Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Brown and Cowher Named First-Team All-Ivy as League Honors Four Tigers in Women's Hoops
March 09, 2006 | Women's Basketball
March 9, 2006
PRINCETON, N.J. - For the first time in a quarter century and just the second time in the 26-season history of the Ivy League naming an all-league team, two Princeton players have earned places on the first-team All-Ivy League. Senior center Becky Brown and sophomore forward Meagan Cowher earned first-team all-league while senior guard Katy O'Brien was named to the second team and freshman guard Jessica Berry was on the All-Ivy rookie team.
Brown captured the league's scoring title with a 16-point performance on Tuesday night that helped the Tigers clinch their first Ivy title since 1999 resulting in a three-team playoff for the Ivy League's automatic NCAA Tournament berth. At 15.9 points per game, Brown scored double-digit points in 25 of 27 games this year and has a streak of 18 straight games with at least 10 points. She is also second in the league in rebounding at 7.9 boards per contest.
In addition to scoring and rebounding, Brown ranks in the league's top five in field goal percentage and blocked shots. Entering the week, Brown ranked second in the country in field goal percentage, tops among seniors in Division I, and carries a .634 shooting percentage into this weekend's league playoff. Brown is on track to eclipse the season and career school records in that category. She also ranks fourth in the league in blocked shots at 0.7 per game.
While Brown's honor comes after two seasons of being named second-team All-Ivy, Cowher, the league's Rookie of the Year in 2005, also was named first-team all-league for the first time. Cowher ranks fifth in the Ivy League in scoring at 14.7 points per game and 10th in rebounding at 5.6 boards per night. She was the team's leading scorer on Tuesday against Penn, scoring 20 points, nine of which came during a key 9-0 run that turned a three-point lead into 12 in the second half. A three-time Ivy Player of the Week this season, Cowher's second honor received national headlines after she scored 59 points in Princeton's final two games before Super Bowl XL in which her father led the Pittsburgh Steelers to a world championship. Her 32 points against Columbia were the most for any Princeton player since 1989. Brown and Cowher are the first Princeton pair on the first-team All-Ivy since Ellen Tomasiewicz and Sue Zak in 1981.
O'Brien's second-team honor is also the highest billing she has received from the league after being an honorable mention last season. She moved to second place on Princeton's all-time three-point shooting list with a pair from long distance on Tuesday and now has 190 for her career. She stands second in the league in threes per game at 2.37 and sixth in three-point shooting percentage, hitting at a .393 clip. She also ranks third in the conference in assists per game at 4.04 and fifth in assist to turnover ratio with 1.22 assists for every giveaway. O'Brien is 10th in steals with 1.59 per game.
As the only freshman starter this season, Berry was a major catalyst in the team's turnaround. She nearly broke the school's single-game scoring record for rookies with 30 points at St. Mary's early this season, but her greatest asset to the team is helping distribute the ball. Entering the week, Berry was the No. 2 freshman in the country in assists per game at 5.5 and No. 22 overall. She stood second in the Ivy League in the category and has a shot at the single-season Princeton record. With 142 assists this year, she stands second to Andrea Razi '96 and her 149 assists in 1995. Berry ranks third in the league in assist to turnover ratio with 1.45 assists for every giveaway. She stands 10th in the league in free-throw percentage at 69.6 percent made.
The foursome helped the Tigers to a 21-6 record overall and 12-2 in the Ivy League. Both totals are school records. The team plays at 2 p.m. Sunday at Yale's Lee Amphitheater for the NCAA bid against the winner of a game between Brown and Dartmouth to take place on Friday evening at Yale.