Princeton University Athletics
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No. 4 Maryland to Host Women's Basketball Friday in Season Opener
November 07, 2007 | Women's Basketball
Princeton at (4) Maryland
Preseason WNIT - Game 1
Fri., Nov. 9 at 7 p.m.
Comcast Center (Maryland)
Records: Princeton 0-0, 0-0 Ivy; Maryland 0-0, 0-0 ACC
All-Time Series: First meeting
Princeton head coach: Courtney Banghart (1st season/Dartmouth '00)
Maryland head coach: Brenda Frese (6th season/Arizona '93)
Internet Audio: Click here
Happy New Year!: Princeton will open its 37th season of varsity women's basketball Friday at Maryland. The Tigers have a roster of 13 after welcoming three freshmen and returning 10 players from last year's squad. Five players from the 2005-06 team that came within an Ivy playoff win of the NCAA Tournament are on the current squad.
Pleased to meet you: Despite only being a few hours apart, Princeton and Maryland's Terrapins have never met. The Tigers are 4-6 against five Maryland-based teams all-time, including Loyola (1-0, 1988-89), UMBC (0-1, 1988-89), Morgan State (0-1, 1985-86), Mount St. Mary's (2-0, last in 2005-06) and Navy (1-4, last in 2000-01). Princeton has been a part of three in-season or postseason tournaments in the state, including an AIAW tournament in 1977 and events hosted by Loyola and Navy.
The countdown begins: Meagan Cowher set a Princeton single-season scoring mark last year with 496 points. She will need to top that by 49 points to take the career scoring mark of 1,683 set by Sandi Bittler '90. Entering Friday's game, Cowher has 1,139 points in Orange and Black.
Here's the tip: Princeton is one of five Ivy League teams beginning their seasons Friday, though the Tigers are the only team in the Preseason WNIT. Two other Ivy teams will host major-conference schools Friday as Stanford will play at Yale at 4 p.m. while Providence goes crosstown to visit Brown at 7:30. The other two games are Oakland at Columbia at 5 p.m. and Penn at Elon at 7 p.m.
Opening with a Bang-hart: For the first time since 2001, Princeton will have a new coach taking the team into its season opener. Courtney Banghart, a 2000 Dartmouth grad, was hired on May 30 to succeed Richard Barron, who became the Associate Head Coach at Baylor. Banghart has been a part of four Ivy League champions, including during two of her four years as a Dartmouth assistant coach in 2005 and 2006, and two as a player in 1999 and 2000. Banghart was also the top three-point shooter in Division I by threes per game as a junior, canning 3.5 a night that season.
Rank ?em: It hasn't been that long since Princeton faced a team ranked as highly as Maryland, which is No. 4 in both the Associated Press and USA Today coaches polls. On Dec. 20, 2005, the Tigers traveled to Knoxville, Tenn., to face Tennessee, which had the top spot in both the AP and coaches polls.
More rank: If the current rankings hold, it won't be very long before the Tigers face more touted opponents. Princeton will host No. 3 Rutgers on Dec. 12, No. 13 (AP)/14 (C) California on Dec. 16 and No. 23 (AP)/17 (C) Vanderbilt on Jan. 5.
They're “All” that: Each team has a leader with considerable accolades earned. Maryland's Crystal Langhorne, a New Jersey native from Willingboro, was named an AP Preseason All-America this week. Meanwhile, Princeton's Meagan Cowher is a two-time first-team All-Ivy and the 2005 Ivy League Rookie of the Year.
On the call: Derek Jones will take over primary play-by-play duties for the Tigers this year as John Sadak, the team's primary broadcaster for the past three years, has taken the lead role on the Princeton men's broadcasts. Princeton is scheduled to broadcast all 30 games this season on the Web free of charge, while video broadcasts of home and select away games will be available for a monthly subscription through TigerZone.
Book-ends: An Ivy League school ended its season against Maryland last year and another Ivy League team will start its season against the Terps this year as Harvard bowed to Maryland in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last spring. This season, the Tigers and Terps have only one common opponent as Rutgers will host Maryland nine days before traveling to Princeton in December.
Welcome freshmen: Princeton's three additions to this year's roster are Krystal Hill, a 5-7 guard from Houston, Addie Micir, a six-foot guard/forward from outside Philadelphia, and Shelbie Pool, a 5-10 guard from outside Atlanta.
Get that outta here: Princeton led the Ivy League last season in field goal percentage defense, with opponents shooting .410, and blocked shots per game, tied with Yale at 3.54. Whitney Downs, back for her junior season this year, led the block party with 22 on the season.
Strong finish: Whitney Downs had double-digit scoring games in the last two contests of the 2006-07 season, scoring 17 at Yale and 11 in the finale verus Penn.
For openers: Princeton has a record of 15-21 all-time in its 36 opening games, though the Tigers have won two of the last three lid lifters. Princeton will be looking to snap a three-game skid in season-opening games on the road, as the last such game Princeton won was to start the 2001-02 season at Lehigh. On an up note, that contest was also the last “first game” for a Tiger coach.
Tigers versus the ACC: Princeton has faced only five of the current 12 ACC teams, including Duke, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Virginia and Wake Forest. The Tigers have a record of 2-12 in those games and will be looking for their first win over an Atlantic Coast school since defeating North Carolina 71-69 in the 1989-90 season. Princeton has yet to win on the road against an ACC school as the Tigers are 0-6 on Duke's, Georgia Tech's and Wake Forest's home courts.
Reaching their peak: Of the six returning seniors and juniors this year, five enjoyed a career-high in points last season. That list includes Meagan Cowher (35), Ali Prichard (20), Julia Berger (11), Whitney Downs (17) and Caitlin O'Neill (13).
Double-double: Meagan Cowher and Katy Digovich have all 16 of Princeton's returning double-double performances, with Cowher piling up 13 of those. Elizabeth Pietrzak missed joining that list by a game, scoring a career-high 11 points against Harvard last year and pulling down a career-best 11 boards in her next game against Brown, and Jillian Schurle and Ali Prichard have come within two rebounds of their own double-doubles.
From near and far: Princeton's 13-player roster has Tigers from eight states. California is the most popular on the team, with four players (Tani Brown, Katy Digovich, Caitlin O'Neill and Cheryl Stevens) hailing from the Golden State.
Starting fresh: No freshmen are in Princeton's projected starting lineup for the season-opener, but a Tiger getting a start during her freshman season is far from unprecedented. Five current Tigers were penciled into the lineup at least once during their rookie campaigns.
Staying grounded: After taking three flight trips last year, the Tigers are not scheduled to take one this regular season unless Princeton is sent to play its next two WNIT games at a distant locale. Princeton's annual trip to league foe Dartmouth, a jaunt of more than 300 miles, is the longest venture on the schedule.