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Princeton University
St. John's
Players Mentioned
Princeton Women's Basketball Falls 65-47 to St. John's at NCAAs
March 20, 2010 | Women's Basketball
Boxscore
Princeton Quotes
St. John's Quotes
Princeton/St. John's Notes
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (3/20/10) - The No. 11-seeded Princeton women's basketball team saw its season come to an end in a 65-47 loss to No. 6 seed St. John's in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday, March 20 at the Tucker Civic Center.
The Tigers had their 21-game winning streak snap by the Red Storm, in their first NCAA Tournament appearance.
"It's hard to put this afternoon into words," head coach Courtney Banghart said. "I'm so proud of this team, but you can't win if you can't make shots," Banghart said referring to Princeton shooting 17 for 60 from the field and not being able to get the ball to roll its way.
"Tani [Brown] and Cheryl [Stevens] have left a legacy and we will be back," Banghart said about her two seniors.
Princeton found itself in a situation it hasn't been in in quite some time. A deficit. The Tigers found themselves down by 16 points, their largest deficit of the season at halftime against St. John's.
The game started with six lead changes and two ties before the Red Storm started to take control of the game. Princeton had a 10-7 lead at 15:47 before St. John's scored eight unanswered in a span of 1:56 to take a 15-10 edge.
A basket by sophomore Laura Johnson at 12:24 would be the last field goal the Tigers would get for more than nine minutes. Princeton shot 0 for 10 during that time, getting the looks but just couldn't get lucky.
The Tigers got four points off of free throws from senior Cheryl Stevens and sophomore Lauren Edwards.
On the other end of the court, St. John's didn't find the same struggles scoring 15 points to go up 30-16. The 14-point deficit marked Princeton's largest this season.
Sophomore Devona Allgood ended Princeton's drought with a layup at 2:56, but the Red Storm added two more baskets before the half concluded to take the 34-18 lead into the locker room.
Although the team shot just 20 percent (7-35) in the first half, they dominated the back board getting 26 rebounds and doubled up St. Johns in offensive rebounds, 12-6.
Princeton's shooting woes continued in the second half, as St. John's worked its way up to a 23-point lead on a 9-2 run with De'Shena Stevens scoring seven of those points.
The Tigers would hold St. John's to those 23 points, not allowing them any more, while they couldn't break the 18-point ceiling, getting within 18 four times in those final 16 minutes.
Princeton would shoot 10 for 25 in the second half and ended the game shooting 28.3 percent from the field. The Tigers shot 80 percent from the line and 10 percent from behind the arc.
Freshman Niveen Rasheed led Princeton in scoring 11 points and eight rebounds. Allgood and Edwards had eight points apiece, with Edwards pulling own a game-high 13 rebounds. Freshman Lauren Polansky led the team in assists with four. Princeton's 47 points is the fewest points the team has scored this season.
Shenneika Smith had a double-double for St. John's with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Stevens was the team's leading scorer with 19 points, while also chipping in six rebounds. Nadirah McKenith and Centhya Hart put up 10 points apiece. Hart added 11 rebounds. St. John's finished the game shooting 45.8 percent, 55.6 percent from the line and 10 percent long range. The Red Storm had 22 second-chance points and 20 points off of turnovers.
Unquestionably the best team in Princeton history, the 2009-10 team concludes its season with a record 26-3. This team will forever be remembered and has a rewritten records book to prove it.