Princeton University Athletics
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Princeton Women's Basketball Starts Three-Game Swing to End Pre-Conference Season Wednesday at Mt. St. Mary's
December 28, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 28, 2005
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Bouncing back: Wednesday's game is Princeton's first since running into No. 1 Tennessee last Tuesday in Knoxville, Tenn. The Tigers fell 107-39, and the 68-point margin was Princeton's most one-sided loss since 1979.
A finishing kick: If Princeton wins each of its last three games before the Ivy opener on Jan. 7 at Penn, the nine wins would tie a school record for victories before the Ivy opener. In 1995-96, Princeton also entered Ivy play 9-4.
Weathering a Nor'easter: The Mt. St. Mary's game is the second of three games against Northeast Conference teams this year. On Dec. 1, Princeton defeated Monmouth, 64-56. The Tigers host Fairleigh Dickinson on Dec. 30.
Movin' on up: Princeton senior center Becky Brown moved into fifth place on the all-time Princeton scoring list during the Tennessee game and now has 1,293 points. With 10 points, Brown passes Corneille Burt's (1988-92) 1,302 points.
We love the 60s: The Tigers are 6-1 when they reach the 60-point mark, including five in a row when reaching that total. When it scores less than 60, Princeton is 0-3.
Gotta make your free throws: The Tigers have struggled from the line this season, shooting just 62.4 percent as a team. Princeton is 3-0 when it shoots above that percentage.
Last time against the Mountaineers: A 20-point halftime lead helped Princetono to a 79-58 win over a Mt. St. Mary's team that entered the game with a 1-6 record. The Tigers outshot MSM 48.3 percent to 32.8 percent at Jadwin Gym on Dec. 20, 2004. Becky Brown led three players in double figures with 21 points and Meagan Cowher had nine of Princeton's game-high 44 rebounds. Tiffany Green (11) and Ashley Liller (10) led the Mountaineers on the scoreboard and both return this season. Surveying the Mountaineers: Mount St. Mary's has lost three of its last four heading into the Princeton contest. While the Tigers were down in Knoxville, the Mountaineers were in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, where they dropped games to Oral Roberts, 94-78, and Illinois-Chicago, 83-67. Three players average double-figure points for MSM, with senior guard Samira Rashid (13.4) and junior guard Dita Krumberga (13.3) leading the team. Junior forward LaToya Butler is nearly averaging a double-double with 11.6 points and 9.3 boards a game.
Majoring in thievery: Heading into the holiday break, Princeton led the Ivy League in steals per game with 10.33 per contest. That fell to 9.7 per game after tying a season-low with only four steals against Tennesee, but the Tigers have six game with 10 or more steals. Princeton is 5-0 when stealing more than 10 balls. Casey Lockwood leads the team with 19 on the year.
The center of attention: Princeton senior center Becky Brown is in the Ivy League's top five in both scoring and rebounding, one of two players along with Cornell's Jeomi Maduka to appear in the top five of both categories. Her 13.2 points per game and 7.9 rebounds per contest are team-bests. Brown has had four double-doubles this season and has reached double-digit point totals in 8 of 10 games. Brown was named Ivy League Player of the Week on Dec. 12 after scoring a combined 32 points against Army and Rutgers.
Cowher power: Princeton sophomore forward Meagan Cowher has reached double-digit points in seven of the last nine games with a season-high of 25 against Central Florida in a 91-78 win. The Tigers are 5-1 when Cowher scores more than 10 points. Against Rider, Cowher had 19 points, earning Ivy League Player of the Week honors.
Rebounding, rebounding, rebounding: Princeton is one of only two schools in the Ivy League with positive rebounding margins along with Dartmouth. Even with a season-low 22 boards against Tennessee, the Tigers hold a 1.2-rebound edge on the year, averaging 36.2 rebounds per contest to their opponents' 35.0 boards per game.
Sesquicentennial: Katy O'Brien had one three-pointer at Tennessee. It was the 150th of her career and 24th this season, making her one of seven players in Princeton history to reach that total. Kimberly Allen (1993-97) is next on the Tiger all-time list with 168 threes in her career.
It's all part of the give and take: Princeton had four times as many turnovers (16) as steals (four) against Tennessee last week, despite the 16 giveaways tying for the third-lowest total of the year. When Princeton makes up at least half of its turnovers with steals, the Tigers are 6-1.
More Berry: Just a freshman, Jessica Berry has quickly become an important cog in the Princeton offense. She averages 9.7 points per game, ranks second in the league in assists at 5.1 per game, and carries an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.34 helpers for each giveaway. That's good for fifth in the league. She scored 30 points, just one off the Princeton freshman record, against St. Mary's on Nov. 25, earning Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors.
All in: In six games this season, including the last two, every dressed Tiger has seen floor time. Princeton won the first five of those games before Tennessee.
Broadcast info: Derek Jones makes his first appearance of the season behind the microphone as fans can listen online to the Mt. St. Mary's game. Click on "Live Audio" under the game's listing on the right side of the www.goprincetontigers.com front page.
See `em while you can: Princeton fans have only two opportunities left until February to see the Tigers at Jadwin Gym. Following Friday's game against Fairleigh Dickinson and next Tuesday's game against Lafayette, Princetno is away from home until a big series with Harvard and Dartmouth on Feb. 10-11. This is because Princeton's first five Ivy games are on the road with the break for finals in between in the second half of January.
It's TV time: Five games this season are scheduled to be shown via local cable provider Patriot Media on the Patriot 8 channel. The Nov. 22 game vs. Lehigh was shown locally, as was the Dec. 11 game against Rutgers. Next up is the Jan. 3 game vs. Lafayette, plus the Feb. 10 game vs. Harvard and the Yale game on Mar. 4.
Injury report: Healthy through its first five games, Princeton had its first major injury of the season on Dec. 3 when junior Elyse Umeda went down with a torn ACL. She will miss the rest of the season.
Head Coach Richard Barron: In his fifth season, Princeton head coach Richard Barron stands fourth on the school's wins list. With 46 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.
Looking ahead: The Tigers' last three games before the Ivy opener, against Mt. St. Mary's on Wednesday, hosting Fairleigh Dickinson on Friday and Lafayette next Tuesday, are against teams with a combined 10-15 record. FDU does not have another game before traveling to Princeton, with its last contest on Dec. 21, a 71-59 loss to Lafayette. The Leopards are in a two-game tournament at Dartmouth against Loyola Marymount on Dec. 29 and either the Big Green or Akron on Dec. 30.