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Princeton University
Brown
Players Mentioned
Tigers Come Close but Brown Holds On for 49-47 Women's Basketball Win
February 04, 2006 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 4, 2006
Box Score
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The difference between the Princeton women's basketball team extending its seven-game winning streak and seeing it end on Brown's floor could have been many things. It ended up being a Tiger layup that rolled off the rim and a free throw that didn't fall. Despite an attempted comeback from a 14-point halftime deficit, the Tigers (13-5, 4-1 Ivy) cut it as low as two but never closed the gap at the Pizzitola Sports Center on Saturday evening, falling to Brown (11-8, 5-1) 49-47.
With one minute left and Brown ahead by two, Brown's Annesley O'Neal missed a pair of free throws. The Bears corralled the rebound and missed their attempt to make it a two-possession game with Becky Brown taking control for the Tigers. On the team's second shot of the possession, Brown layed it up and was fouled on the play, only to see the ball trickle off the rim and miss a chance for a three-point play. Brown missed her first shot and missed the second one to give Princeton a chance at the tying shot. Casey Lockwood lost her grapple with Brown's Colleen Kelly for the board and time expired.
Offensive rebounds for Brown throughout the game and especially in the waning minutes played a huge role in ending Princeton's as-yet perfect Ivy start. Of Brown's 40 boards, 22 of them were on the offensive end. Princeton had just 30 rebounds and only 10 of the second-chance variety.
With 10:14 left in the game, Brown held a 45-36 edge. The Tigers went on a 7-0 run in just over two minutes' time to cut the edge to two, the smallest Bear margin since just under eight minutes remained in the first half. The scoreboard stuck there for four minutes before a Sarah Hayes jumper gave Brown a four-point edge. Hayes then hit another shot inside of three minutes to make it a six-point game. The Tigers, however, continued fighting back, hitting back-to-back jumpers to make it a two-point game again with 1:29 left. The rally stalled there, though, and Princeton left Providence with its first loss since Dec. 20 and first loss to an unranked team since Nov. 25. Brown won despite being outshot 44.7 percent to 31.6 percent, thanks to the second-chance boards and six three-pointers to none for the Tigers. After taking no attempts against Yale, Princeton went without a field goal from distance on the weekend.
Brown led Princeton with 21 points, 17 in the second half, and seven rebounds. Meagan Cowher and Ariel Rogers each had eight points. For Brown, Hayes narrowly missed a double-double with nine points and 10 boards. Kelly added 13 points including a game-high three three-pointers and Jaclyn Vocell had 10 points.
Princeton had trouble denying second-chance opportunities in the first half, leading to a 24-13 rebounding advantage for the Bears including 12 offensive boards. That allowed Brown to make up for a small shooting disadvantage, 37.5 percent to 35.5 percent, and Princeton to be in a 14-point hole at the break. Brown was able to exploit Princeton's defense beyond the arc, hitting 5 of 9 attempts while Princeton missed on all seven of its three-point shots. Rogers was the leading Tiger scorer in the half with six points.
After a 12-12 tie with 9:54 left in the half, Brown outscored Princeton 20-6 for the rest of the period. The run included three three-pointers and three second-chance buckets. During the stretch, Princeton went 4 for 13 from the field while Brown hit seven of its last nine shots in the period.
For the first time since Jan. 3, Princeton plays at home when Harvard comes to Jadwin Gym on Friday at 7 p.m. Saturday's Dartmouth game has been moved to 6 p.m. to accomodate National Girls and Women in Sports Day events.