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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Columbia
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Players Mentioned
Second-Half Surge Leads Columbia Past Princeton Women's Hoops, 58-53
February 17, 2007 | Women's Basketball
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Columbia used a strong start out of the halftime break to get a 58-53 win and send the Princeton women's basketball team home without a victory on the New York State trip.
The loss extends Princeton's losing skid to four and drops the Tigers to 10-13 overall and 4-5 in Ivy League play. Columbia improved to 7-17 and 3-7 in the Ivy.
Around the league, Harvard and Dartmouth won as the Crimson retained a one-game lead over the Big Green. Cornell lost to drop 2 1/2 games back of Harvard, whle Princeton and Penn now stand in a fourth-place tie, four games back with five to play.
Meagan Cowher led Princeton with 16 points and had a double-double for the second straight game with 11 boards, while Whitney Downs added 15 including 13 in the second half. Casey Lockwood was also in double figures with 13.
Columbia started the second half on a 15-4 run to open up a 35-30 lead. The Lions made 7 of 9 to start the period, while the Tigers managed just two field goals over the half's first eight minutes to see the lead evaporate and a deficit begin.
The Lions' Brittney Carfora made four three-pointers in the second half, including three in a span of 1:40 just after the second half's midway point to stake Columbia to a 48-42 lead with 7:50 left. Carfora led the Lions with 16 points, all in the second half. Chelsea Frazier (12) and Megan Griffith (10) were also in double figures.
Princeton got no closer than five down the stretch as Downs hit a three-pointer and stole a pass for an easy layup in the final minute to bring Princeton within 56-51 with 35 seconds to play.
On Columbia's next possession, however, the Lions whittled the clock down without a Tiger foul until Frazier dropped in a layup with 17 seconds left to regain a seven-point lead. That didn't leave the Tigers with enough time to close the deficit, and Columbia held on for the win.
Turnovers doomed the Tigers after the break, as the team finished with 23 including 12 in the second half. For the game, Princeton narrowly won on field goal percentage, 46.8% (22 of 47) to 46.2% (24 of 52), and outrebounded the Lions 31-24. But in a close game, losing the turnover battle 23-18 decided the contest.
Princeton started the game on an 11-2 run over the first nine minutes of the opening half with all five field goals coming from different Tigers. During the stretch, Columbia started 1 for 6 from the floor with six turnovers.
Though the Tigers started out making 5 of 6 from the field to go on that early run, Princeton cooled off and Columbia worked on closing the gap.
Princeton went more than five minutes without a point after getting out to the nine-point lead and Columbia pulled to within 15-12 on a bucket by Frazier with 5:33 left before halftime.
But thanks in large part to Cowher and Lockwood, who combined to score Princeton's last 17 points of the first half, the Tigers pushed the lead back to 26-18 before Griffith added a bucket with three seconds left in the half to cut Princeton's lead to six at the break.
Princeton closed the half shooting 46.2% (12 of 26), while the Lions warmed up to 39.1% (9 of 23). Despite the Lions' early turnover issues, Columbia ended the half with fewer giveaways, 11-9, while cashing those Tiger mistakes in for 14 first-half points. Princeton dominated the boards to a 19-9 advantage in the opening 20 minutes.
The Tigers will have their last home Ivy weekend Feb. 23-24 as Dartmouth and Harvard visit Jadwin Gym.
NOTES
This weekend, Elyse Umeda started back-to-back games for the first time since Feb. 11-12, 2005, also at Cornell and Columbia.
Meagan Cowher moved past Allison Cahill '03 for 15th place on the all-time school scoring list. She now has 1,068 points, while another '03 grad, Maureen Lane, is in 14th with 1,098.
Princeton made all six free throws it attempted, tying the Tigers for the fewest attempts from the line in any game this year but also marking the first time this season Princeton was perfect with its foul shots.