Princeton University Athletics
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Princeton Hosts MAAC Power Marist In First Meeting Between The Two
November 20, 2011 | Women's Basketball
Pete Carril, the namesake of the court that the Princeton women's basketball team calls home, had an old saying that he used often during his 29 years as the Tiger men's coach.
"What good is being Spanish," the Hall-of-Fame coach would mutter, "if you can't chase after windmills?"
Certainly Courtney Banghart and her current Princeton team can be forgiven for thinking that, in Carril's context, the sky is the limit for this season.
For starters, the Tigers are 3-0, fresh off a win over a Villanova team that owned a victory over a Top 25 team, Michigan State, and another team that was receiving votes.
And then there is another reason to dream big, and that's the recent history of that other team that Villanova defeated, the Marist Red Foxes.
If Princeton needs any proof of what a team from a small conference can do in women's basketball, it need only look at Monday night's opponent.
The Marist team that comes to Carril Court at Jadwin Gym Monday night at 7 is fresh off a 31-3 season that saw it win its opening round NCAA tournament game and lead Duke in the second round before falling at the end.
Marist coach Brian Giorgis is 226-66 in his 10 years at Marist. He is a five-time MAAC Coach of the Year, and he's taken his team to the NCAA tournament six straight years, including a trip to the 2007 Sweet Sixteen. Marist has been a frequent visitor to the national Top 25 under Giorgis.
The Tigers, on the other hand, are relatively new to the NCAA tournament, having made their first two appearances the last two years. Since the start of the 2009-10 season, Princeton is 53-8.
Princeton and Marist have never before played in women's basketball.
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Princeton has played 120 minutes this season and has trailed for exactly 1:43 of that time. Princeton has not trailed at any point of the second half in any of its first three games.
In fact, Princeton never trailed against either St. Joe's or Villanova and trailed only 2-0 and 9-8 against Lafayette.
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Marist is led by the MAAC Preseason Player of the Year, senior Corielle Yarde, who came into the season with 999 career points and has started out with 18 against Villanova and 24 against Yale.
Marist is the unanimous preseason pick to win the MAAC; Princeton is the favorite - though not unanimously - in the Ivy League, with 14 of 17 first-place votes.
The MAAC preseason poll is done by the league's coaches, while the Ivy League poll is done by the media.
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Princeton was a 41.4% three-point shooting team last year, and none of Courtney Banghart's first four teams was below 33.3%. This season, through three games, the Tigers are at 26.7% from three-point range.
There are two facts that take the sting off of that number a bit.
First, Princeton has held its first three opponents to 5 for 38 three-point shooting (.132). In terms of three-pointers made, Princeton's first three opponents have made zero (St. Joe's), two (Lafayette) and three (Villanova, on 21 attempts).
The other fact is that Princeton is shooting 47.2 (68 for 144) on two-point shots. Niveen Rasheed is shooting 56.1% on two-point shots but is 0 for 5 on threes, while Lauren Edwards is at exactly 50% from two and 20% from three.
Marist shot 4 for 20 from three-point range in its loss to Villanova and 4 for 14 in its 78-64 win over Yale. The Red Foxes shot 26 for 48 (.542) against Yale on two-point shots and were just below 50% against Villanova (17 for 38).
If you're looking ahead to Dec. 13, when No. 18 DePaul comes to Princeton, the Blue Demons shot 15 for 35 from three-point range Saturday night in a 99-64 win over Portland in Hawaii.
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Courtney Banghart moved into a tie for second place all-time at Princeton in coaching victories in women's basketball, tying Richard Barron with her 74th win Saturday against Villanova.
Banghart trails only Joan Kowalik, who won 163 games in 11 seasons as Tiger head coach. She is also second in career winning percentage at .622, behind only Pat Walsh, who went 72-38 (.655) from 1974-79.
In the first three games this year - against St. Joe's, Lafayette and Villanova - Banghart has defeated three coaches who have combined for 1,287 career wins, of which 1,069 of them belong to the last two coaches Princeton has faced.
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Princeton defeated Villanova 56-41 Saturday night, earning its first win over a team currently in the Big East since a 1997 win over Georgetown and improving its all-time record against teams currently in the BIg East to 15-47. Princeton's two NCAA tournament losses came against Big East teams, St. John's in 2010 and Georgetown in 2011, and it was Georgetown who knocked out Marist in the 2010 first round.
Princeton held Villanova, a team averaging 70.3 points per game, to 17 in the first half and 41 for the game, of which eight came in the final four minutes.
Villanova shot 29.1% for the game after shooting better than 45% for its first three games. The Wildcats, shooting 41.4% from three-point range and averaging 10 three's per game, were 3 for 21 from beyond the arc.
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Princeton, Villanova and Marist are finishing up something of a round-robin.
The week began when Villanova defeated Marist 60-53 Wednesday night before Princeton defeated Villanova 56-41 Saturday.
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Princeton has won 24 straight games at Jadwin Gym, dating back to a 60-50 loss to Rutgers almost two years ago.
The 24-game home winning streak is the longest such streak in program history.
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The Princeton women's basketball team had three 20-win seasons prior to Courtney Banghart's arrival, having won 20 games in 1987-88 and 1995-96 and a program-best 21 in 2005-06.
Princeton won 26 games in 2009-10 an then 24 in 2010-11.
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The Princeton women's basketball team spent 11 days touring in France and Senegal in September, playing four games (two in Paris, two in Senegal).
In addition to the basketball, the team visited all of the historical and cultural sights in Paris, including Notre Dame and the Louvre.
In Senegal, the team conducted a basketball clinic for local children and visited an orphanage, among other service-oriented events.
What Can You Say About ...
Devona Allgood #44
• 2010-11 first-team All-Ivy League
• 2009-10 second-team All-Ivy League
• 2008-09 honorable mention All-Ivy League
• has played in all 89 games of her career, starting 76, including every game the last three seasons
• has 915 career points
• had 18 points on 8 of 10 shooting and scored the first nine Princeton points of the second half as the Tigers took control against Villanova
• had nine points and six rebounds vs. St. Joe's and six points and six rebounds against Lafayette
• scored in double figures in 21 of 29 games last year
• eighth in program history with 642 career rebounds; needs 18 to tie for seventh
• has attempted - and made - one career three-pointer, as the shot clock was expiring against Harvard last year
Megan Bowen #43
• had 12 points in the win over St. Joe's
• had six points and three rebounds against Lafayette
• shooting .545 from the field (6 for 11)
• missed the Villanova game with an injury
• appeared in the first 24 games of last year before injuring her shoulder against Columbia; missed four games before returning for NCAA tournament
• scored nine points on 3 of 5 shooting and added five rebounds in NCAA tournament game against Georgetown
• had a career-high 15 in win at home against Yale
• led team in scoring for first time in career with 14 points at Dartmouth
Blake Dietrick #11
• scored her first seven points and had her first career three-pointer and assist in win over Lafayette
• made first collegiate appearance in game against St. Joe's
• led her high school team to an 84-9 record
• scored 1,440 career high school points, the most ever by a boy or girl at the school
• 2011 Massachusetts Player of the Year
Lauren Edwards #30
• first-team All-Ivy League each of the last two years
• started every game since the start of her sophomore year
• became the 19th 1,000-point scorer in Princeton women's basketball history against Lafayette
• is one of 10 players in school history with at least 100 career three-pointers
• has 1,010 career points; needs eight to tie Kim Allen for 18th place and 48 to tie Allison Cahill for 17th
• has 102 career three-pointers; needs six to tie Laura Leacy for ninth and then 59 more after that to tie Kim Allen for eighth
• was been in double figures in points in both of the first two games before having five points, but also six rebounds and four steals, against Villanova
• had 13 points and 10 rebounds in opener against St. Joe's
• scored in double figures in 20 of 29 games a year ago
• had a career-high six rebounds against Villanova
• had five points and two rebounds in 12 minutes against Lafayette
• had a steal and rebound in four minutes against St. Joe's
• played in 16 games freshman year
• high game was 16 points against Penn
• scored six points in 19 minutes against Georgetown in the NCAA tournament game
Nicole Hung #10
• had 11 points, four rebounds, two assists and a steal in 16 minutes against Lafayette
• the 11 points were her second-highest total ever, behind career high of 12 against Brown last year, and gave her a third double figure game for her career
• had five points and career-high five rebounds against Villanova
• had five points and two rebounds in 19 minutes against St. Joe's
• had a key three-point play during 10-0 run that broke game open early in second half against St. Joe's
• played in 22 games as a freshman
• led team with four assists and two steals in NCAA game against Georgetown
Laura Johnson #22
• had six points, three assists, three rebounds and two steals in 18 minutes against Lafayette; made both of her three-pointers in the game
• had two blocks against Villanova
• played in every game last year, starting four
• has played in all 88 games the last three years, with 10 starts
• led team with 16 points at Harvard last year
Kate Miller #20
• had a team-high and career-high 18 points against St. Joe's
• led team in scoring in a game for the first time in her career
• moved into starting lineup last year after Niveen Rasheed's knee injury
• played in all 29 games, starting 14, as a sophomore
• has played in every game of her career
• has had five career double figure games
• improved three-point shooting to 11 of 20 a year ago after shooting 2 for 19 freshman year; was 1 for 4 against St. Joe's
• had six rebounds and five assists against Villanova
• had four assists, four rebounds and four steals in the opener against St. Joe's
• 2011 Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year
• has started 52 games her career
• missed one game last year due to injury
• has 164 assists and 91 turnovers for her career
Niveen Rasheed #24
• leads team with 19.7 points per game and 8.3 rebounds per game
• had 19 points and 12 rebounds against Villanova, of which 15 of her points came in the second half
• had team-bests with 22 points, seven rebounds, four steals, three blocks and three assists - in 23 minutes - against Lafayette
• had 17 points, six rebounds and three assists in opener against St. Joe's
• shooting 51.7% from the field, including 62.5% on two-point shots
• has 683 career points
• returned this season after suffering a torn ACL against Davidson, in the 12th game of last season
• was averaging team-best 16.4 points and 7.3 rebounds per game at the time of the injury
• has been in double figures in 37 of 43 career games
• finished with the fourth-highest number of points on the team last year (197) despite playing only 12 games
• was the 2010 Ivy League Rookie of the Year (and a nine-time Ivy League Rookie of the Week) and a first-team All-Ivy League selection
Alex Rodgers #5
• had a career-high 10 points against Lafayette
• shot 3 for 4 against the Leopards, including 2 for 3 from three-point range; also had three rebounds, an assist and a steal
• played in 18 games as a freshman
Jess Shivers #23
• high school team went 80-8 in her four years, including 45-0 her sophomore and junior years
• shot 63 percent from the floor as a senior
• averaged 11.6 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.9 blocks, 1.7 steals and 1.5 assists per game her senior season
Mariah Smith #25
• had first career point and first two career rebounds in the game against Lafayette
• scored 1,897 career points in high school
• earned five all-state recognitions as a senior
• late father Mark Smith scored 1,653 points at Illinois and was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks