Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
St. Joseph's
Players Mentioned
St. Joseph's Takes 70-61 Double OT Game from Women's Basketball
December 19, 2010 | Women's Basketball
PRINCETON, N.J. (12/17/10) - St. Joseph's snapped Princeton's five-game win streak as Michelle Baker scored a career-high 29 points to lead her team to a 70-61 double-overtime victory over Princeton in women's basketball on Sunday, Dec. 19 at Hagan Arena.
The story of the game was free throws. It's what won the game for the Hawks and what kept the Tigers from earning their ninth win of the season.
Princeton shot 5 for 13 (38.5 percent) from the line, going 3 for 10 during regulation. Normally, the Tigers are a sharp free-throw shooting team, the second in the league at 76.3 percent.
St. Joe's would score the game's last eight points from the foul line, shooting 8 for 8 to win the game.
"It's disappointing that we had such a hard time stopping one player," head coach Courtney Banghart said. "We pride ourselves on the defensive end. Offensively we didn't have the poise that we expect at this point in the season. Lastly, we have to make free throws on the road. But I give all the credit to St. Joe's. They beat us. It's as simple as that."
St. Joseph's would hold the lead for nearly the entire first half with Princeton finally getting the go-ahead with 19 seconds to play, 26-24, on a basket by Lauren Edwards.
St. Joe's grabbed a 6-2 lead to start the game, getting all six points off of turnovers, as Princeton committed five in the first five minutes.
The Hawks continued to expand their lead working their way to a 10-point edge, 19-9 at 9:01. Baker led the way, scoring five of St. Joseph's 11.
A basket by Edwards sparked an 8-0 run by the Tigers. Kate Miller hit a three from the top of the key and Edwards would drain one from the left wing to get her team within two, 19-17 at 6:43.
Erin Shields hit a three-pointer for the Hawks before Devona Allgood scored her first of the game with a hook shot. Katie Kuester answered with a jumper to keep St. Joseph's ahead by five, 24-19 with 5:20 to play.
A steal by Edwards was converted into a three by Laura Johnson, and a steal and fast break by Niveen Rasheed resulted in her own basket to tie the game at 24 with 1:47 on the clock.
On the next run down the court, Rasheed blocked Ashley Primm's shot to get the Tigers possession and Edwards would hit a jumper to give Princeton its first lead since 19:01, 26-24, with 19 seconds to play.
Baker would sink her fourth basket to start the second half, to tie the game at 26, but Princeton would work its way up to a 10-point lead at 11:54 on a 14-4 run, with Micir scoring two from behind the arc during that time.
The lead would quickly be diminished as the Hawks answered with a 12-3 run to make it a one-point game, 43-42 with a little more than five minutes to play. Baker would score seven of her team's 12 points during the run.
Edwards tried to keep the lead strong with a jumper before the team's traded baskets.
Two fouls on Princeton led to St. Joe's getting the lead back for the first time since the first half, as Baker and Primm both shot 2-for-2 from the line to take a 48-47 lead.
Allgood would add a basket to retake a one-point lea and Rasheed would hit two free throws to give her team a 51-48 lead with 1:03 to play. Baker wouldn't go away converting on a three-point play to even the game with 51 seconds left.
Rasheed was fouled with 32.1 seconds left by Cavallo but Rasheed couldn't convert on the basket and St. Joe's got the defensive board to hang on for the last shot. The shot was long and Rasheed got the rebound and launched the ball from three-quarter court to send the game into overtime.
Rasheed and Micir gave Princeton a four-point lead in the first overtime, but Samir Van Grinsven cut the lead to two before Baker tied the game with 38 seconds left. The Tigers called a timeout and looked for a good basket before 15 seconds where on the clock and Micir took a shot that was partially blocked and a rebound was picked up by Kuester, who clearly didn't know how much time was on the clock and she took her time going down the court until launching a ball from midcourt that hit the rim and send the game into a second OT.
Tied 59-59 with 3:20 to play in the second overtime, Kuester hit two free throws to give the Hawks a 61-59 lead. A minute later one of the strangest things occurred. Allgood picked up her fifth foul on a shot by Prim. The officials sent Kuester to the line and she made one, before the officials realized it should be Prim shooting. After a discussion with both coaches and each other, the officials took the point off and gave Prim two shots. She made the first, missed the second. Rasheed got the defensive board and ran down to score to make it 62-61 game.
For the final 1:13 the only points scored would be the eight from the St. Joe's foul line, as the Hawks improve to 49-1 over Ivy League teams.
Rasheed had a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds, as well as four assists, three steals and one block. Edwards had 15 points on 7-for-9 shooting and six rebounds. Allgood added 10 points and eight boards. Polansky led the team in assists with five. Princeton shot 35.2 (25-71) percent from the floor, 30 percent from three-point range.
Baker added seven rebounds, four assists in addition to her 29 points. Kuester had 11 points and Van Grinsven has 10 points and seven rebounds. Kelly Cavallo led the team on the glass with nine rebounds. The Hawks shot 43.1 (25-58) percent from the floor, 78.3 (18-23) percent from the foul line and 18.2 (2-11) percent from long range.
The Hawks move to 7-3 on the season, while the Tigers fall to 8-3 playing their first OT game since 2008. Princeton is now 7-10 when going into extra time.
Princeton will take a week off for the holiday and return to the hardwoods on Wednesday, Dec. 29 at Davidson.