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Princeton Women's Basketball Faces Dartmouth for NCAA Tournament Bid in Ivy Playoff Sunday
March 08, 2006 | Women's Basketball
March 8, 2006
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Ivy Champions!: With a 67-55 win over Penn on Tuesday night at Jadwin Gym, the Tigers finished 12-2 in the Ivy League and clinched a share of the conference title along with Brown and Dartmouth. It is the first three-way tie in Ivy League history.
Three coins in a bag, each one seeking a bye: Earned by three hopeful basketball teams, Princeton's coin was the one blessed on Tuesday night. It wasn't exactly how the Chairman of the Board sang it, but at halftime of the Penn-Princeton men's basketball game, Ivy Executive Director Jeff Orleans drew a New Jersey coin, representing Princeton, from a small bag with three state quarters inside. That allowed the Tigers to skip to Sunday where they will meet Dartmouth, a winner over the playoff's third team, Brown, Friday.
Records, records, records: Tuesday's win was the 21st of the season, breaking a program record shared by the 1988 and 1996 teams, each of which had 20. It was also the 12th Ivy League win of the season, surpassing the 11 by the `87, `88 and `96 teams. It extended Princeton's league win streak to seven, a new school record.
Scoring champion: Senior center Becky Brown needed 16 points to keep her lead over Sarah Hayes of Brown, and that's what she got on Tuesday night. Becoming Princeton's first league scoring champion since Sandi Bittler `90 in 1988, Brown finished the year with 428 points in 27 games (15.85 ppg). Hayes had 427 points in 27 games (15.81 ppg). 1,589: In addition to the scoring title, senior Becky Brown moved 16 points closer to second place on the all-time list. She has now scored 1,589 points in her career, behind Claire Tomasiewicz's 1,622 and Sandi Bittler's 1,683. She's also fourth on the combined men's-women's list, as only Bill Bradley has scored more on the men's side (2,503).
Double-digits: Becky Brown has now scored double-digit points in 18 straight games, 25 times this season and 84 times in her career.
O'Brien for threeee: Senior Katy O'Brien moved into a second-place tie on Tuesday on Princeton's career three-point list. Her 190 threes are equal with former teammate Maureen Lane `03. Sandi Bittler `90 is the all-time leader with 246. This season, O'Brien ranks second in the Ivy League in threes per game at 2.37.
A little more assistance: Freshman Jessica Berry has 142 assists this season, second only to Andrea Razi `96 and the 149 helpers she recorded as a junior. Berry ranks second in the league in assists per game at 5.48, just ahead of Katy O'Brien, who ranks third with 4.04 per contest. Berry also entered the week ranked 22nd in the nation in that category and No. 2 among freshmen. With the help of those two, the Tigers have 425 assists this year, second only to the 1996 team's 432.
Rebounding: Becky Brown finished the regular season ranked second in the Ivy League in rebounding at 7.9 per game and Meagan Cowher ranked 10th with 5.6 boards per contest. The pair helped the team to a league-best 4.9-rebound edge per game over its foes. Princeton finished tops in the conference in holding its opponents to 32.0 rebounds per game and second to Dartmouth with 36.9 boards per night.
Markswomen: Becky Brown and Meagan Cowher are No. 1 and No. 2 in the Ivy League in field goal percentage. Entering the week, Brown was No. 2 in the nation in field goal percentage and now carries a .634 shooting clip. Cowher connects at a .516 rate.
From the arena to your computer... and radio too: For the second straight game, Princeton's broadcast will be on the radio as well for those in the Princeton area on WHWH 1350 AM. As usual, it can be heard on www.goprincetontigers.com. But for the first time this season, it will be a two-man broadcast as John Sadak and Derek Jones team up from Lee Amphitheater in New Haven.
If it ain't broke...: In all 27 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 25 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.
61: Tuesday's Ivy-clinching win was the 61st of Richard Barron's five-season tenure. That's good for 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.
Deja vu all over again: The end to the 2006 season has some interesting comparisons to the way the 1999 season ended. That season, Princeton ended the Ivy schedule with Penn at Jadwin Gym needing to win in order to make the NCAA Tournament. Penn won, and that dropped Princeton into a tie with Dartmouth. The Tigers and Big Green faced off for the Ivy's NCAA bid and Dartmouth prevailed. In 2006, Princeton stayed in a tie by defeating Penn at Jadwin Gym and now play Dartmouth for the Ivy's NCAA bid. But just as Princeton avoided repeating history by beating Penn, the Tigers will have to defy more history on Sunday in order to do what the `99 team couldn't do and qualify for the NCAAs.
Last time against Dartmouth: Princeton defeated the Big Green on Feb. 24 at Dartmouth's Leede Arena. 62-49, ending a seven-game losing streak in the building. The nation's No. 1 three-point shooting team, which went 9 of 16 from distance in the first meeting at Jadwin Gym on Feb. 11, hit just 1 of 7 in the next go-around. Seniors Jeannie Cullen and Angie Soriaga, who combined for 40 points in the first meeting, paired for nine in their home gym as the Tigers were able to pull out a crucial victory that allowed their season to reach this point. Princeton also forced the Big Green, which averages 16.1 turnovers per game, second-lowest in the league, into 24 giveaways.