Princeton University Athletics
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Ivy Leaders Dartmouth and Harvard visit Jadwin Gym for Women's Hoops This Weekend
February 21, 2007 | Women's Basketball
Watch both games this weekend and every home Princeton women's basketball game live online. Click here for details.
PRINCETON, N.J. -- In the final home weekend of the season for the Princeton women's basketball team (10-13, 4-5 Ivy), the Tigers will host Dartmouth (13-10, 7-2) and Harvard (10-12, 8-1) for Friday and Saturday games that will tip at 7 p.m. both nights. Both games can be viewed and heard online at www.GoPrincetonTigers.com and Saturday's game can be seen locally on Patriot 8.
Happy to be home: The Tigers are pleased to be home after a four-game road skid that dropped the team from 4-1 and tied for the Ivy lead to 4-5 and four games out of first place. This weekend, Harvard and Dartmouth, the top two teams in the league, visit Jadwin Gym where the Tigers are 6-3 this year.
New lineup: The past two games, head coach Richard Barron has employed a new lineup this year, giving Elyse Umeda and Katy Digovich their first starts since 2005 and re-inserting Caitlin O'Neill, an early-season starter, in the lineup to join Meagan Cowher and Casey Lockwood. It is the eighth combination Princeton has used in 23 games this season.
They meet again: It's been onlt two weeks since Princeton met Harvard and Dartmouth in New England. The Big Green dealt Princeton the biggest defeat in the 57-game history of the series, 75-46. Harvard's guard duo of Niki Finelli (20 points) and Lindsay Hallion (23) topped the Tigers in Cambridge, 80-57. Harvard's starters had 66 of the team's points.
Ivy scoring race tightens: The gap between Meagan Cowher and Dartmouth's Ashley Taylor stayed at eight tenths of a point this week as Cowher averages a league-best 18.5 ppg and Taylor is right behind at 17.7. The two will face off again Friday as Cowher seeks to become Princeton's second straight Ivy scoring champion after Becky Brown (16.0 ppg) did so last year.
Last home weekend: This weekend is the last at home for the Tigers, who will head to Brown and Yale next weekend. Princeton's final home game is Tuesday, March 6 against Penn. The game is slated to start at 9 p.m., depending on the conclusion of the prior men's game. The Tigers will also honor their seniors against Penn.
Chasing history: Meagan Cowher's strong offense this year has put her on pace to become the first 500-point scorer for a season in Princeton history. She has 425 points heading into the weekend and the record is held by Sandi Bittler, who scored 480 points in the 1988-89 season.
| Record | Amount | Cowher's current total | Pace |
| Points, season | 480 | 425 | 517 |
| Field goals made, season | 202 | 165 | 201 |
On Dartmouth: The Big Green have won six straight to stand at 7-2 in Ivy play, one game back of Harvard. Dartmouth leads the Ivy League in three categories, including low opposition points per game (61.5), field goal percentage defense (.413), and low turnovers (16.0). Ashley Taylor has led the team in scoring in six of the last seven games as well as on the season with 17.7 ppg. Koren Schram, a new regular contributor this year, is adding 11.8 ppg.
On Harvard: Harvard has won seven straight, all by double digits. The Crimson started the year 1-10 a few weeks before going on the current winning streak. Guard play has carried Harvard of late, with Emily Tay (13.4 ppg), Lindsay Hallion (12.5) and Niki Finelli (12.3) all in double figures. The Crimson also boast size with Katie Rollins (6-3) and Christiana Lackner (6-1) starting and Emma Moretzohn (6-7) and Liz Tindal (6-3) coming off the bench.
Last meetings: Two weekends ago marked the 14th time in the 25-season history of the current double round-robin format that Princeton came back from the Dartmouth-Harvard trip winless. Harvard won the rebounding (42-36), turnover (15-21) and shooting accuracy (44.8-36.7) on its way to an 80-57 win. Dartmouth did the same, winning rebounding 41-29, turnovers 13-18, shooting percentage 51.0-30.9 and the game, 75-46.
Lockwood leads: Casey Lockwood has been Princeton's leading scorer in two of the last three games, including a career-high 22 at Cornell last Friday. Heading into the recent road trip, Lockwood had led Princeton in scoring only once, despite scoring in double digits in 14 of 23 games this year.
Double double-doubles: Meagan Cowher achieved double-doubles in back-to-back games last weekend for the first time in her career with 15 points/12 rebounds at Cornell and 16 points/11 rebounds at Columbia. She has seven double-doubles this year, already more than the five she achieved in her first two years combined.
She's a perimeter player, alright: Princeton's leader in three-pointers, Ali Prichard, has had 111 of her 157 points come from beyond the arc, or 70.7 percent. Just 6.3 percent of her points (10), have come from the free-throw line. As a team, 20 percent of Princeton's points are free throws.
Framing it historically: In its 36th season, the Princeton women's basketball program has had its ups and downs, including setting school records with 21 overall wins and 12 Ivy wins last year. Princeton's current four-game skid is its longest since the 2003-04 season, when the team suffered losing streaks of four and seven games on the way to a 7-20 record. The program has seen winning streaks as long as nine (1977-78, 1998-99) and losing skids of up to 15 (2000-01) in its history.
Listen to the game, see the game: John Sadak will call both games this weekend from courtside at Jadwin Gym. Fans can access just the audio broadcast for free or the video streams for both games for $7.95 per month as well at www.GoPrincetonTigers.com by clicking on the speaker or video camera icons on the women's basketball schedule page, on the right side of the front page under “Schedule,” or by entering the Tiger Zone on the front page.
More TV: For the third and final time this season, the Tigers will be broadcast locally on Patriot 8 cable against the Crimson Saturday night. Keith Irizarry and Lou Brogno will be on the call from Jadwin Gym.
Barron moves up the chart: Richard Barron's 71 wins at Princeton are the third-most of any Tiger women's coach. Second place is just ahead with Pat Walsh's (1974-79) 72 wins, while Joan Kowalik (1984-95) is the all-time leader in wins and games coached with a 163-121 record.
Diga-ing for minutes: Katy Digovich played 21 and 24 minutes in the past two games, the most all season. She played 45 of her 102 minutes this season in last weekend's games.
More minutes news: In addition to leading the team in scoring in a couple recent games, Casey Lockwood played at least 30 minutes in consecutive games for the first time in her career on the Columbia-Cornell trip. She had 30 at Cornell and 32 at Columbia