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Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Women's Basketball to Start Three-Game Road Trip Saturday at Sacred Heart
December 20, 2007 | Women's Basketball
Princeton vs. Sacred Heart
Sat., Dec. 22 at 2 p.m.
Pitt Center (Sacred Heart)
Records: Princeton 3-9, 0-0 Ivy; Sacred Heart 5-5, 2-0 NEC
All-Time Series: First meeting
Princeton head coach: Courtney Banghart (1st season/Dartmouth '00)
Sacred Heart head coach: Ed Swanson (17th season/Sacred Heart '89)
Internet Audio: Click here
A lot, but not enough: Princeton scored 75 points against Syracuse Saturday and had four players in double figures but didn't come out with the win, falling 77-75. It was the first time in five years Princeton scored 75 points and didn't win. On Dec. 30, 2002 at Rider, the Tigers lost 95-85 and had five players in double figures.
Honor for Micir: Addie Micir was named Ivy League Rookie of the Week Monday for scoring 10 points against Rutgers and a career-best 18 against Syracuse. Micir has four double-digit scoring games this season while playing all 12 and has started the last three with four starts in all. It was the program's first Ivy League Rookie of the Week honor since Nov. 27, 2005.
Hold on to that ball: Princeton has been doing a better job lately of not committing turnovers. The Tigers had 11 giveaways against Cal, 12 against Rutgers and 11 against Syracuse for a total of 34 in the three games. The Tigers single-game high this year is 24. Princeton has not had back-to-back games with 12 or fewer turnovers, nevermind a string of three straight, going back at least through the 2000-01 season.
A schedule in transition: Princeton ended a stretch of three straight home games against three teams in the “Big Six” conferences Saturday against Syracuse. Princeton had never played three teams in a row from the major conferences. Now, the Tigers will play three on the road against fellow teams from outside those leagues.
Freeloaders: Judging by the past two games, Princeton's free throw shooting appears to be turning around. The Tigers shot 80 percent (12 of 15) against Rutgers and 86.7 percent (13 of 15) against Syracuse to bump up the team's overall free throw percentage by four points in just those two games. The Tigers had shot less than 50 percent from the line in four of their first 10 games.
Dialing from distance again: Princeton's 29 three-point attempts were its most since Dec. 1, 2004 against Wagner when it also dialed long distance 29 times. Princeton had shot 30 threes in two overtime games in the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons and last shot 30 in regulation against Dartmouth in 2001.
The streak continues: Meagan Cowher's double-digit scoring streak extended to 15 games with her 18 points against Syracuse Sunday. Cowher's personal best for scoring double digits is 17 straight games, a streak that spanned the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons. The longest recent stretch is 19 to end Becky Brown's career in 2006.
Series with the Pioneers: Princeton and Sacred Heart had a home-and-home series with meetings in Princeton Dec. 7, 2002 and at Sacred Heart Dec. 6, 2003. The Tigers dropped both, the first by eight 69-61 and the second by 24, 71-47.
Tigers versus the Nutmeg State: There are seven Division I schools that sponsor women's basketball in Connecticut, but the Tigers have only faced four of them all-time despite the relative proximity. Central Connecticut State, Connecticut and Quinnipiac have never appeared on a Princeton schedule, and Fairfield (twice, last in 1999-00), Hartford (once, 1994-95) and Sacred Heart (twice before Saturday) have a total of five games with the Tigers. Yale, of course, has met Princeton 67 times.
No gutterballs: Princeton has its share of unique sports, but Sacred Heart is one of 28 schools in Division I to sponsor women's bowling as an NCAA sport. Most are located in the South, but Princeton had already faced two schools this season that frequent the slicked lanes in Delaware State and St. Francis (N.Y.). In New Jersey, Fairleigh Dickinson and St. Peter's sponsor the sport.
Shortening the rotation: Princeton coach Courtney Banghart used nine players against Syracuse and eight against Rutgers. Those two games were the only times this season that Banghart has used fewer than 10 players.
Welcome freshmen: Addie Micir's four starts are the most for a Princeton freshman since Meagan Cowher started 19 games in her freshman season of 2004-05.
More three: Princeton's 12 three-pointers against Syracuse were the most since Dec. 21, 2003 when the Tigers also hit 12 against Georgia Tech. The program record is 13, most recently reached Mar. 2, 2002 against Columbia.
More freshmen: Addie Micir and Shelbie Pool have led or co-led the Tigers in scoring in games this season, making it the first time since the 2004-05 season that two different rookies have led the Tigers in scoring in a game.
Watch, listen to the Tigers online: Derek Jones will call Saturday's game live on GoPrincetonTigers.com. 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.
Representing with class: All four classes have had someone score at least two points in every game so far this year.
Bellwether stats: Princeton has not won a game this season when it does not lead at the half, gets outrebounded or has a lower field goal percentage than its opponent. The TIgers are 0-8 in each of these situations.
Tigers versus the NEC: Princeton will face more Northeast Conference teams than schools from any other conference except the Ivy League this season. The Tigers have already faced St. Francis (N.Y.) and Wagner with Sacred Heart and Monmouth (Jan. 2) to go.
Movin' on up: Sacred Heart is the third Princeton opponent this season to have begun playing Division I women's basketball since 1997. Samford started its program that year, while Sacred Heart began playing a full Division I schedule for the 1999-2000 season and NJIT started against a full D-I slate last season.
Common foes: Sacred Heart and Princeton share six common opponents, five of which result from conference affiliation. The Pioneers have two Ivy teams on the schedule in Dartmouth (53-50 loss on Dec. 4) and Columbia (Dec. 30). The other common opponents are Wagner, Monmouth, St. Francis (N.Y.) and Lehigh.
On Sacred Heart: The Pioneers have won five of their last seven after dropping their first three games. Junior 6-4 center Kaitlin Sowinski leads the team with 16.5 points per game while averaging 6.9 rebounds per contest. Junior guard Stephanie Ryan is averaging 9.5 points and leads the team with 7.9 boards per game.
Princeton in the NCAA rankings: In the new NCAA statistical rankings that include Sunday's game, Princeton's highest team rank is 54th in three-pointers per game at 6.3. Meagan Cowher is the only ranked individual, where her 17.4 points per game are 63rd in Division I.