Princeton University Athletics
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Tigers Drop Overtime Decision to Danish Nationals, 76-71
August 17, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Aug. 17, 2005
COPENHAGEN, Denmark - Being that it's August, there's a pretty good chance that Princeton head coach Richard Barron hasn't thought that much about his starting lineup come November. But based on Wednesday night's game against the Danish National Team in Copenhagen, Barron can count on a great bench no matter who that might be.
Princeton lost to the Danes in an overtime thriller, 76-71, after Denmark tied the game on a driving layup with three seconds left in regulation. But the story of the game for the Tigers was the play of the group that didn't start the game, a group that helped Princeton erase a double-digit deficit.
The Tigers, who earned a split of their two-night series with the Danes, trailed 44-33 early in the third quarter before their bench started the comeback. In less than two minutes, Princeton took the lead at 46-45 thanks to a 10-2 run, sparked mostly by the defensive play of Lillie Romeiser and some big baskets by both Ali Prichard and Ali Smith.
"The bench was great tonight," said Barron. "You hope that they can provide that kind of spark, especially on defense, and they did it tonight. We made a nice comeback from a slow start."
Princeton actually led 65-60 in the final minutes, only to see the Danes come back to tie it and then outscore them 11-6 in the five-minute overtime period.
Becky Brown led Princeton with 16 points, 12 of which came in the first half. Smith nailed three three-pointers and finished with 11 points, while Prichard had a second-straight strong game with 11 points and four rebounds. Denmark led 23-15 after one quarter (international games feature four 10-minute quarters) and 38-29 at halftime, but the Tigers had cut that lead to one-point by the end of the third quarter thanks to the play of the bench, who were substituted as an entire five several times during the game.
Princeton will spend a final night in Malmo, Sweden, across the bridge from Denmark, before bussing to Goteborg Thursday morning. The Tigers next play Friday night against the Norwegian national team in the Norwegian capital of Oslo.