Princeton University Athletics
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Shore Trip: Princeton Women's Basketball Visits In-State Rival Monmouth Thursday
November 29, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 29, 2005
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Windex Women: After being outrebounded in its first two games 75-68 by St. Joseph's and Lehigh collectively, Princeton outrebounded its opponents in California 83-59.
Take `em, they're free!: Free throws played a role in Princeton's narrow loss at St. Mary's on Friday night. After going 8 for 19 from the line against the Gaels, the Tigers hit 33 of 44 attempts against UCF. Those points were very significant as well, as the Orange and Black needed them to hold on for the win.
A weekend on the edge: Both of Princeton's games in California came down to the final seconds. Against St. Mary's, Princeton had the chance to tie with just a few seconds left on the clock, but a turnover preserved the win for SMC. The next night, a Casey Lockwood free throw with five seconds left made it a two-possession game and finished off a UCF team on the comeback trail.
She's Berry, Berry good: It turns out that freshman point guard Jessica Berry's 10-point effort in her collegiate debut versus St. Joseph's was just a preview. Against St. Mary's, Berry scored 30 points and nearly single-handedly led Princeton's to a come-from-behind win. She came back the next night with 11 points and clutch free throws down the stretch, earning all-tournament honors for the weekend.
Double-double: Meagan Cowher's double-double (10 p, 10 r) against St. Mary's, the third of her career, was also just a hint of an even more productive night ahead. Against UCF, she scored 25 points, three from matching her career best. Hey, get your own ball!: Princeton turned the ball over only nine times against UCF on Saturday. That's the fewest since Dec. 21, 2001, when the Tigers also had only nine turnovers against Centenary (La.). Saturday's 91 points were the most in regulation since a 2002-03 game against Centenary, in which the Tigers scored a school-record 97.
More Berry: Jessica Berry's 30 points against St. Mary's were the most since Mar. 8, 2003 when Becky Brown scored 31 against Columbia. The school record is 38, set by Ellen DeVoe against Long Island in 1985.
Chart climber: Becky Brown had 16 points over the two games this weekend. In the first two games, Brown rose from 10th to seventh on the Princeton all-time scoring list and her 1,211 points are 64 behind Ellen Tomasiewicz (1978-82) for sixth place.
Home cookin': The Tigers had their Thanksgiving meal at the home of Casey Lockwood across the San Francisco Bay from the St. Mary's campus. The home cooking may have done the trick for Lockwood, who had 17 points against Central Florida, the most since her collegiate debut at Nebraska (20) on Nov. 23, 2003.
Long time, not much see: Despite being only 40 miles apart, Princeton and Monmouth went 24 seasons without playing each other after a home-and-home series in the 1978-79 and 1979-80 seasons. Last year, the two schools met with Princeton winning in overtime, 57-52. Meagan Cowher had a double-double in her first collegiate game with 10 points and 10 rebounds as the teams ended the first half (22-22) and the second half (45-45) tied before Princeton scored 12 points in OT to win.
Road woes: With the loss against St. Mary's, Princeton has not won a true road game (non-neutral court) since Feb. 11, 2005 at Cornell. The string stands at six games including the team's last four Ivy games from last year, the season-opening St. Joseph's game this year and last weekend's loss at St. Mary's.
A balanced attack: The Tigers have three players averaging double-figure points per game. Meagan Cowher, who didn't hurt her standing with 25 points against Central Florida, leads the team with 13.5 ppg, while Jessica Berry, who also got a boost from her 30-point effort against St. Mary's, is second with 13.3 ppg. Becky Brown is averaging 12.5 ppg and the Tigers are close to adding a fourth player averaging double-digits with Casey Lockwood at 9.8 ppg.
Separation of Church and...State?: Princeton's two losses this year have come to Catholic-founded schools, St. Joseph's and St. Mary's. The two wins were against non-affiliated schools, Lehigh and Central Florida. Princeton's next six games are against non-affiliated schools before the visit to Mt. St. Mary's on Dec. 28.
The skill of the Irish: Monmouth's Niamh Dwyer scored a game-high 20 points in last year's meeting and nearly had a double-double with nine rebounds in the 45-minute contest. Dwyer, from Ireland, is one of only two of the five Hawks who started that game that return this season. LaShaunda Merriweather, a 6-4 center, is the other. Dwyer is at it again this year, averaging 12.8 points per game and leading the team in rebounds as a 5-9 guard with 7.8 per game.
On Monmouth: The Hawks enter Thursday's game with three losses in its first four games and two straight. Monday night, Monmouth lost at Lehigh, 64-45, while being outrebounded at a 2:1 rate, 46-23. Nyaimah Ware, a sophomore guard, led Monmouth with 10 points while Niamh Dwyer had nine points and a team-high four boards. Down by just six at 42-36 with 13:22 left in the game, Lehigh went on a backbreaking 16-0 run, holding the Hawks without a point for over six minutes while opening up a 22-point lead.
All aboard again: For the second time this year, all 15 dressed Tigers saw floor time against Central Florida. Twelve Tigers got on the scoreboard as well, with Julia Berger scoring the first four points of her collegiate career and fellow rookie Whitney Downs scoring nine after dropping in a free throw against Lehigh. All nine of Downs' points came in the first half. She was 3 for 4 from the field with a three and hit both her attempts from the line. Lillie Romeiser, Ali Prichard, Ali Smith and Lauren Nestor also had their first points of the season in that game.
The sharpshooters: The Ivy leaders in both field-goal percentage and three-point percentage early in the 2005-06 season are wearing Orange and Black. Becky Brown is 21 for 32 from the field (.656) and Casey Lockwood is 4 of 6 (.667) from beyond the arc among those with a minimum of one three made per game on average.
They want that ball: Princeton has two of the three top offensive rebounders in the Ivy League, as Becky Brown has hauled down 15 such boards, an average of 3.75 per game, and Meagan Cowher has recorded 11 offensive rebounds, good for a third-best 2.75 per game.
Toeing the line again and again...: The 33 of 44 free throws Princeton made in its game against Central Florida are the most since Feb. 6, 1988, when the Tigers went 40 for 47 from the line.
They may need new whistles: The 53 fouls called in the Central Florida game were at least the most any of the current Princeton players have experienced. The 33 fouls committed by UCF -- albeit a number of them strategy fouls to put Princeton on the free-throw line -- were also the most committed against the Orange and Black in the careers of any of the current Tigers.
On the call: Thursday's game can be heard online by clicking on the audio link next to the Monmouth game on the schedule page. John Sadak will be on the call from Boylan Gym on the Monmouth campus.
It's TV time: So far, five games this season will be on television in the Princeton area, broadcast by Patriot 8 cable. The Nov. 22 game against Lehigh was shown locally, as will 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 42 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.