Princeton University Athletics
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Princeton Women's Basketball Opens Home Season Tuesday versus Lehigh
November 21, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 21, 2005
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Seven, do I hear seven?: With 15 points on Friday night at St. Joseph's, Princeton senior center Becky Brown leapfrogged Margaret Meier (1974-78) and Kathryn Thirolf (1996-2000) into eighth place on the all-time school scoring list with 1,176 points. With 13 points, Brown will move into seventh place ahead of Margaret Langlas (1996-2000).
The iron unkind: Princeton's season-opening loss at St. Joseph's on Friday night can be attributed to its slow start offensively. In the first half, Princeton converted on just four of 21 attempts from the field for a 19.0 shooting percentage. Meanwhile, SJU hit on nine of 26 attempts to take a 30-17 lead into the locker room.
Welcome to college basketball: Freshman Jessica Berry was Princeton's only rookie starter on Friday and the only `09 Tiger to see floor time against the Hawks. She scored 10 points in her debut and pulled down seven rebounds, tied for a team-best on the night.
Busy week: After playing on Tuesday, Princeton flies to California on Wednesday for a Thanksgiving-weekend pair of games at St. Mary's College in Moraga, Calif. Following the holiday, Princeton faces St. Mary's and either Butler or Central Florida before returning home Sunday.
Threezed out: The Tigers went without a three-pointer on Friday for the first time since December 6, 2003 at Sacred Heart, breaking a streak of 49 games. Le-highs, Le-lows: Princeton leads the series with Lehigh, 10-8. After winning nine of the first 11 games, however, the Mountain Hawks have helped to even the series by winning six of the last seven.
A short history: When St. Mary's and Princeton meet on Friday, it will be only the second time the two schools, separated by a continent, have met. Last season, the Gaels came to Jadwin Gym and left with a 56-46 victory. The trip was part of a two-game eastern swing for St. Mary's, which fell at George Washington three days later.
Hello stranger: Whichever team Princeton meets in its second game in California on Saturday, Butler or Central Florida, it will be the first meeting between the Tigers and that school. The last time Princeton faced a team from Indiana was when the Tigers played Evansville at a two-game tournament hosted by the University of Nebraska to open the 1993-94 season. It has also been a while since Princeton faced a team from Florida. The Tigers hosted South Florida to open the 1994-95 season.
Road woes: Princeton's loss at St. Joseph's didn't help a trend of dropping games away from Jadwin Gym. The Orange and Black has prevailed in five of its last 15 road contests and extended the skid to four games.
A win on the Horizon?: Princeton has played only two games against teams currently in the Horizon League, where Butler plays. In the 1995-96 season, Princeton topped Illinois-Chicago at a tournament in Hawaii. In the 1986-87 season, Wisconsin-Green Bay knocked off the Tigers in Jadwin Gym.
Conference USA: The Tigers are 0-3 all-time against teams currently in Conference USA, where Central Florida has relocated for this season. In a tournament hosted by Furman University, Princeton fell to East Carolina during the 1994-95 season. A year earlier, with current Tiger assistant coach Mary Gleason suiting up for the opposition, Southern Methodist topped Princeton at Jadwin Gym. In the 1991-92 season, Princeton fell to Tulane.
California, here we come: This weekend's trip is the second visit fo California of head coach Richard Barron's tenure. In the 2002-03 season, Princeton played at Stanford against the host Cardinal and local rival Temple.
Last time against Lehigh: It was also the second game of the season last year when Princeton and Lehigh met at Stabler Arena in on the Lehigh campus. As in the season-opener this year, a big halftime deficit was Princeton's downfall in the Lehigh contest. The Mountain Hawks rode 46.4 percent shooting to a 35-17 lead at the half. While Princeton shot 33.3 percent in the opening frame, the Tigers' choice of shots helped keep their shooting percentage down. Princeton fired 27 threes in the game, making only five. While Lehigh put up 22, 10 fell for the home team in a game it won 64-51.
Rebounding Against St. Mary's: Princeton looks to rebound against St. Mary's in more ways than simply answering last year's defeat. The Gaels out-rebounded the Tigers 43-23, leading to 31 first-half shot attempts for St. Mary's and only 18 for Princeton. This allowed the Gaels to take a 29-19 halftime lead, a margin that stood at game's end with a 56-46 final.
Homecoming: The Thanksgiving trip will be a return to the home state of four Princeton players. Senior Lauren Nestor and junior Casey Lockwood are from the north side of the San Francisco Bay while senior Katy O'Brien and freshman Caitlin O'Neill are from Southern California.
Eyeful of Ivy: In Princeton, Lehigh faces its third straight Ivy League opponent. While Princeton was trading buckets with St. Joseph's, the Mountain Hawks were also in Philadelphia facing Penn at The Palestra. After that overtime defeat, Lehigh hosted Brown and evened its record at 1-1.
Looking for a win: St. Mary's enters the Princeton game on Friday with an 0-2 record, coming home winless after a trip to the eastern part of Washington state. The Gaels were felled by Eastern Washington on Friday and Washington State on Sunday.
It's the world's game: Most of the St. Mary's players come from the west coast, but three are from outside the United States. Junior Victoria Ramirez hails from Guadalajara, Mexico, while sophomore Maija Lahde is from Finland and senior Erika Urmonaite comes from Lithuania.
Torching the nets: If Princeton is to even its record on Tuesday with a win against Lehigh, it will have to contain an offense that has averaged 75 points over its first two games compared to the 46 points that Princeton scored in its opener at St. Joseph's. The good news for the Tigers is that Lehigh's opponents have also done well on offense early this season, scoring an average of 72.5 points per game.
Everyone needs a little help sometimes: Senior Katy O'Brien stands ninth on the Princeton all-time assists list with 226, adding three against St. Joseph's. She needs 15 to move into eighth ahead of Margaret Langlas (1996-2000).
For three!: Given the 49-game streak with at least one three-pointer that Princeton saw snapped against St. Joseph's, it shouldn't be long before the Tigers are dialing long distance once again. When they do, Katy O'Brien figures to score her share, given her 126 career three-pointers. That total is good for eighth on the all-time list, 14 behind her former teammate, Allison Cahill (1999-2003).
It's TV time: So far, five games this season will be on television in the Princeton area, broadcast by Patriot 8 cable. Tuesday's game against Lehigh, the Dec. 11 game vs. Rutgers, the Jan. 3 game vs. Lafayette, the Feb. 10 game vs. Harvard and the Yale game on Mar. 4.
Head Coach Richard Barron: In his fifth season, Princeton head coach Richard Barron stands fourth on the school's wins list. With 40 wins, he is behind Liz Feeley's 68 wins from 1995-2000, Pat Walsh's 72 wins from 1974-79, and Joan Kowalik's 163 wins from 1984-95.