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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
St. Louis
Players Mentioned
Princeton Falls in Final Seconds to St. Louis, 53-51
December 07, 2008 | Women's Basketball
BERKELEY, Calif. (12/7/08) ?Alisha Goodwin had a basket with 11 seconds left to give St. Louis a two-point lead, but the Princeton women's basketball team couldn't find the equalizer falling 53-51 in the second day of the Collier's International Classic at Haas Pavilion on Sunday, Dec. 7.
The real game was all played in the last 20 minutes, with Princeton down by two to start and having 10 lead changes throughout the half.
The Tigers had their largest lead of the game, a three-point edge, with just under three minutes to play, but went scoreless for the nearly the next two minutes, allowing the Billikens to inch within one. With 56 seconds left, Lauren Woods hit a jumper and was fouled on the shot, picking up a three-point play as she hit her free throw, which gave St. Louis, a 51-49 edge. Junior Cheryl Stevens tied the game, but Goodwin matched her basket to go up, 53-51 with 11 seconds left. Senior Jessica Berry brought the ball down to the opposite end and drove to the basket with a layup that didn't drop in the right direction.
“Defensively we had good execution against a powerful penetrating team," Coach Banghart said. "We didn't execute on two possessions, which unfortunately were the last two possessions of the game. Jess had a great layup to tie it, but I'm not frustrated about that. I'm frustrated because we missed a block out and at the timeout I said not to double the post, and we doubled the post and they threw it right where I knew they would. To beat a good A-10 team you have to execute the entire game.”
Both teams starting the game shooting cold, with Princeton going 0-for-7 and St. Louis shooting 1-for-5 in the first four minutes. The Billikens went on an 11-4 run before Princeton started to answer back. Freshman Lauren Edwards sparked the run with a basket and Micir recorded five with a jumper and a three-point shot.
The Tigers had a 4:49 scoring drought, as St. Louis rattled off 12 points to gain a 23-11 advantage, its largest lead, with seven minutes left to play in the half.
Senior Whitney Downs had an old-fashioned three-point play to end the drought, and classmate Jessica Berry pulled up for two to cut the lead back to nine. After Amanda Kemezys nailed two free throws at 4:07, it would be all Tigers until the break.
Edwards once again provided the spark with a jumper, followed by a basket by Downs and a three from Micir. Sophomore Krystal Hill had a layup with 30 seconds remaining to tie the game at 25-25. Katie Paganelli had one last effort for St. Louis, hitting a basket with one second remaining, to give the team a two-point advantage headed into the locker room.
Three minutes into the second half, Princeton had earned its first lead of the game with a bucket by Downs, setting up a personal run of six points, to put Princeton up by two with 13 minutes to play. The teams would finish out the half trading baskets.
Downs paced the Tigers for the second straight game with 15 points, three rebounds and one steal. Micir was also in double figures with 12 points, five rebounds and one steal. Lauren Edwards led the team on the glass with seven boards. As a whole, Princeton shot 30.6 percent and was 91.7 percent from the line, missing just one of 12 chances.
Kemezys finished with a game-high 16 points and team-best seven rebounds. Lisch has 15 points, including a team-high four assists, three rebounds and one steal. The Billikens shot 40.4 percent for the game and was 68.8 percent from the charity stripe.
Downs was named to the all-tournament team after a tremendous personal weekend, scoring 39 points on the weekend, including a personal best 24 points against No. 3 California on Saturday.
Princeton (3-4) will return home to the friendly confines of Jadwin Gym, to host Monmouth and Sacred Heart, on Dec. 12 and 14.