Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Miller, Wheatley, Tarakchian Named to All-Ivy Teams
March 11, 2016 | Women's Basketball
PRINCETON – The Princeton women's basketball team had three members named to the All-Ivy League teams today, the conference announced today.
After being selected to All-Ivy honorable mention last season, senior Michelle Miller was one of six players named to the first team this season. Miller had a stellar senior campaign, setting career highs in points (14.1), field goal percentage (48.8), free throw percentage (84.6), rebounds (5.2) and assists (2.4).
Miller received three Ivy League Player of the Week awards this season, giving her seven total in her career. She is one of just 15 players in the league history to nab at least seven POTW awards, joining her teammate Annie Tarakchian and head coach Courtney Banghart.
The team's leading scorer registered seven 20+ point outings this year and became the 23rd member of the 1,000-point club as team won the 2015 Loyola Marymount Thanksgiving Classic on Nov. 28. Miller was also named Most Valuable Player of the tournament. The two-time All-Ivy player had a stretch of six consecutive games scoring in double figures, highlighted by a 21-point outing at No. 10/No. 12 Ohio State (Dec. 18).
The Pasadena, Calif., native had two of her four career double-doubles during the 2015-16 season at Dayton (14 points, 11 rebounds) (Dec. 20) and vs. Hampton (17 points, 10 rebounds) (Jan. 3). One of Miller's best games of the season include a season-high 28 points on 9-of-15 shooting (60.0 percent) at Harvard (Feb. 7) in a 92-83 overtime victory.
Senior Alex Wheatley became one of six players in program history to be named to the All-Ivy League first team in back-to-back years. The senior has a dynamic season with a career best in points (12.7), rebounds (6.1), field goal percentage (56.5), free throw percentage (70.2) and assists (2.0). Wheatley was even better down the stretch. Over the team's last seven games, she averaged a team-high 14.7 points, making 43 of her 63 shots (68.3 percent), also adding 4.6 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.1 blocks and 1.1 steals during that span.
Wheatley was remarkably consistent this season, scoring in double figures during 23 of the Tigers' 28 games. The senior grabbed 10+ rebounds in four games this year including a season-high 13 rebounds at Harvard (Feb. 7) and vs. Columbia (Feb. 13). In the game at Harvard, Wheatley scored 16 points to become the 24th player to reach the 1,000-point milestone. The starting forward was picked as the Ivy League Player of the Week on Feb. 29, led by a career-high 23 points at Cornell (Feb. 27) on 11-of-14 from the floor (78.6 percent).
Tarakchian was honored as an All-Ivy second team member after a career-high 12.0 points, 9.4 rebounds this season. The senior has gradually improved every year in field goals and three-pointers made.
The senior guard/forward got off to a great start with double digits in points in nine of the first 12 games including a career-high 23 points at Dayton (Dec. 20). Tarakchian also had back-to-back 17-rebound performances at Penn (Jan. 9) and vs. Brown (Jan. 29). Those outings tied her for the seventh most in a single game in program history.
With three Ivy League Player of the Week awards this year, Tarakchian is just the 11th player in the conference's history to win eight career weekly honors. She played a major role in helping Princeton sweep its 40th Ivy League weekend in its last 43 opportunities last week. Tarakchian recorded her second consecutive and 19th career double-double, scoring a career-high 24 points and grabbing a game-high 11 rebounds vs. Harvard (Mar. 4). The next night on Senior Night vs. Dartmouth (Mar. 5), she just missed another double-double, finishing with nine points and 11 rebounds.
The Tigers will have to wait until Monday's NCAA Selection Show to learn their postseason fate. The NCAA Selection Show will be on ESPN at 7 p.m. The postseason Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) will also release its' bracket on Monday following the NCAA Selection Show.
All-Ivy Awards/Selections
FIRST-TEAM ALL-IVY^
*AnnMarie Healy, Harvard (Sr., F – Edina, Minn.)
Michelle Miller, Princeton (Sr., G – Pasadena, Calif.)
Michelle Nwokedi, Penn (So., F – Missouri City, Texas)
Lakin Roland, Dartmouth (Sr., F – Jeffersonville, Ind.)
*Sydney Stipanovich, Penn (Jr., C – St. Louis)
Alex Wheatley, Princeton (Sr., F – Upper Holland, Pa.)
SECOND-TEAM ALL-IVY
Jordin Alexander, Brown (Sr., G – Fishers, Ind.)
Nia Marshall, Cornell (Jr., F – Macedonia, Ohio)
Nyasha Sarju, Yale (Sr., G – Seattle)
Annie Tarakchian, Princeton (Sr., G – West Hills, Calif.)
Camille Zimmerman, Columbia (So., F – Tempe, Ariz.)
HONORABLE MENTION
Kate Letkewicz, Dartmouth (So., G – Waterloo, Iowa)
Anna Ross, Penn (So., G – Syracuse, N.Y.)
Shilpa Tummala, Harvard (Sr., G – Phoenix)
*-Unanimous selection
^-First team expanded to six due to ties in the voting