Princeton University Athletics
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Princeton Women's Basketball Hosts Cornell, Columbia This Weekend
February 16, 2006 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 16, 2006
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The return visit: Princeton's sweep over Columbia and Cornell last month was the first road sweep over the pair since 2000 and just the third of head coach Richard Barron's five-year tenure at Princeton. A season sweep of the pair would be the first since 1999.
14 of 20: The 14-6 record Princeton carries into the Ivy's stretch run is tied for the fourth-best in program history through 20 games. The 1978 team was 17-3 at this point, while the 1977 and 1988 teams were 15-5. Princeton was also 14-6 in 1976, 1991 and 1996.
11 and 20: With the Tigers at 14-6 overall and 5-2 in the Ivy League, program-best win marks are still within reach. Princeton has won 20 games only twice, in 1988 and 1996. Since the introduction of the 14-game Ivy schedule in 1987, Princeton has won as many as 11 Ivy games three times: 1987, 1988 and 1999.
1,500: After 27 points against Harvard and 12 against Dartmouth, senior center Becky Brown is just 24 points away from 1,500 for her career. She would be the third Princeton women's player to accomplish that after Claire Tomasiewicz `79 and Sandi Bittler `90.
She's No. 3: Becky Brown is now ranked third in Division I in field goal percentage at 65.5 percent. She was No. 1 after her 12 for 16 performance against Harvard, but a 4 for 10 night against Dartmouth combined with Liz Sherwood's 9 for 10 effort for Vanderbilt on Sunday knocked her from the top spot. They'll remember the name: Last time Prinecton got together with Columbia and Cornell, sophomore forward Meagan Cowher had 59 points between the two games. Her 32 points versus Columbia was the most for any Princeton player since 1989.
Seven!: In Princeton's 94-80 win over Cornell, the Tigers had seven players in double-figures in the scoring column. Not surprisingly, the team came within four points of setting the school single-game scoring record.
Foul trouble: A key in Princeton's wins against Columbia and Cornell last time around was the Tigers' ability to draw fouls on the Lions' and Big Red's post players. Cornell's Jeomi Maduka, who could succeed Meagan Cowher as the Ivy Rookie of the Year, fouled out with 10 points in 18 minutes. Against Columbia, center Sarah Beato fouled out with six points in 26 minutes and forward Becky Hogue drew four fouls in 24 minutes, scoring 12 points. The Lions started three guards in the game.
Game time moved: The Penn-Princeton women's game on Mar. 7 will now start at 6:15 p.m. instead of 4 p.m. as originally announced. It is part of a doubleheader with the men's team, whose game will be televised at 9 p.m. on ESPNU.
Berry impressive: Freshman Jessica Berry is ranked 18th in the nation this week in assists per game at 5.6. She is the No. 2 freshman in Division I in that category, just a tick behind Kansas' Ivana Catic at 5.7.
Majoring in accuracy: Princeton's highest team ranking in any NCAA category is in field-goal percentage (46.6 percent), where the Tigers are ranked 14th. Princeton is the top team in that category outside the major conferences (ACC, SEC, Big Ten, Big East, Big XII, Pac-10).
For starters: In all 19 games this year, Princeton's starting lineup has had the same combination by class: two seniors, one junior, one sophomore, one freshman. The lineup itself has remained the same in 17 games, while in the other two, 2008's Ariel Rogers replaced fellow soph Meagan Cowher and 2009's Whitney Downs filled in for fellow rookie Jessica Berry.
Broadcast info: Derek Jones calls the action Friday night from Jadwin Gym against the Big Red while John Sadak describes the play-by-play on Saturday against Columbia. The broadcast can be accessed by clicking on the "Live Audio" link under the game's listing on the right side of the www.goprincetontigers.com home page.
O'Brien climbs the charts: Senior Katy O'Brien, with 170 career three-pointers, needs just two to tie Kathryn Thirolf `00 for fifth on the all-time list. With 304 assists, she is sixth on that career list. This year, she's on the Ivy leader list in both categories. Her 2.2 three-pointers per game clip is second and her 4.05 assists per game average is third.
Head Coach Richard Barron: In his fifth season, Richard Barron's 54 wins rank fourth in program history, 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.
Battle on the boards: Princeton faces the league's top two rebounding teams in Cornell (38.0 rpg) and Columbia (37.8 rpg). However, the Tigers are the league's top team at limiting its opponents' rebounds, holding them to 33.0 per contest. Princeton is also the league's leader in rebounding margin, pulling down an average of 4.3 rebounds per game more than their foes.
League's top scorer: Senior Becky Brown has assumed the title of league's top scorer as of this week, dropping in an average of 15.8 points per game. That rate is ahead of Dartmouth's Jeannie Cullen (15.2). Meagan Cowher is sixth in the league at 14.8 ppg.
More Brown/Cowher: The pair are also in the league's top 10 in rebounding. Brown averages a fourth-best 7.5 rpg, while Cowher ranks 10th at 5.4. Two of the three players ahead of Brown, Jeomi Maduka of Cornell (8.1 rpg) and Michele Gage of Columbia (7.6 rpg) will be visiting this weekend. In offensive rebounds, Brown is the league's leader at 3.1 per game and Cowher is fourth at 2.55.
Still more Brown/Cowher: Becky Brown and Meagan Cowher are No. 1 and No. 2 in the league, respectively, in field-goal percentage at 65.5 and 50.4 percent.
Helpers: Two of the top three assist leaders are in Princeton uniforms. Jessica Berry leads the league with 5.6 apg, while senior Katy O'Brien is third at 4.05 apg. The player between them, Columbia's Megan Griffith, averages 5.19 apg. Berry is No. 3 in the Ivy League in assist:turnover ratio at 1.51 helpers per giveaway, and O'Brien is fifth at 1.21.
Watch out for her: Katy O'Brien may be a 5-6 guard, but she's 10th in the league in taking possessions off the glass for the Tigers with 3.6 defensive rebounds per game. Becky Brown ranks fifth at 4.4.
Hitting the century mark: Becky Brown played in her 100th career game against Dartmouth. If she plays all seven games remaining in the regular season, she'll finish in a three-way tie for second on the Princeton all-time list at 107. Andrea Razi `96 holds the record at 109. Brown has missed only two games, both at Jadwin Gym, including against Wake Forest her sophomore year and against Brown her junior year.
Next week: Princeton has its last two road games of the season at Dartmouth and Harvard. The Tigers will be looking for their first win at Harvard since 1999 and first win at Dartmouth since 1998.