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Players Mentioned
Women's Basketball to Close 2007 at Rider Saturday
December 27, 2007 | Women's Basketball
Princeton at Rider
Sat., Dec. 29 at 2 p.m.
Alumni Gym (Rider)
Records: Princeton 3-10, 0-0 Ivy; Rider 4-7, 0-2 MAAC
All-Time Series: Princeton leads 17-7
Princeton head coach: Courtney Banghart (1st season/Dartmouth '00)
Rider head coach: Lynn Milligan (1st season/Rider '92)
Internet Audio: Click here
From the line: Princeton has hit better than 70 percent of its free throws in each of the last three games. It is the first time all season that Princeton has done better than 70 percent in three straight contests and the first time it has made 10 or more from the stripe in three straight games.
Rookies contributing: With Krystal Hill scoring 11 points at Sacred Heart last Saturday, all three freshmen have now had double-digit scoring games this season. Addie Micir has had four double-digit games and Shelbie Pool has had three.
Hold on to that ball: Princeton had 15 turnovers against Sacred Heart, making it the fourth straight game the Tigers have had 15 or fewer giveaways. Four games is the longest stretch of 15-or-fewer turnover games in the careers of any of the current Tigers and the longest since at least the 2002-03 season.
Cowher's streak: Meagan Cowher has scored 10 or more points in all 13 games this season, part of a 16-game streak extending back to last season. The longest recent string of double-digit games was 19 by Becky Brown '06 to end the 2005-06 season. Cowher's personal best is 17 over the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons.
In the 20s: Meagan Cowher scored 20 points at Sacred Heart, the fifth time she has reached 20 this season. That tops her previous high of four 20-point games through 13 contests, set last year.
More Cowher 20: Meagan Cowher started a streak of seven straight 20-point games last season at about this time when she had 21 last Dec. 30 at Vanderbilt. During the streak, Cowher scored 31 and 35 points in an Ivy League weekend, the first Princeton woman ever to reach 66 in a league weekend.
Cutting the distance: One game after shooting their most three-point attempts in three years, the Tigers tied for a season low with 11 attempts from beyond the arc against Sacred Heart.
Series with the Broncs: Princeton leads Rider 17-7 in the all-time series but ran up an 11-0 lead at the start. Since 1992-93, Rider leads 7-6 and won three straight in the early 2000s. The teams did not play in 2003-04 or 2004-05 and Princeton has won the last two meetings.
Tigers versus the Garden State: Princeton has a 34-28 record against the other six full Division I schools in the state (Rider, Rutgers, Monmouth, Seton Hall, Fairleigh Dickinson, Saint Peter's) and has faced all of those schools in the past five years. Princeton's regular-season slate against fellow New Jersey foes will end next Wednesday at Monmouth.
Tigers versus the MAAC: Princeton is 23-15 against the current MAAC schools and 6-8 against MAAC schools other than Rider, having faced Canisius, Fairfield, Loyola (Md.), Manhattan, Niagara, Rider, Saint Peter's and Siena. The record is against current conference members, not necessarily members at the time of the game. The last time Princeton faced a MAAC team other than Rider was Saint Peter's on Jan. 3, 2005.
Welcome freshmen: Addie Micir's five starts are the most for a Princeton freshman since Meagan Cowher started 19 games in her freshman season of 2004-05.
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 0-9 in each of those situations.
Skid stops here: One reeling team will get a win and another will try again next time when Rider and Princeton meet. The Tigers carry a four-game skid into Saturday's game while Rider has dropped 5 of 6 after starting 3-2.
Last time against the Broncs: Princeton cruised to a 29-point win over Rider on Dec. 12, 2006. Meagan Cowher scored 21 points as Ali Prichard, Casey Lockwood and Caitlin O'Neill each had 10. All 17 Tigers saw floor time against the Broncs. Princeton outshot Rider 50 percent to 32.1 percent and outrebounded the Broncs 43-31.
Common foes: Despite Princeton and Rider being so close in proximity, the teams do not share very many opponents this season. Rider opened with a win over Monmouth, Princeton's opponent next Wednesday, and fell by eight points at Penn to end November. Princeton will start and end the Ivy League season with the Quakers with the first meeting coming Jan. 12 at Jadwin Gym.
On Rider: The Broncs have three players averaging double-figure points, led by senior Janele Henderson at 15 points per game and sophomores Tammy Meyers at 10.6 and Amanda Sepulveda at 10.5. Junior Shaunice Parker leads the team with 9.5 rebounds per game. Where rebounds per game, turnovers per game and points per game are relatively close between the Broncs and their opponents, Rider is allowing its opponents to shoot 42.4 percent from the floor.
New surroundings: For the final time this regular season, Princeton coach Courtney Banghart will face off against a fellow head coach who is in her first year at that institution. Duquesne and NJIT also had first-year mentors at those schools. Like Banghart, Rider coach Lynn Milligan is in her first collegiate head coaching job, as was Duquesne coach Suzie McConnell-Serio.
Mercer County connections: Rider is the only other Division I school in Mercer County along with Princeton and two Broncs have local connections. Freshman Cintella Spotwood played her high school ball at Trenton Central and sophomore Amanda Sepulveda is familiar with Princeton after attending the Hun School.
Game in, game out: Seven Tigers have played in all 13 games this season and three Tigers (Ali Prichard, Whitney Downs and Meagan Cowher) have had at least one rebound in all of those games. Only Cowher, however, has scored points in every game this season and Cowher has had no fewer than 10 (and as many as 32) every time out.