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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
St. Francis (N.Y.)
Players Mentioned
Late Layup Gives St. Francis (N.Y.) 54-53 Win over Princeton Women's Hoops
December 16, 2006 | Women's Basketball
PRINCETON, N.J. -- Kristen Miah's running layup with 2.1 seconds gave St. Francis (N.Y.) 54-53 lead over the Princeton women's basketball team Saturday night at Jadwin Gym, and the Terriers survived a desperation three-pointer by Casey Lockwood to hold on for the win.
Princeton dropped to 4-7 on the year while St. Francis improved to 3-7.
Lockwood broke a 52-52 tie by making the second of two free throws to put Princeton ahead by one with 9.3 seconds left. Miah, the smallest player on the court, then weaved through the Princeton defense and put in a layup to give the Terriers the lead. The Tigers had 2.1 seconds to respond and, following a timeout, Ali Prichard inbounded the ball to Meagan Cowher near the halfcourt line. Cowher passed to Lockwood, whose three-point attempt went off just ahead of the buzzer but hit the back of the rim.
"We just need to play at our tempo," said sophomore Whitney Downs, who led the Tigers with a career-high 17 points. "When we play at our pace, we knock down shots. When we get out of control, we start missing shots and turning the ball over."
Though the teams missed a similar amount of free throws, attempts from the line were a tipping point in the game. St. Francis had more fouls, 20-17, but more of Princeton's sent the Terriers to the line. St. Francis hit 20 of 26 free throws while Princeton made 10 of 17. In a game where rebounds (44-39, St. Francis), turnovers (19-16, St. Francis) and shooting percentage (33.3-31.7, St. Francis) were close, St. Francis getting more chances to take uncontested shots from the line made a difference. The Tigers had 60 attempts from the field, hitting 19, while the Terriers were 16 of 48.
Princeton's shooting percentage, 31.7, was its lowest since last year's Tennessee game, when it shot 29.3 percent. It was a chance from a recent hot streak for the Orange and Black, which had shot 49 percent or better in three of its last four games.
After leading the contest 41-32 with 11:43 to play in the second half, St. Francis went on an 9-1 run to cut the Princeton lead to one point at 42-41 with 7:29 to play. Princeton's went 9:38 without a field goal from Lockwood's three-pointer at 11:43 until a three by Downs with 2:05 left, missing 10 shots from the field during the stretch while making 5 of 8 from the line.
Following Downs' three-pointer that gave the Tigers a 49-48 lead, St. Francis retook the lead on two free throws by 6-foot-8 Katja Bavendam, who led all scorers with 18 points. Downs answered with a bucket and a foul to take a two-point lead, but Kara Ayers re-tied the game with two from the line to make it 52-52 with 1:15 left. The teams each traded a turnover and a missed shot before St. Francis' Tiffany Hill fouled out and sent Lockwood to the line, where she made one of two before Miah's fateful layup.
The Tigers will have six days away from competition before Meagan Cowher and Lauren Cowher lead the Tigers into their hometown to face Duquesne Friday at 7 p.m. to start a four-game road swing.
NOTES
St. Francis now leads the series, which started Nov. 20, 2001 on the Terriers' home floor, 2-1. The road team has won all three games.
Meagan Cowher scored 10 points to continue her double-digit point scoring streak to 17 games.
Whitney Downs' previous career-high was 11 points, set Jan. 3, 2006, against Lafayette.
Princeton's opponent has now been to the line more than the Tigers in 8 of 11 games this year. Princeton is 2-6 in those games.
Princeton's 16 turnovers were its second-fewest of the season, next to 14 against Maine Nov. 19.