their more familiar opponents in the New Year.
Their first test of 2004 comes Saturday, Jan. 3 at home against Lafayette. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Jadwin Gym. A Princeton win will give head coach Richard Barron his 100th career win in his 13th season, including 10 seasons at Sewanee (The University of the South). Barron entered this season with 97 career wins.
Princeton, with or without its coach's milestone, and Lafayette both enter Saturday's game in need of the win. Lafayette is 0-8 while the Tigers have lost four straight, facing one of the toughest early-season schedules in the program's history. Nebraska, Montana and Idaho all received votes in the latest Top 25 poll and Georgia Tech and Wake Forest come from the highly competitive ACC. Lafayette's schedule hasn't been as tough but the Leopards have struggled even more than the Tigers. Their best game was a 76-69 overtime loss to Denver on Dec. 20 but they are averaging 20.0 points less than their opponents (both Lafayette and Princeton average approximately 57 points per game).
Lafayette's major trouble area has been turnovers as it averages 28.5 per game. With just 10.8 assists per game, the Leopards assist/turnover ratio is a dismal 0.4.
The Leopards lost one of their top scorers, Katie Kokolus, with an injury in the third game of the season and were without their current leading scorer, Collen Fitzpatrick, for two games. Fitzpatrick is now healthy and averages 17.5 points per game while the closest scorer behind her is Ashley MacLelland at 9.6 points per game. Brianne Welte is Lafayette's main force inside, averaging a team-high 8.1 rebounds and totaling nine blocks.
A winless team may sound like a cakewalk for the experienced Tigers but Princeton hasn't won a game since a 65-44 victory over Wagner on Dec. 17. Although Princeton gave every team a game, it was unable to pull off wins as underdogs and now enters the New Year with a 2-9 record.
Most recently, Princeton dropped two losses at the Lady Griz Holiday Tournament at Montana. The Tigers led 28-26 at halftime against Montana but failed to adjust to the Lady Griz's increased pressure in the second half. Princeton hit six three-pointers in the first half, including three by Katy O'Brien, but shot just 1 for 6 behind the arc in the second. Montana won 68-54 and advanced to the championship game against Memphis.
In the consolation game, Princeton faced Idaho and the nation's leading scorer, Emily Faurholt (25.2 points per game). The Tigers recovered from a 20-6 deficit at 9:11 to come within six at halftime (31-25) despite allowing Faurholt 17 first-half points. Princeton was within four with less than a minute to play but the Vandals pulled ahead by connecting on free throws and finished with a convincing 62-54 win.
Becky Brown was named to the all-tournament team for averaging 15 points and seven rebounds in the two games.
One of the Tigers biggest problems has been consistency. They have started eight different players in their 11 games and usually rotate at least nine players. Sophomores O'Brien and Brown, along with freshmen Casey Lockwood and Katy Digovich have been the most solid while Maureen McCracken, Ali Smith, Lauren Nestor and Shelly Slemp have all been used in the starting lineup. Elyse Umeda has also seen time in all but one game this year.
Senior captain Mary Cate Opila and freshman forward Kelli Hughes are both injured.
Brown averages a team-high 12.6 points per game and adds 5.0 rebounds per game and seven total blocks. Digovich has 10.5 points and 6.0 boards per game while Lockwood is close behind with 10.3 points and a team-high 8.0 rebounds per game. O'Brien leads the Tigers with 3.5 assists and a 53% three-point field goal percentage. She averages 9.7 points and 3.5 rebounds per game.
With the level of talent and potential that exists in the 2-9 Tigers, the New Year can't come soon enough.