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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
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Dartmouth
Players Mentioned
Women's Hoops Clinches Share of Ivy Title with 64-43 Win Over Dartmouth
March 06, 2010 | Women's Basketball
HANOVER, N.H. (3/5/10) - The Princeton women's basketball team clinched a share of the 2010 Ivy League title with a 64-43 win over Dartmouth on Friday, March 5 at Leede Arena.
For the first time since December 5 against Rutgers and for just second time this season Princeton found itself trailing at the half to defending Ivy League Champion Dartmouth, 26-21. A 43-17 second half was what the Tigers needed to secure the victory and its first share of the conference title since 2006.
"I can't even put to words how proud I am of the fight in this team," head coach Courtney Banghart said. "After a sluggish first half they came out with fire in the second. They play so hard, they play together, they earned this game on both ends. I couldn't be happier for the way they took control of the game."
The Tigers either had the lead or were tied with the Big Green up until the final five minutes. With Princeton holding an 18-15 lead, Dartmouth went on a 8-0 run hitting two three-pointers and a pair of free throws to take the 23-18 lead. Junior Addie Micir answered with a jumper and a free throw but another three this time from Meghan McFee gave Dartmouth the five-point lead headed into the locker rooms.
Princeton started the second half getting five quick points. Freshman Niveen Rasheed began with an old-fashioned three-point play and sophomore Devona Allgood followed with a layup to even the game at 26-26. Two minutes later the score remained tied at 30-30.
A no look behind the back layup from freshman Lauren Polansky would give the Tigers the lead, 32-30 at 16:01 and the Tigers wouldn't look back.
Midway through the half, Princeton had an eight-point lead 43-35 and they grabbed a double-digit lead at 7:18 on an Allgood layup.
After a basket by Brittany Smith the Tigers scored 12 unanswered, getting five baskets from five different players, to push their lead to 60-39 with less than two minutes to play. That 21-point differential would stand and the Tigers would celebrate knowing they are one win away from putting not one but both hands on the crown.
Sophomore Lauren Edwards led Princeton in scoring with 16 points, while Allgood posted a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds. Rasheed also scored 10 points, had eight rebounds and recorded a game-high five steals. Micir and Polansky finished with nine and six points, respectively. The Tigers shot 43.1 percent overall, 83.3 from the line and 50 percent from the behind the arc. Princeton also won the rebound battle, 32-29.
Brittany Smith finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Faziah Steen added 11 points. McFee chipped in seven points and Betsy Williams had six points and led the team in steals with three. Margaret Smith and Sasha Donseko h ad five and four rebounds apiece. Overall the Big Green shot 36.4 percent from the floor, 87.5 from the charity stripe and 25 percent from long range.
Princeton improves to 24-2 overall with the most wins ever by an Ivy League team. The Tigers are 12-0 in the Ivy League and have won their last 19 games.
The Tigers will look to earn the Ivy League title outright when they play Harvard tomorrow, March 6 at 6 p.m. The Crimson just slipped by Penn earlier tonight, hitting a three at the buzzer to win the game, 55-52.