Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Capping a Career
March 02, 2006 | Women's Basketball
March 5, 2006
This feature appeared in the Mar. 3-4 game program.
By Andrew Borders
Princeton Athletic Communications
It's been seven years since a Prince-ton women's basketball game meant this much this late in the season, and four seniors playing their last home Ivy weekend know it's their last chance to lead the team where no Tiger squad has gone before: the NCAA Tournament.
They've been building toward this stretch of games for the length of a college career. It started the moment they began practice as freshmen, representing a team that had won just two games the previous year. In their rookie season, the team won nine games, four in the Ivy League. As sophomores, they again finished 4-10 in league play, 7-20 overall. Last season, the win total was up to 13 overall, five in league.
This year, however, has been the culmination of all that work. This senior class has already led the 2005-06 Tigers to the most wins since the year each was in the sixth grade. The nine Ivy wins Princeton takes into the weekend are the most since they were freshmen in high school, the same year Princeton had a shot as clear as this one to make the NCAAs.
But while the foursome is graduating in the same year and wear the same uniform, their commonalities end there. One headed north to Princeton from Tennessee, playing solid minutes in the post and scoring points by the dozen all four years. Another came from the suburbs of Southern California and will end her career among the top Tigers in program history with regard to three-pointers and assists. Two more came east from Montana and Northern California to wear the Orange and Black, contributing in almost 100 games apiece. All the various talents they brought to Old Nassau and developed here will be needed if the foursome is to extend its career past the three games remaining on the schedule.
Four years and 1,500-plus points ago, Becky Brown arrived in Princeton from Tennessee, bringing with her all that comes to mind when you think of the South. "Before visiting Princeton I had so many misconceptions about what people and life would be like here," Brown says. "Princeton has been a huge growing experience for me in all aspects of my life and especially in basketball. You never know how much you have to put into a college program to be successful until you experience it, and I think that the lessons I have learned at Princeton will stick with me forever."
To say the least, the Princeton women's basketball program is grateful for Brown's contribution. She is the third-leading scorer in program history, and has missed only two games her entire career. As Princeton's go-to scorer in the post, Brown's accuracy has helped Princeton to a No. 15 ranking nationally in shooting percentage, ahead of all but one non-major conference school, putting the team on pace to shatter the previous program mark of .446 set in 1993. But as the records from previous seasons would suggest, things haven't always been so smooth in Jadwin Gym.
"The group of girls that are here now have stuck through some rough patches and seen a lot of people leave the program, but the girls that have weathered the storm have really created a new attitude and ethic for Princeton basketball where playing your best is what is expected all the time," Brown says. "Having that commitment from everyone makes all the hard work so much easier to get through mentally because you know you are all in it together working for a common goal."
The person responsible for getting her the basketball on so many occasions is nearing the end of her career as well. Katy O'Brien stands sixth on the all-time Princeton assists list with 320 heading into the weekend. But her talents extend to the shooting guard position as well, something that has contributed greatly to this year's success with the arrival of freshman Jessica Berry at the point. Firing from distance, O'Brien's 180 three-pointers are fourth on the Princeton career chart.
Just as she's looking forward to the challenge of post-college life, prepared to use her upcoming politics degree as a paralegal at a New York City law firm, the task of helping raise a basketball program from the depths of a 2-25 season stirred her competitiveness as well.
"Princeton was my ideal school, for obvious reasons," O'Brien says. "[The strong] academics and the opportunity to come in and help rebuild a program and make an impact immediately were very appealing. I was interested in coming back east, and I sent Princeton a few... okay, a lot of game tapes. The coaches like to joke that I recruited them. I just blame my dad for making me send a tape after every good game, but I guess it worked out for the best."
The task facing them this weekend, and, if they can keep it going, in the week ahead is the realization of a long-term goal in O'Brien's perspective.
"It has been a combination of many factors, including dedication and commitment to the program from players and coaches, bringing in new talent, adapting coaching, hard work, and realization of individual potential," O'Brien says. "More importantly, we're all having fun coming to practice and working hard for each other which is something that had been lacking in years past."
Lauren Nestor and Ali Smith have played complementary roles during their careers at Princeton, something not easy for everyone to accept. But just because they weren't always starters doesn't mean their contributions weren't integral. Last weekend, Nestor played in her 100th game and has missed only five her entire career. Smith has played 94 games in her career, scoring 227 points heading into the weekend.
The Princeton coaching staff noticed Smith at an Amateur Athletic Union tournament with her traveling team. As with many students nervous about the transition from life with her family to college, Smith wasn't sure what to expect. But as the religion major nears her degree, she glows about her experiences on and off the basketball court.
"Although there is a lot of studying, there is just as much time spent doing extra cirriculars and social events," Smith says. "I have been amazed with the wide range of sports, clubs, organizations, and events students participate in here. With basketball, I didn't expect to have such a great group of women to share the experience with. The friendships and bonds that we have made over these past four years won't end here, they'll last a life time."
And she understood she wasn't stepping into a situation brimming with basketball success.
"Coach Barron brought our class in to start changing the `culture' of the program," Smith says. "This involved setting new standards of commitment, work ethic, leadership, team identity, and trust between the coaching staff and players. Although it is still a work in progress, the `culture' of our program has changed immensely for the better since my freshman year and its a neat thing to have been a part of that change."
While Smith contributes to an exciting conclusion of her basketball career, she waits to hear about the first step in her professional life. She hopes to intern through the Princeton in Asia program in the Philippines for an English-language news network.
Nestor also spoke of the change in attitude having a positive effect on the team's outcomes. And like Smith, she enjoys the friendships she has created because of her involvement with the team.
"Today we all are genuinely invested in the program and want to leave it better than what it was when we came into it," she says. "I honestly did not expect to form such close relationships and friendships on the basketball team. In joining the program, I know it was going to be a lot of work and time, but I never imagined that I would find such great friends and a second family in coming here."
As its number of games at Jadwin Gym dwindle, the Class of 2006 knows that the mission it set out to complete four years ago is almost at hand.