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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
St. Mary's (St. Mary's Tournament)
Players Mentioned
Berry Drops in 30, But Tigers Fall at St. Mary's in Women's Basketball, 75-70
November 25, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 26, 2005
Box Score
MORAGA, Calif. - Despite a frantic last-minute rally and 30 points from freshman point guard Jessica Berry, the most in her young career on Old Nassau, the Princeton women's basketball team (1-2) was never able to eclipse the single-digit lead St. Mary's (1-2) kept inching forward at the Hilton Concord Thanksgiving Classic in Moraga, Calif. on Friday evening as the host Gaels prevailed, 75-70.
Berry hit 10 of 15 from the field including a trio of three-pointers and added seven points from the free throw line, topping her previous best of 10 points at St. Joseph's a week ago and becoming the first Tiger since Becky Brown against Columbia on Mar. 8, 2003, to score at least 30 in a game. Brown had 31 that night against the Lions. Tonight, the senior post player and sophomore forward Meagan Cowher were also in double-digits for Princeton, scoring 10 points each. With 10 rebounds, Cowher achieved her first double-double of the year.
Free throws and turnovers played a large role in deciding Friday's close contest. St. Mary's hit 17 of 24 from the line while Princeton made less than half of its free throws, connecting on 8 of 19. While winning the battle of the boards, outrebounding St. Mary's 44-33, Princeton ceded eight of those possessions to the Gaels, turning the ball over 27 times to 19 for SMC. From the field, the Tigers edged St. Mary's, 45.8 percent to 44.6 percent.
St. Mary's had its largest lead at 11, 58-47, with 8:49 left in the game. Princeton, which spent the entire game chipping away at a St. Mary's lead that seemed to lurch forward with every Tiger basket, had the lead down to five twice after the 11-point margin before cutting it to four with a Berry free throw with 3:23 left in the game. After the lead was four again at 69-65 on a Brown layup with 2:20 left, neither team scored until SMC's Jontelle Smith, who led the Gaels with 20 points, split a pair from the line to put SMC up by five with 32 seconds left. SMC's Sheridan Arredondo regained a six-point advantage for the Gaels by splitting another pair of free throws with 20 seconds left. A Katy O'Brien three-pointer halved the lead and Princeton capitalized on a St. Mary's foul on the next inbound play that put Berry at the line for two, both of which she converted to cut the lead to one at 71-70 with five seconds remaining. Princeton fouled immediately to get the ball back, but SMC's Brianna Winn hit two free throws to force the Tigers to hit a three on their next possession in order to tie. However, Princeton never got that chance as Winn stole the ball from Berry near center court to seal the game.
The Gaels' ability to hit the three-pointer made the difference in the first half and the free-throw disparity began to show in what was otherwise a tight battle in the opening 20 minutes. St. Mary's was 5 for 11 from distance, including accounting for all of its first 12 points, while Princeton went 1 for 9. SMC made 8 of 11 from the line in the half, while Princeton converted on only three of its 10 chances. The Tigers had a small advantage from the field, hitting 40 percent to SMC's 38.5 percent, and outrebounded SMC 24 to 17, keeping the Gael lead no larger than eight as the home team took a 33-28 lead into the break.
Princeton faces Central Florida on Saturday at 5 p.m. Pacific Time. The Golden Knights fell to Butler 69-57 in the game preceeding Princeton's on Friday evening.