Princeton University Athletics
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Women's Basketball Faces St. John's in First NCAA Tournament Appearance
March 19, 2010 | Women's Basketball
TV: ESPN2
Radio: WPRB (103.3 FM)
Live Video (ESPN360.com)
Live Audio
Live Stats
NCAA Interactive Bracket
Princeton NCAA Tournament Notes
Princeton Press Conference Quotes (3/19)
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PRINCETON, N.J. (3/17/10) - The No. 11 seeded Princeton women's basketball team faces No. 6 St. John's in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday, March 20 at 12:21 p.m., in Tallahassee, Fla.
The game will be televised live on ESPN 2, but please be aware four other games will be going on at that time and ESPN wil utlize a "whip-around" approach to catch the best action from those games for viewers in most of the nation, with the exception of the home markets of the competing teams. The game will also be shown in its entirety on espn360.
Fans can also listen to Princeton's Derek Jones call all the action on WPRB (103.3 FM) and online free of charge on GoPrincetonTigers.com.Live stats will also be available with a link on GoPrincetonTigers.com, and on the NCAA interactive bracket.
Princeton is 26-2 overall and is making the NCAA Tournament as the Ivy League automatic bid after going 14-0 in the conference. This is the Tigers' first NCAA appearance. The team is currently riding a 21-game win streak and has key wins over Lehigh, Delaware, Houston and Harvard. Princeton last played on Tuesday, March 9 with a 68-51 win over Penn. The Tigers are averaging 71.6 points per game and have a +19.6 scoring margin over their opponents.The Tigers are led by Ivy League Rookie of the Year Niveen Rasheed who averages a team-high 15.6 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. She is also the team leader in assists with 80 and steals with 63. Sophomore Lauren Edwards adds 13.4 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. A first-team All-Ivy player, she is second on the team in blocks with 30 and also has 63 assists and 38 steals. Junior Addie Micir adds 12.6 points per game and is the team's top free-throw and three-point shooter. She is 82.8 percent from the line and 42.9 percent from behind the arc. Sophomore Devona Allgood leads the team in field goal percentage at 57.4 and in blocks with 38. She averages 10.9 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. Both Micir and Allgood were named second-team All-Ivy. Freshman Lauren Polansky is second on the team in assists and steals with 73 and 40, respectively.
Princeton and St. John's have met three times before but haven't played each other in 28 years. The teams first met on Nov. 28, 1978 with St. John's winning by six. A home-and-home series was played in 1981 and 1982. St. John's won at home in Feb. 1981 by 31 and took an 11-point win at Princeton in Jan. 1982.
St. John's is 24-6 overall and is making the NCAA Tournament as an at-large bid from the BIG EAST. This is the team's fifth NCAA Tournament appearance, having last made the tournament in 2005-06. That year, the Red Storm defeated Cal 78-68 in the first round before losing to Maryland 81-74 in the second round. As a No. 6 seed- St. John's has earned its highest seed in the NCAA Tournament and is currently ranked No. 15 and 17 in the national polls. The team hasn't played a game since March 7 when it lost to Notre Dame in the quarterfinals of the BIG EAST Tournament. St. John's key victories this season were wins over Notre Dame, DePaul and Rutgers.
First-team All-Big East selection Da'Shena Stevens leads the team in scoring with 14.2 points per game and in rebounding with 7.6 boards per game. She has scored 93 points off of free throws but doesn't like to shoot long distance, going 1 for 8 from the arc. Shenneika Smith adds 13.0 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. She is second on the team in blocks with 24 and steals with 46. Nadirah McKenith is the team's assist leader with 151 assists and has a team-high 69 steals. She contributed 7.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per game, while Joy McCorvey leads the team in blocks with 27 and has 7.2 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. Kelly McManmon is third on the team in scoring and is the team's best long range shooter, scoring 8.0 points per game and going 68 for 145 from behind the three-point line. Both Smith and McKenith were named to the All-Freshman Big East team.