.png&width=24&type=webp)
Princeton University
.png&width=60&height=60&type=webp)
Dartmouth
Players Mentioned
Women's Basketball Remains Perfect in Ivy Play, Defeats Dartmouth 72-41
February 11, 2012 | Women's Basketball
Behind contributions from the entire lineup and a late first half rally, the Princeton women's basketball team defeated Dartmouth 72-41 to earn their ninth consecutive victory. The Tigers, who remain in control of the Ivy League standings, improve to 16-4 overall, 6-0 Ivy with the win.
Despite an immediate 5-0 run, the Tigers struggled to find their offensive rhythm early on. As Princeton's offense forced shots, Dartmouth would be able to keep pace. A pair of Faziah Steen free throws opened up a 5-0 Big Green run to give Dartmouth their first lead of the contest, 10-6, with less than 13 to play.
For the Tigers, freshman Mariah Smith responded by draining a three-pointer from the corner with 8:46 remaining, igniting a 7-0 Princeton run.
“I thought our second group was key tonight. I thought they gave us great energy, attacked the basket, pushed the ball hard in transition and played with more energy than our first group. So thankfully we are a team and were able to rely on multiple players,” said head coach Courtney Banghart.
The Big Green would continue to keep pace with the Tigers until a Niveen Rasheed trey at 5:47 kicked off a 17-4 Princeton run to conclude the first half and send the Tigers into halftime holding a 30-16 advantage.
Rasheed scored a team-leading 15 points in the game, going 6-for-11 from the field, and brought her career-scoring total to 976.
Second half action saw a much more fluid performance from Princeton, as they were much more aggressive on all ends of the floor.
Senior Devona Allgood added a jumper at 16:47 to help swell the Tigers' lead to 20, 36-16. Allgood went on to score 10 points and grabbed seven boards.
Princeton remained in control down the stretch, seeing major contributions from the bench. With less than nine to play, Megan Bowen added six consecutive points to make it a 54-33 game.
Senior Lauren Edwards and sophomore Nicole Hung also scored in double figures in the contest, tallying 11 points apiece.
In the game, Princeton shot 48.2 percent (27-for-56) from the field, while holding Dartmouth (3-17 overall, 1-6 Ivy League) to 33.3 percent (16-for-48). The Tigers held a 43-24 rebounding margin and forced 23 Big Green turnovers, which they converted into 21 points.
The Tigers next head to Cambridge, Mass. to face Harvard tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 11 at 6 p.m. Harvard is coming off a 66-52 victory over Penn.
“They beat us at their place last year,” said Banghart of Harvard. “Our goal is to separate ourselves, but the key is to take it one game at a time. Tonight we were able to win because of our second team and the goal tomorrow is to come out stronger.”