Princeton University Athletics
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Orange And Black Friday: Princeton Hosts Davidson In Women's Basketball
November 23, 2011 | Women's Basketball
There are three words that tell a school from the Ivy League that the rest of the women's college basketball world is starting to take notice of what you're doing.
Three little words. Three little words that elicit the same reaction in a coaching staff or player that three other words might for a love-starved teenager.
Three little words.
"Others receiving votes."
The Princeton women's basketball team, off to a 4-0 start heading into Friday's game at 1 against Davdison on Carril Court at Jadwin Gym, entered that coveted category in both the ESPN coaches' poll and Associated Press media poll this week.
The first, the AP poll, came out after Princeton's 56-41 win over Villanova Saturday afternoon. The second, the ESPN poll, didn't come out until after Princeton followed up its win over Villanova with a 68-51 win over Marist Monday night. Both Marist and Villanova had been receiving votes in last week's poll.
Princeton has never been ranked in the national Top 25.
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Between now and Dec. 17, Princeton will play two teams currently ranked in the Top 25 (Stanford and DePaul) and another team receiving votes (Delaware).
Stanford is ranked fifth in both polls, while DePaul is 19th in the AP polland 20th in the ESPN poll.
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While it's not the scene of the crime, it's the team of the crime.
Well, not really a crime or anything, and clearly it wasn't anything Davidson did.
Still, it was last year's game betwen Princeton and Davidson in which Princeton's Niveen Rasheed suffered the torn ACL that would keep her out for the rest of the year.
Rasheed was injured early in the second half of the game after scoring 13 points in 22 minutes. Princeton was up nine at the time; the Tigers would win 67-61.
Davidson's Sophia Aleksandravicius led all scorers with 21 points.
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Princeton and Davidson have combined to play eight games this season. None of those eight games have been decided by fewer than 10 points.
The average margin of Davidson's four games has been 14.75 points; for Princeton's four games it has been 22.5 points. Princeton has won all four its games, while Davidson has split its four.
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Niveen Rasheed has scored 17, 22, 19 and 18 points in her first four games back from her knee injury. She is the only Princeton player in double figures in all four games.
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Davidson has had at least 20 assists as a team in each of its last two games.
In its 67-46 win over Gardner-Webb Monday night, Davidson had 20 assists on 26 made baskets. In the game prior, an 82-69 loss to High Point, Davidson had 23 assists on 29 made baskets. For the year, Davidson has 68 assists on 106 made baskets.
Broken down, Davidson had 25 assists on its first 51 made shots and now has 43 assists on its last 55.
Princeton, on the other hand, has allowed 50 assists while forcing 94 turnovers through four games. Davidson has turned the ball over 93 times, to go with 68 assists.
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Davidson has shot 50% or better in four of its last six halves, including better than 60% twice.
Princeton has held teams to 34.6% shooting from the field through four games. No team has shot better than 45.8% for a half against Princeton (Marist in the first half Monday night), and Princeton has held its opponent below 30% in three of eight halves.
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Princeton point guards Lauren Polansky, Laura Johnson and Blake Dietrick scored 26 points between them in the first three games combined.
Against Marist, the three totalled 29 points.
Polansky had a career-high 12 in the game, along with six rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block.
Johnson had 13 points, including three second-half three pointers. Dietrick also had a three-pointer in the second half and finished with four points, two rebounds and an assist in five minutes.
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Princeton is 4-0 for the first time since the 1989-90 season.
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Davidson has made 12 three-pointers in four games. Princeton had made 12 in its first three games before hitting 10 against Marist.
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When Princeton fell behind Marist 7-3 three minutes into the game, it marked Princeton's largest deficit of any game this season.
Princeton has not trailed at any point of the second half in any of its first four games, and Marist is the only team that has tied Princeton at any time of the second half, when the Red Foxes pulled even at 38-38 with 13:26 to play.
Princeton then pulled away, beginning when Laura Johnson and Blake Dietrick hit back-to-back three-pointers.
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Princeton has won 25 straight games at Jadwin Gym, dating back to a 60-50 loss to Rutgers almost two years ago.
The 25-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 90 games of her career, starting 77, including every game the last three seasons
• has 920 career points
• eighth in program history with 650 career rebounds; needs 10 to tie for seventh
• 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
• had season-high eight rebounds against Marist
• scored in double figures in 21 of 29 games last year
• 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 and Marist games 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
• had four points, two rebounds and an assist in five minutes against Marist, including a big three-pointer early in the second half as Princeton took control of the game
• 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 1,017 career points; needs one to tie Kim Allen for 18th place and 41 to tie Allison Cahill for 17th
• has 104 career three-pointers; needs four to tie Laura Leacy for ninth and then 57 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
• tied her career high with four assists against Marist
• 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
• scored 13 points, all in the second half, against Marist
• made three crucial second half three-pointers against Marist
• 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 a career-high 12 points - along with six rebounds, three assists, two steals and a blocked shot - in the win against Marist
• 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 53 games her career
• missed one game last year due to injury
• has 167 assists and 93 turnovers for her career
Niveen Rasheed #24
• leads team in scoring and rebounding, is tied for team lead in blocked shots and is second in steals and assists
• the reigning Ivy League Co-Player of the Week
• had 18 points and 11 rebounds against Marist, along with three steals and her first two made three-pointers of the year
• 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 exactly 50% from the field (30 for 60)
• has 701 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