Princeton University Athletics
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Princeton Hosts No. 24 Delaware In Thursday Matchup Of Unbeatens
November 30, 2011 | Women's Basketball
Welcome to the game that ESPN.com calls the best game in women's college basketball this week.
More specifically, Graham Hays wrote the following in his blog Monday:
Delaware at Princeton (Thursday, 7): You can have the ACC-Big Ten clashes; the best game of the week takes place in Princeton's Jadwin Gym. Delaware's Elena Delle Donne continues to be the best one-woman show this side of Brittney Griner, following up her 40-point effort in a win against Penn State with more typical (for her) lines of 22 points and nine rebounds in a victory against Villanova and 26 points and 18 rebounds against previously unbeaten St. Bonaventure. Meanwhile, unbeaten Princeton is beating some decent teams by double-digit margins, including Saint Joseph's, Villanova and Marist. Niveen Rasheed (17.7 points per game) isn't Delle Donne, but she's darn good.
While Hays touched on some of the highlights, here are some others:
* Delaware is playing its first game since being ranked for the first time in school history, as the Blue Hens are No. 24 in the Associated Press media poll (Delaware is receiving votes in the ESPN coaches' poll). Princeton, looking to be ranked for the first time in program history, is in the "others receiving votes" category of both the AP and ESPN polls.
* the teams are ranked three (Delaware) and four (Princeton) in ESPN.com's weekly Mid-Major poll
* Princeton has tied the school record for the best start in school history at 6-0, done first in 1974-75 and equalled in 1977-78
* Delaware, like Princeton, is also unbeaten, at 4-0
* Delaware is led by Elena Delle Donne, whose 30.3 points per game average is the best in Division I. Delle Donne scored 35 points two years ago in her only other Jadwin Gym appearance and did not play against Princeton last year; Princeton won both games
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Princeton has never beaten a ranked team in the history of its women's basketball program. The Tigers will have three chances to do so in a 17-day stretch beginning with the Delaware game.
After taking on the Blue Hens, Princeton travels to games at UMBC (last year's America East regular-season champ) and Navy (last year's Patriot League champ) before taking on DePaul (No. 21 AP/No. 22 ESPN) at home on Dec. 13 and then heading to No. 5 (in both polls) Stanford on Dec. 17.
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Princeton has won 26 straight games at Jadwin Gym, the longest home winning streak in program history.
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Delaware is shooting 43.7% as a team from the field and 28.8% from three-point range. Defensively, Princeton is holding teams to 35.2% shooting and 26% three-point shooting.
The real stat to keep an eye on, though, is turnovers.
Delaware averages 11.3 turnovers per game, which is second-best in Division I behind only UAB (at 10.8 per game). Delaware has a positive assist/turnover ratio for the season, with 56 assists to 45 turnovers.
Princeton, on the other hand, has not allowed any of its first six opponents to have a positive assist/turnover ratio, and Princeton on average forces 23.5 turnovers per game, one of the top numbers in the country.
Elena Delle Donne, who plays 35.8 minutes per night and has the ball in her hands for much of that time, has only turned it over four times all year.
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Princeton and Delaware both have one scorer averaging in double figures (Elena Delle Donne for Delaware at 30.3; Niveen Rasheed for Princeton at 17.7).
The next highest scorer for both teams averages 8.8 points per game - Princeton's Devona Allgood and Delaware's Trumae Lucas. The third-highest scorer on both teams averages 8.5 points per game - Princeton's Lauren Edwards and Delaware's Danielle Parker.
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Princeton and Delaware have one common opponent, Villanova, whom both obviously defeated.
Princeton knocked off the Wildcats 56-41 at home, while Delaware won at Villanova by a 64-56 score.
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Princeton has not trailed by more than four points at any point of its first six games, and that came down 7-3 to Marist. Other than Lafayette, who led the game 4-2 and 9-8, Princeton has never trailed at any point of its other games.
Additionally, Princeton has not trailed at any point of any game to date in the second half.
* * *
Princeton has won 61 of its last 69 games. Prior to that, Princeton won 61 of its previous 132 games.
Courtney Banghart started her career 16-37; she is 61-8 since.
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Probable Starters
30 Lauren Edwards G Sr. 6-0 Los Angeles, Calif. 8.5 ppg, 5.3 rpg
24 Niveen Rasheed G Jr. 6-0 Danville, Calif. 17.7 ppg, 8.2 rpg
20 Kate Miller F Jr. 6-0 Rumson, N.J. 6.8 ppg, 2.5 rpg
44 Devona Allgood C Sr. 6-3 Huntersville, N.C. 8.8 ppg, 7.2 rpg
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 92 games of her career, starting 79, including every game the last three seasons
• has 945 career points
• sixth in program history with 678 career rebounds; ahead are Corneille Burt (706), Becky Brown (724) and Jennifer Donnelly (736), before a huge jump to Ellen Devoe (942) and Margaret Meier (1,099)
• had 10 points and nine rebounds against Rider
• 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
• has 18 rebounds in her last two games, including a season-high 10 against Davidson
• 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 10 points, four rebounds and three assists against Rider
• returned after missing two games with a concussion to have six points against Davidson
• had six points and three rebounds against Lafayette
• shooting .529 from the field (9 for 17)
• 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
• shooting 61.3% from the field and has made 4 of 6 three-pointers
• had first career double figure game with 10 points against Rider, shooting 4 for 4 from the field, including 2 for 2 from three-point range
• 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 1,033 career points; needs 25 to tie Allison Cahill for 17th all-time at Princeton
• has 107 career three-pointers; needs one to tie Laura Leacy for ninth and then 54 more after that to tie Kim Allen for eighth
• had a team-high 14 points against Rider
• was 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
• had three blocked shots against Davidson after having three in the first four games combined; six blocked shots leads team
• 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 six points and four rebounds against Rider
• had four points and three rebounds against Davidson
• 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 career-high in rebounds two games later with five against Davidson
• tied her career high with four assists against Marist
• had seven points and four rebounds against Rider
• 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 90 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
• had eight points and five rebounds against Rider
• had four points, three rebounds and three steals against Davidson
• 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 eight steals against Davidson, the second-highest single-game total in school history, behind only C.B. Tomasiewicz, who had 10 against Yale in 1976
• 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
• did not score against Rider, but did have five assists and four steals
• 2011 Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year
• has started 54 games her career
• missed one game last year due to injury
• has 171 assists and 95 turnovers for her career
Niveen Rasheed #24
• leads team in scoring and rebounding and is second in steals and assists
• averaging 17.7 points per game
• the Ivy League Co-Player of the Week after wins over Lafayette and Villanova
• had 24 points and nine rebounds against Davidson
• 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 against St. Joe's
• shooting 51.3% from the field
• 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
• made her first career appearance in win over Davidson
• 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