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Tigers Scare Rutgers, but No. 6/7 Scarlet Knights Escape with 65-56 Women's Basketball Win
December 11, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 11, 2005
Box Score
PRINCETON, N.J. - For almost 12 unbroken minutes in the game, the Princeton women's basketball team (5-3) led Rutgers (8-0), ranked No. 6 in the latest Associated Press poll and No. 7 in the USA Today/ESPN coaches poll. The lead grew as large as six on two occasions. But an 11-1 run midway through the second half swung things in the Scarlet Knights favor, and the visitors held on for a 65-56 win on Sunday afternoon at Jadwin Gym.
Rutgers' full-court press made the difference in the second half. The pressure forced Princeton into turnovers and made the task of getting the ball into its offensive area a dicey one, hurrying Princeton's scoring chances later in the shot clock. Too many missed shots also doomed the Tigers, who made 20 of 58 shots (34.5 percent) while Rutgers hit 21 of 46 (45.7 percent).
Rutgers carried a 15-10 lead past the 10-minute mark of the first half, but a Whitney Downs bucket and a three-pointer by Jessica Berry cut the Rutgers lead to two at 17-15 with a basket by Cappie Pondexter in between. Pondexter led the visitors with a game-high 25 points and would prove valuable to the Scarlet Knights' cause with a 21-point second half after going into the break with just four.
Princeton caught Rutgers at 19-19 and took a two-point lead at 21-19 with four and a half minutes left in the opening half on a Meagan Cowher bucket. After two Essence Carson free throws lifted Rutgers back into a 21-21 tie, Princeton went on a 6-0 run to take its largest lead of the half, though Rutgers would cut into it with a 5-1 run of its own. Still, the Tigers entered their locker room with a 28-26 lead over the 2005 NCAA Regional finalists. A Rutgers surge to start the second half instead came later in the period as Princeton regained a six-point edge at 35-29 on a Katy O'Brien three with 17:17 left. But after Rutgers scored the next four points, that six-point lead would prove to be the last time the Tigers led by two possessions. Two Sammeika Thrash free throws cut the Princeton lead to one, and Rutgers capitalized on a Princeton turnover to drop in another bucket and take a 39-38 lead for the first time since inside of five minutes left in the opening period.
Even though the lead slipped away momentarily, the Tigers were still quite willing to put up a fight against their local rivals. A Downs three-pointer gave Princeton a two-point lead with 8:55 left, though Rutgers tied it up two possessions later. It was at 45-45 that the expected surge came from the top-10 Scarlet Knights, as a tie game became a 56-46 Rutgers lead in a span of less than three minutes.
Still, with time getting short and momentum seemingly locked up by the Scarlet Knights, Princeton scored the next five points on an O'Brien three and two free throws from Cowher to make it a five-point game with 4:02 left at 51-46. It was again five at 58-53 with 3:20 left. Pondexter pushed the lead back to seven with two free throws inside of three minutes left, but an O'Brien three-pointer gave the Tigers their last real chance at upsetting their visitors. Princeton trailed, 60-56, inside of two minutes, when Pondexter knocked down a three-pointer of her own with only a few ticks left on the shot clock on an inbounds play to give her team a seven-point lead again, this time with 43 seconds remaining, silencing Princeton's last gasp. Two Kia Vaughn free throws made the final 65-56.
Free throws were key to Rutgers holding off the Tigers. The Scarlet Knights hit 20 of 23 chances, while Princeton missed six of its 15. Though small in number, that free-throw difference proved large in a tight game where the rebounding edge was minimial, 36-33 for Rutgers, considering that the visitors gave back two of those boards on turnovers. Rutgers had 15 to Princeton's 13.
O'Brien and Becky Brown, who had key buckets to keep Princeton's upset hopes alive, both had 14 points, while Brown had a double-double with 13 rebounds. Cowher also had a double-digit game, putting in 13 points with seven boards. Behind Pondexter's 25 on the Rutgers side was Carson with 14 points.
Despite the loss, the 5-3 start remains Princeton's best in 10 years. The Tigers look to move back to three games over .500 on Wednesday when they make the short trip to Rider for a 7 p.m. start.