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Princeton University
Penn
Players Mentioned
Defensive Effort Leads Women's Basketball to 78-27 Win Over Penn
March 08, 2011 | Women's Basketball
PHILADELPHIA (3/8/11) - The 2011 Ivy League Champion Princeton women's basketball team went out with a bang, ending the regular season with a 78-27 win over Penn on Tuesday, March 8 at The Palestra in the Ivy League finale.
This is the fewest points Princeton has allowed in a game since 1981 when Barnard, now Columbia, had 14 and was one point off of a Penn low for points in a game. It is the largest margin of victory in the series, besting the previous mark of 34.
Princeton shot 50 percent (28-56) overall, its fifth game shooting 50 percent or better this season. Penn shot 12.9 percent (8-62). The Tigers got 35 points from their bench, had 38 points in the paint to Penn's 10, had a 20-5 differential in points off of turnovers and a 16-2 differential in second-chance points.
The Ivy League Player of the Week junior Devona Allgood recorded her third straight double double with 16 points and a career-high 17 rebounds. Freshman Kristen Helmstetter recorded a career-high 16 points and sophomore Kate Miller had 12 points. Junior Laura Johnson finished second on the team in rebounds with seven the same number of assists senior Addie Micir had in the game.
"Penn is a team that is second in the league in field-goal percentage defense, so we have a lot of respect for how they play defensively and we needed to make it a 94-foot game," head coach Courtney Banghart said. "My words won't do justice to how we defended and took care of the block-out. It was a great team effort and gives us great momentum into the NCAA Tournament."
Princeton built a substantial lead to start the game, taking a 22-point lead 11 minutes into the game with a 25-3 run. The Tigers would hold the Quakers to 1 for 17 shooting as Penn was scoreless from the field for 10:23.
Miller had 10 of her team's first 15 points on 4 for 5 shooting in the first eight minutes. Helmstetter took over for Miller scoring the Tigers' next nine points on two layups and a three ball from the right wing to give her team a 22-3 lead.
Alyssa Baron gave the Quakers their first basket since their first of the game at 8:21 to make it 25-5.
Princeton continued to pad its lead taking a 27-point edge, 40-13, at the half.
At the end of the first half Allgood was one rebound shy of a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds. Miller also had 10 points in the half, just three points shy of her career-high in a game.
Another cold streak for Penn in the second half, 0-13, as Princeton recorded 12 more points to take a 52-15 lead.
Brianna Bradford would get her team's first second-half field goal at 11:19 to make it a 35-point game. It would be one of just three field goals her team would make in the second half as the Tigers closed expanded their lead by as much as 53, 78-25 with 47 seconds to play. Bradford would go 2 for 2 from the line to close out the game.
Baron scored 12 points, three rebounds and two steals to pace the Quakers. Bradford had five points and Jess Knapp had four points and four rebounds. Caroline Nicholson led her team on the glass with six rebounds.
The Tigers improve to 24-4 overall and 13-1 in the league, while Penn finishes its season 11-17 and 5-9 in the league
Princeton will learn its seed and opponent in the NCAA Tournament when the bracket is announced live on ESPN on Monday, March 14. The first round game will either be on Friday, March 19 or Saturday, March 20 at a predetermined site.