Princeton University Athletics
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Cowhers Return to Pittsburgh as Princeton Women's Hoops Visits Duquesne Friday
December 18, 2006 | Women's Basketball
PRINCETON, N.J. -- Meagan and Lauren Cowher will return to Pittsburgh Friday as the Princeton women's basketball team (4-7) will make its first appearance in the Steel City at Duquesne in a 7 p.m. contest.
Last time out: The Tigers were ahead by nine near the midway point of the second half but went without a field goal for nearly 10 minutes as St. Francis (N.Y.) won last Saturday night's game with a layup with 2.1 seconds left, 54-53. Princeton had its poorest shooting night in a year, hitting at just 31.7 percent.
17th and 17th: Junior forward Meagan Cowher scored just enough, 10 points, to extend her double-digit scoring streak to 17 games. She now has 821 points as she attempts to become Princeton's 17th 1,000-point career scorer.
Welcome to Steel City: The Princeton women's basketball team has never played in Pittsburgh and has played only one team from the city just once. Princeton faced Duquesne 23 years ago, Dec. 3, 1983, in an early-season tournament at Bucknell, losing to the Dukes, 70-65.
It's a fine line: Plenty of factors can tip a one-point game, and free-throw shooting is one of them. St. Francis shot more free throws than Princeton, 26-17, making it the eighth game out of 11 this year that Princeton's opponent has been to the line more often than the Tigers. Princeton is 2-6 in those games.
Welcome home Cowhers: Princeton's Meagan and Lauren Cowher will be making their first appearance in Pittsburgh in a collegiate uniform. They are the sixth and seventh out-of-state Tigers to be playing in their home areas this season. Whitney Downs will be the final Tiger to do so this regular season Dec. 30 at Vanderbilt.
On Duquesne: The Dukes will have been off for two weeks before taking on the Tigers Friday in the team's first home game in a month. Duquesne will also enter on a two-game skid after losing by 35 points at West Virginia Dec. 8. Head coach Dan Durkin has used the same starting lineup in all 10 games, led by senior forward Loui Hall's 11.7 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. Though the Dukes are averaging fewer rebounds per game than their opponents, 41.7-36.9, the team has compensated by winning the turnover battle, 19.1-16.7 per game, and outshooting its foes at a .395-.354 rate. Duquesne has also limited the good three-point looks, with opponents connecting only 19.8 percent of the time despite taking 54 more attempts than the Dukes, 197-143.
Near and far: Of the 14 players on the Duquesne roster, 11 are from within a few hours of Pittsburgh and another is from suburban Philadelphia. But while the Tigers hail from nine states, the Dukes have two players from across the pond in freshman guard Rachel Clancy (Ireland) and senior Gosia Flaga (Poland). By the stats, Flaga is Duquesne's second player off the bench, playing in all 10 games with an average of 11.2 minutes per night.
Rebounding as predictor: Princeton is 4-0 when it grabs more rebounds than its opponent and 0-6 when it doesn't.
Switching it up: Princeton head coach Richard Barron hasn't been reluctant to try new combinations in the starting five over the course of the season, but the same five Tigers had started the last five games until Jessica Berry rejoined the starting lineup against St. Francis. Berry had started Princeton's first five games this season and 27 of the 28 last year. The other four positions in the starting five, Meagan Cowher, Casey Lockwood, Whitney Downs and Ali Prichard, stayed the same.
Developing a trend: Princeton's shooting accuracy has been fairly strong this year, still connecting at a 41.5 percent clip. The team had shot 49 or 50 percent in three of the four games prior to St. Francis, but the Tigers' off night was Princeton's lowest shooting percentage since Dec. 20, 2005, when Tennessee limited Princeton to 29.3 percent from the field.
The magic number is 70: Princeton is 3-0 when it scores 70 or more points. The Tigers have done so twice in the last four games, against NJIT (75) and Rider (74), as well as against Wagner (70).
Keep 'em coming: Barron has tapped no fewer than 11 players and, once, all 17 players on the roster to get time in games this season. After developing a consistent starting five last year, Barron is employing a new up-tempo offensive scheme this season to adjust to the graduation of two senior starters, center Becky Brown and shooting guard Katy O'Brien, after last season.
For threeee: Princeton has attempted 53 more three-pointers than its foes this year, hitting no fewer than three and as many as 11 (its most since 2004) in games this season. Six players have accounted for 89 percent of those three-point attempts, with Caitlin O'Neill (41 of the team's 185 tries) and Ali Prichard (38) liking the long-distance shot the most.
Downs and definitely not out: Sophomore forward Whitney Downs has started a career-long five straight games and certainly helped her chances of extending that streak with a career-high 17-point performance against St. Francis. She also reached double-digits with 10 against NJIT, giving her a total of three double-digit games in her career. Last season, she scored a then-career-best 11 points in her only start of 2005-06 against Lafayette.
Prichard pitches in: Junior forward Ali Prichard has started a career-long six straight games, reaching double-digits in three of the last four. Her 12 points at Rutgers were her most since her career-high 17 at Harvard the last game of the 2004-05 season.
A look at the Ivy: The Ivy League has a combined record of 17-54 through the past weekend and will have three games Monday, Dec. 18 (Colgate at Cornell, Dartmouth at Central Michgan, Marist at Harvard), and two more Thursday, Dec. 21 (Drexel at Penn, Northeastern at Harvard). Friday, Princeton shares the Ivy slate with Yale, which hosts a 7 p.m. game against Marist. The league's schedule is then free until Dec. 28.
Assistance please: Jessica Berry nearly set the Princeton record for assists in a season last year with 147 (record is 149). This year, she has regained the position as the team's assist leader, though the helping hands are many. Berry has 29 of the team's 163 assists, with Caitlin O'Neill (24) and Meagan Cowher, Casey Lockwood and Shelly Slemp (18 apiece) also contributing often.
Looking for No. 3: Princeton head coach Richard Barron has 65 wins at Princeton, making him the fourth-winningest coach in Princeton history. Next up on the list is Liz Feeley, who had 68 wins from 1995-2000. The second coach in Princeton history and the second-winningest coach, Pat Walsh, had 72 wins from 1974-79. Princeton's all-time winningest coach is Joan Kowalik, who won 163 games from 1984-95.
Listen to the game: Derek Jones will be making his third Tiger broadcast of the season Friday from the Palumbo Center in Pittsburgh. Click on the speaker icon under “Schedule” on the bottom right of the front page at www.GoPrincetonTigers.com or find the same icon on the women's basketball schedule page to access the broadcast. Of Princeton's 28 regular-season games, 23 will be available by free online broadcast.
Looking ahead: The Duquesne game starts a four-game road swing for the Tigers, who will not return home until Jan. 12 against Columbia. Princeton will fly to Vanderbilt for a Dec. 30 contest, head up to Easton, Pa., and Lafayette on Jan. 3, and travel to The Palestra to open the Ivy season at Penn Jan. 6.