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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
St. Joseph's
Players Mentioned
Saint Joseph's Shoots Down Princeton Women's Hoops, 81-69
November 29, 2006 | Women's Basketball
PRINCETON, N.J. -- The team's best shooting night since a win over Brown during the Ivy title run last season wasn't enough. Despite hitting at a 46 percent clip, Princeton fell to a hotter Saint Joseph's team, 81-69, Wednesday night at Jadwin Gym.
The Hawks (2-3) hit 52 percent of their shots, going 27 for 52 from the field as Ayahna Cornish led all scorers with 28. Whitney Ffrench added 17 as the same duo that helped hand Princeton (2-3) a 12-point loss to open the season last year keyed SJU's victory again.
Meagan Cowher continued her double-digit scoring streak, which stands at 11 after her 17-point output. With nine boards, she was one rebound away from her third straight double-double. Casey Lockwood added 10 points.
Starting with Cornish's three-pointer 21 seconds into the game, Saint Joseph's led the entire way, jumping out to leads of 12-4 and 18-6 before the Tigers mounted their first of several comebacks that came tantalizingly close but never filled the hole.
Down 28-20 with 5:44 left in the first half, a pair of free throws by Cowher and a breakaway steal and layup from Whitney Downs brought Princeton to within four. But two Princeton turnovers and two SJU threes later, the Hawks were ahead by 10 once again.
SJU continued to hold a similar lead until the second half had passed its midway point. Down 11, the Tigers went on a 9-2 run to close to within four at 63-59 with seven minutes to play. Cowher had five of the nine points during the stretch. A minute and a half later, Lockwood split a pair from the line and Princeton was within three.
But the Hawks answered quickly with a 6-0 run and four points from Ffrench to bring the lead back to nine at 71-62 with four minutes to play. Princeton never threatened again, and the Hawks closed out the victory.
The loss extends Princeton's winless streak against SJU to 0-8 all-time, though six of the games came more than a quarter-century ago.
In a game where the other stats that usually tip a contest were fairly equal, the shooting difference was the deciding factor. Saint Joseph's outrebounded Princeton only 34-32 and had one more turnover than the Tigers, 19-18. Each team had the same number of attempts from the field, 52, but SJU made 27 to Princeton's 24 and hit three more from distance than did the Orange and Black.
Princeton will make its next stop in Evanston, Ill., to take part in Northwestern's two-game tournament. After meeting the host Wildcats Friday at 8 p.m. Central Time, the Tigers will take on either Northern Illinois or Cincinnati.