.png&width=24&type=webp)
Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Lehigh
Players Mentioned
Behind Brown's Double-Double, Princeton Women's Basketball Handles Lehigh, 68-57
November 22, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 22, 2005
Box Score
PRINCETON, N.J. - Eager to get back on the court after a slow start at St. Joseph's last Friday, the Princeton women's basketball team (1-1) looked much more like the club picked to finish in the Ivy League's first division as the Tigers pounced on Lehigh (1-2) on Tuesday night at Jadwin Gym, building a lead as large as 17 points on its way to a 68-57 win.
Senior center Becky Brown recorded a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds, both game-highs, moving up one more spot on Princeton's all-time scoring list. With 1,195 points, Brown jumped ahead of Maggie Langlas (1996-00) into seventh place. Joining her in double figures were senior guard Katy O'Brien with 16 points and sophomore forward Meagan Cowher with 14.
Lehigh got the game's first two points, but a three-pointer from O'Brien gave Princeton a lead it never relinquished. After going without a bucket from beyond the arc against St. Joseph's, Princeton was 5 of 14 from long distance with four coming from O'Brien and one from junior forward Casey Lockwood.
After Princeton's lead stood at 17-10 on an Ariel Rogers layup with 12 minutes left in the opening half, Lehigh went on an 8-2 run over the next five and a half minutes to trim that lead to one at 19-18. With the Mountain Hawks pecking away at the Tiger advantage, a Princeton timeout sparked the home team on its way to scoring 16 of the next 18 points to build a 15-point lead at 35-20 with less than three minutes left in the half, a lead Princeton took into the break. A layup by Brown gave Princeton its largest lead of the game at 41-24 in the opening minute of the second half, but Lehigh remained persistent. Lockwood's three-pointer gave Princeton a 13-point lead five minutes into the period, but Lehigh trimmed it to five at 48-43 halfway through the period and clawed to within four on a trey by Kaela Pearce with 6:35 remaining in the game.
Again, the Tigers responded with a run that quashed any chance of the Orange and Black falling to 0-2 to open the season. At 54-50 with just under five minutes left, Princeton went on a 12-0 run and chewed the clock to under two minutes to salt away the victory. Lehigh scored seven of the game's last nine points for the 68-57 final.
The Tigers won handily despite losing the battle on the boards. Lehigh outrebounded Princeton 37-32 and edged the Tigers in second-chance points 11-8, but Princeton made up for it with a much more accurate offensive touch than in the season-opener last week. After shooting 19 percent in the first half against St. Joseph's, Princeton hit on 18 of 32 shots in the opening 20 minutes for a 56.3 shooting percentage and fared almost as well for the game, hitting on 51.8 percent of its attempts. Lehigh connected on just over 40 percent at its end. Finding its touch from beyond the arc also helped Princeton, which hit five threes to Lehigh's two on 10 attempts.
Jenny Callan paced Lehigh with 18 points while Adrienne Blount had 13 points and a team-best eight rebounds. The Tigers were the third Ivy League team Lehigh faced to start the season after falling at Penn in overtime and returning home to beat Brown.
With its first win recorded, Princeton visits St. Mary's College in Moraga, Calif., for the Hilton Concord Thanksgiving Classic. The Tigers tip against the host Gaels at 10 p.m. ET on Friday and start on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET against either Butler or Central Florida.