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Princeton University
Cornell
Players Mentioned
Second Half Rally Guides Women's Basketball to 64-35 Win over Cornell
January 14, 2012 | Women's Basketball
In a tale of two halves, the Princeton women's basketball team extended their winning streak to five behind a 64-35 victory over Cornell Friday evening at Jadwin Gym.
It was not the start the Tigers had hoped for, as Cornell managed to keep the game within range the entire first half. Despite an 11-0 Princeton run and four Big Red turnovers heading into the midpoint of the half, the Tigers were unable to add to their early lead and went into the break holding a slight 25-17 advantage.
"Our attacks were at the wrong angles, our flashes were at the wrong times and we weren't utilizing our check passes. We were getting to the right gaps, but just not in the right way so it didn't allow us to play together," said head coach Courtney Banghart about the first half.
In the second half it was a different story.
Kate Miller, Lauren Polansky and Niveen Rasheed headlined the opening minutes of the second half, as the trio combined for 13 points to give the Tigers a 38-17 lead at 16:51.
Cornell's Taylor Flynn scored a three-pointer at 11:53 to make it a 43-24 game; however, it would be the closest the Big Red would get for the remainder of the contest.
The Tigers managed the second half with all around fluidity and improved their shooting to 44.8 percent (13-for-29) from the field, after only shooting 30 percent in the first half.
In the game, Princeton, who shot 37.3 percent (22-for-59) from the field, forced Cornell to commit 17 turnovers, converting them into 17 points. They also outrebounded the Big Red 55-24, for a season-high.
Miller scored a game-leading 14 points, while adding five boards, a pair of steals and an assist. Megan Bowen came in off the bench and added 11 points in 16 minutes of work, while Rasheed notched her third consecutive double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
"We hope we are versatile enough that if we have to we're going to use our defense to score. I thought we were much more disciplined to our pattern (in the second half) ... Some games you don't want halftime, like against Penn we didn't, but we needed halftime tonight," concluded Banghart.
Princeton (12-4 overall, 2-0 Ivy League) returns to action on Sunday, Jan. 15, hosting Columbia (2-12) at 2 p.m.