Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Pittsburgh
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Strong Start Lifts Princeton Women's Basketball to 61-47 Victory Over Pitt
December 12, 2015 | Women's Basketball
BOX SCORE
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS
PRINCETON, N.J. – The Princeton University women's basketball team opened the game with a 18-0 run and never looked back, powering past the University of Pittsburgh at Jadwin Gymnasium, 61-47.
Amanda Berntsen got the opening stretch started with a layup before Annie Tarakchian jumped the passing lane and converted a three-point play the old-fashioned way to make it 5-0. After a pair of Vanessa Smith free throws, Alex Wheatley connected down low to push the margin to nine.
Tarakchian put back a Berntsen miss at 7:19 to keep things rolling before Wheatley sealed off her defender for two more down low. Michelle Miller followed with a three-pointer before Berntsen knifed into the paint to cap off the spurt. Brenna Wise netted Pittsburgh's first points on a layup at the 4:55 mark of the first quarter.
Down by as much as 26 in the opening period, the Panthers ripped off a 18-3 run to pull within 11 on a Fred Potvin baseline jumper with 3:10 to go in the half. Hitting a three-pointer early in the second, Tarakchian added another basket later in the period to snap a span of 6:37 scoreless minutes for the Tigers. With Princeton shooting just 2-for-11, Tarakchian accounted for all five of the Orange & Black's points in the second.
Holding onto a 12-point margin in the latter stages of the third quarter, the Tigers pieced together an 8-2 spurt over a span of 3:15. Berntsen netted all eight of Princeton's points during the stretch, giving the Tigers a 54-36 lead with a layup 14 seconds into the fourth quarter.
Making one final push, the Panthers pulled within 10 on a Yacine Diop layup at 4:12. Picking up four offensive rebounds on one possession, Smith put in her own miss inside of the two minute mark to make it 58-46. Leaking out on an inbounds, Wheatley caught up to a long Tarakchian outlet with a minute to play, gliding in for an uncontested layup that put Princeton up 13.
Berntsen finished with 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting, while Wheatley had 15 points and five boards. Tarakchian collected 13 points and nine rebounds, while Smith chipped in with 11 points and nine boards.
More than doubling up Pittsburgh on the glass (52-24), Princeton finished with a 36-24 edge in points in the paint and a 10-2 advantage in second chance points. The Tigers shot 39.3 percent (22-56) for the game, while limiting the Panthers to 34.5 percent (19-55) shooting.