.png&width=24&type=webp)
Princeton University
Yale
Players Mentioned
Women's Hoops Takes Win Streak to Seven with 53-37 Win at Yale
February 03, 2006 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 3, 2006
Box Score
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Any rust the Princeton women's basketball team (13-4, 4-0 Ivy) gathered during its 19-day break for finals was shaken off Friday night at Yale's Lee Amphitheater. Though the performance was not perfect, nor as amazing as the 94-point display at Cornell in Princeton's last game on Jan. 14, it was more than enough to keep the team's Ivy record perfect in a 53-37 win over the Bulldogs (1-17, 0-5). The win is Princeton's seventh straight, all by double-digits.
Friday's contest had 49 turnovers, including 25 for the Tigers, two from a season-high. However, two areas in which the Tigers entered the game ranked seventh in the conference, three-point defense and free throws, showed great improvement against the Bulldogs. Yale didn't hit its first three-pointer until 9:55 remained in the game and went 3 for 16 on the night (19 percent). Meanwhile, Princeton hit 13 of 18 from the line, a 72-percent clip. Rebounding, one of Princeton's strengths, was present again on Friday as the Tigers outrebounded Yale 40-25. Sophomore Meagan Cowher and senior Katy O'Brien co-led Princeton in that category with eight apiece. For the game, Princeton shot 42.6 percent to an even 30 percent for Yale. The Tigers won without the benefit of a single three-point shot, taking no attempts against the Bulldogs.
Cowher and senior center Becky Brown each had a game-high 13 points while junior Casey Lockwood added 11 to help move Princeton to its best Ivy start since 1999. After entering the second half with a nine-point edge, the Tigers went on a 7-2 run to gain a 14-point lead at 35-21 with 18:26 left in the game. From there, things all but stalled for both teams as one basket was traded over the next six minutes. The Tiger lead grew to 17 at 40-23 with 11:34 left before Yale mounted its last comeback attempt. The Bulldogs cut the lead to nine with 5:44 left but Princeton let it get no closer, holding Yale scoreless for almost four minutes while enjoying a 6-0 run. Up by double-digits with less than two minutes left, Princeton's lead got to 18 at its highest point with a minute remaining. The Tigers outrebounded Yale 22-9 in the first half with seven players contributing to that total, led by Cowher's six. Tied at 6-6 with 15:28 left, Princeton scored the next six points and led by as much as 11 at 26-15 with just over four minutes before halftime. The first half was turnover-marred for both teams, Princeton committing 13 to 11 for Yale. Though the Tigers shot 40 percent in the opening stanza, they held Yale to 34.8 percent shooting and nothing from beyond the arc, where the Bulldogs went 0 for 5.
Stephanie Marciano led Yale with 10 points as Princeton held the Bulldogs' top six scorers to single digits. Sara McCollum, Yale's leading rebounder, had only one board while Julie Mantilla led the team with seven. Yale's leading scorer on the year at 9.4 points per game, Chinenye Okafor, was limited to 10 minutes due to an ankle injury, scoring two points.
The win was a fine birthday present for both head coach Richard Barron and senior forward Lauren Nestor, each of whom celebrated another year on Friday. Princeton continues its weekend at Brown on Saturday at 7 p.m.