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Princeton University
Green Bay
Players Mentioned
No. 13 Princeton Earns First NCAA Win With 80-70 Victory Over Green Bay
March 21, 2015 | Women's Basketball
BOX SCORE
FIRST ROUND SIGHTS AND SOUNDS VIDEO
POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE
PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
COMPLETE BRACKET
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – With President Barack Obama looking on, the No. 13 Princeton University women's basketball team picked the right time to record its first-ever NCAA Tournament win, dispatching of ninth-seeded Green Bay in first round action at the University of Maryland's XFINITY Center, 80-70.
Improving to 31-0 on the season, the eighth-seeded Tigers will advance to face top-seeded Maryland on Monday, Mar. 23 at 6:30 p.m. Princeton's win is just the second-ever for an Ivy League program in NCAA Tournament play, joining 16th-seeded Harvard's upset over top-seeded Stanford in 1998.
Snapping an 11-game Green Bay (28-5) win streak, the Tigers had five players score in double figures, led by Michelle Miller with 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Going a perfect 4-of-4 from behind the arc, Miller also grabbed seven rebounds. Matching a career-high with 17 boards, Annie Tarakchian posted her 11th double-double of the season with 19 points. Her 17 boards are the most for an Ivy player in NCAA play.
Alex Wheatley also recorded a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds in 35 minutes, while Blake Dietrick had 11 points and five assists. Vanessa Smith chipped in with 11 points off the bench on 4-of-6 shooting.
Staking the Tigers to an early lead, Miller and Dietrick knocked down a pair of three-pointers from the right corner to make it 6-2. Green Bay responded with five unanswered, taking a 7-6 edge on a Mehryn Kraker triple at 16:27.
Coming out of the first media timeout, Miller put Princeton back on top with her second trey of the contest. The next time down the floor, Dietrick helped the Tigers convert a second chance opportunity, setting up Tarakchian on the low block. Later up 13-11, Tarakchian buried a three-pointer of her own before a Smith putback pushed the lead to seven.
Up by as much as 30-22 with 7:33 remaining in the first half, Princeton saw its lead whittled down to one in the waning moments of the period. Tesha Buck put Green Bay back in front with a jumper from the right elbow at 1:41. After Buck made it 35-32 with another basket inside of a minute, Miller beat the first half buzzer with a pull-up jumper to bring the Tigers back within one.
Princeton's 35-34 halftime deficit marked just the second time this season in which the Orange and Black trailed at the half. In their season opener against Pittsburgh on Nov. 14, the Tigers trailed the Panthers at the intermission, 20-19.
Opening up the second half scoring, Tarakchian knocked down a triple from the left wing. After Kraker responded with a three of her own, Tarakchian dialed another one in from long distance, this time from the top of the key, to make it 40-38.
Knotted at 45-45 with under 14 minutes to play in the second, Dietrick found a cutting Wheatley for two. The next time down the floor it was Wheatley with the nice entry pass, finding Tarakchian, who sealed off her defender for an easy bucket. After a lefty finish in the lane from Wheatley, Miller hit a three from the right side to stretch the margin to 54-46 at 11:02.
After Kaili Lukan momentarily put the brakes on a 9-1 Princeton run with a basket inside of the 11-minute mark, the Tigers rattled off six-straight points. Smith got things started with a jumper from the left elbow. Drawing contact on a drive moments later, Smith hit a pair from the charity stripe to give Princeton its first double-digit lead. Pulling down a rebound after a stop on the other end, Tarakchian found Wheatley with a long pass for an uncontested layup that suddenly had the Tigers up 60-48.
With Green Bay battling back to within six with less than seven minutes to play, Wheatley tracked down a Dietrick misfire from long distance before drawing a foul and knocking down a pair of free throws. On Princeton's next possession, it was Tarakchian who headed to the charity stripe for two more, pushing the lead back up to 68-58 at 5:38.
Making one last run, the Phoenix cut the deficit to four with 2:00 on the clock. Needing a big stop after a Wheatley miss, Tarakchian came up with a steal in the right corner. Finding Wheatley underneath, Tarakchian helped stretch the cushion to six. With Princeton getting another stop, Green Bay fouled Dietrick to stop the clock, but the senior calmly stepped to the line and hit two free throws to make it 73-65 with 1:06 remaining in regulation.
Holding a decisive 49-21 edge on the glass, Princeton shot 45.5 percent (25-55) for the game, which included a 56.3 percent (9-16) clip from beyond the arc. The Tigers held Green Bay to 40.9 percent (27-66) shooting and a 29.6 percent (8-27) showing from three-point range.