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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
American
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No. 25 Princeton Unveils Banners; Cruises to 72-34 Win Over American
November 14, 2015 | Women's Basketball
BOX SCORE
PRINCETON, N.J. – Unveiling last year's Ivy championship and NCAA Tournament banners prior to tip-off, the 25th-ranked Princeton University women's basketball team opened its 2015-16 campaign with a decisive 72-34 victory over American University at Jadwin Gymnasium.
Overcoming a slow start, Princeton blew the game open with a 22-2 run over a span of 6:45 of game time between the second and third quarters. Annie Tarakchian led all scorers with 20 points on 6-of-12 shooting with a 3-of-6 showing from long distance. Turning in her first double-double of the year, the senior added 12 rebounds.
Fighting through a sloppy opening 10 minutes that saw the teams combine to shoot just 3-for-27 with nine turnovers, the Tigers closed out the first quarter with a 7-2 lead. Alex Wheatley connected on the left block at 6:15 for Princeton's first bucket of 2015-16. Later in the quarter, Taylor Williams hit a jumper from the left corner while Jordan Light put American on the board with a layup just before the two-minute mark.
Trailing 11-2 after a Tarakchian three, American strung together four-straight points on a Kate Bond layup and a pair of Lauren Crisler free throws. Jackie Reyneke answered with a jumper from the left elbow before hitting a turnaround in the paint. Amanda Berntsen then hit a three-pointer from the right corner before Emily Kinneston put the brakes on a 7-0 Tiger spurt with a jumper at 2:32.
Wheatley came right back with a pair of free throws before Tarakchian converted a three-point play the old-fashioned way to stretch the Princeton margin to 11. Grabbing an offensive rebound with less than a minute to play in the half, Tarakchian drove the lane and drew a foul before hitting a pair from the charity stripe.
Up 27-14 at the intermission, Berntsen opened the second half scoring with a triple from the right wing. After a Tarakchian three, Michelle Miller knocked down a pull-up from the free throw line. Tarakchian then put back a Vanessa Smith miss before Miller followed with a three-pointer of her own to put the finishing touches on a 13-0 run.
Holding a 47-22 lead to start the fourth, Reyneke and Smith hit back-to-back jumpers to pad the Princeton cushion. After a pair of Wheatley free throws made it 53-22, Taylor Brown buried a three to cap off an 11-0 strech that pushed the lead to 34.
Shooting just 25.9 percent (7-27) in the first half, Princeton connected on 17-of-26 (65.4 percent) field goal attempts in the final 20 minutes, including 9-of-13 three-pointers. Wheatley finished with seven points and five rebounds, while Miller added nine points and five boards. Reyneke chipped in with a career-high eight points, going 4-for-4 from the floor.
Not allowing a single Eagle to score in double digits, the Tigers limited American to just 25.0 percent (12-48) shooting. Struggling from beyond the arc, the Eagles hit just one of 17 three-point attempts while committing 15 turnovers.
Princeton returns to action on Sunday, Nov. 15 against Duquesne.