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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Central Florida (St. Mary's Tournament)
Players Mentioned
Cowher Scores 25 as Princeton Women's Basketball Holds On for 91-87 Win over UCF
November 26, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 26, 2005
Box Score
MORAGA, Calif. - Thanks to 25 points from sophomore Meagan Cowher and 17 from junior Casey Lockwood, a dominant effort on the glass and a marked improvement from the free-throw line, the Princeton women's basketball team (2-2) built a double-digit lead late in the first half and fended off a late rally to top Central Florida (1-3) 91-87 on Saturday evening in the Tigers' second game at the Hilton Concord Thanksgiving Classic at Moraga, Calif.
A night after she scored 30 points on St. Mary's, freshman point guard Jessica Berry, who was named to the weekend's all-tournament team, hit double-digits for the third time in her four-game career with 11 points including seven key free throws late to hold off UCF's come-from-behind bid. Her '09 classmate, Julia Berger, scored the first points of her Princeton career as 12 Tigers scored and all 15 saw floor time. Princeton's 91 points were the most scored in regulation since the Tigers put up a school-record 97 against Centenary on Dec. 4, 2002.
Thanks to the Orange and Black outrebounding UCF 39-26, the Tigers were able to absorb hot shooting from the Golden Knights. UCF outshot Princeton 61.8 percent to 48.2 percent including 10 three-pointers. Also benefitting Princeton was the relative lack of turnovers, giving up only nine possessions while taking 16 from UCF. The Tigers got plenty of practice at the free-throw line as well, hitting 33 of 44 chances while UCF made only 9 of 17. When Princeton gained its largest lead of the game at 69-50 with 7:57 remaining, the Tigers hadn't let UCF any closer than eight to that point since the halftime break. But the Golden Knights weren't about to hand Princeton a victory, even with Princeton's last double-digit lead coming at 81-69 with 2:02 left in the game. A Francine Houston three-pointer capped a 13-5 run that led the game into the final minute and cut Princeton's lead to four at 86-82. Houston led UCF with 27 points including seven three-pointers and 10 for 14 from the field. Two Katy O'Brien free throws returned the lead to six with 45 seconds left, but a Shayla Smith three-pointer cut the lead to one possession for the first time since late in the first half. Junior Elyse Umeda split a pair to give Princeton a four-point lead, but UCF's Amber Long cut it to two at 89-87 with 18 seconds left. After O'Brien pushed the lead back to three with another free throw, Houston missed a three-point attempt to tie and Lockwood sealed the game with a free throw with five seconds left.
Heading into the weekend, rebounding had been a major area in which the Tigers sought to improve after being outrebounded collectively by St. Joseph's and Lehigh 75-68 and splitting those two games. For the weekend, the Orange and Black pulled down 83 rebounds to St. Mary's and UCF's collective 66.
Princeton began to pull away late in the first half, due in large part to the Tigers' proficiency from the free-throw line. After hitting only 8 of 19 chances from the line yesterday against St. Mary's, Princeton ended the half converting their last eight free throws, including six from Cowher and two from Berry, on the way to a 45-34 advantage at the break.
The 13-2 half-ending run started with a bucket from Ariel Rogers with 4:17 left in the half to break a 32-32 tie and also included a three-pointer from freshman Whitney Downs. The rookie from Tennessee scored nine points in the first half, making all three of her shots from the field and adding a pair from the line. Only Cowher had more in the opening 20 minutes with 15, already topping her season-high total of 14 against Lehigh earlier in the week.
Princeton's nearly unbroken lead in the first half -- Central Florida's only lead was 29-28 with 7:13 left in the period -- was also helped by a crushing 23-9 advantage on the glass, including 11 offensive rebounds while UCF renewed its possessions with rebounds only twice in the opening period. The big rebounding edge compensated for the Golden Knights outshooting Princeton 56.0 percent to 48.4 percent in the first half.
The Tigers hit the hardwood again on Thursday at Monmouth before hosting Colgate at Jadwin Gym next Saturday.