Princeton University Athletics
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Women's Hoops Travels to Ohio State For NCAA Tournament
March 16, 2016 | Women's Basketball
| No. 11 Seed Princeton vs. No. 6 Seed West Virginia |
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| Gametimes | Princeton vs. West Virginia l Friday, Mar. 18 - 12 p.m. l St. John Arena |
| Game Coverage | ESPN 2 / WatchESPN / Live Stats / Radio |
| @PUTigers l @PUTigers_live l @WVUSports |
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| All-Time Series |
These two teams have never met. |
| Princeton | Roster l Schedule l Stats l @PrincetonWBB |
| West Virginia |
Roster l Schedule l Stats l @WVUWBB |
| Related Links | Game Notes (PDF) |
Links from the Week That Was
DANCING! Women's Hoops Heading to the NCAA Tournament
Miller, Wheatley, Tarakchian Named to All-Ivy League Teams
Ivy League Adds Men's and Women's Basketball Tournaments Beginning in 2017
Welcome to the Show
- Princeton is making its sixth appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The No. 11 seeded Tigers will face off against the No. 6 seeded West Virginia Mountaineers in Sioux Falls, S.D. region on Friday at noon on ESPN2.
- The Tigers became the first team in Ivy League history to make the NCAA Tournament as an at-large since the conference became an automatic qualifier in the 1993-94 season.
- The team's No. 11 seed matches its mark from 2010.
- In their last appearance, the No. 8 seed Tigers scored the program's first ever NCAA Tournament victory and became just the second Ivy League team ever to earn a win in the Big Dance (Harvard, 1998) with an 80-70 decision over Green Bay before falling to the No. 1 seed Maryland, 85-70.
- In 2013, the ninth-seeded Tigers fell to No. 8 Florida St., 60-44, in Waco, Texas.
- In 2012, ninth-seeded Princeton dropped a 67-64 decision to No. 8 Kansas St. in Bridgeport, Conn.
- In 2011, the 12th-seeded Tigers fell to No. 5 Georgetown in College Park, Md., 65-49.
- In 2010, 11th-seeded Princeton lost to No. 6 St. John's in Tallahassee, Fla., 65-47.
National Stage
- According to the NCAA Selection Show, the Tigers were one of the last four teams in the tournament.
- Princeton finished second in the CollegeInsider.com Mid Major Top-25 with two first place votes, moving up two spots from the previous week.
- The Tigers trailed Florida Gulf Coast (765), who did not make the NCAA Tournament.
- Princeton is the highest Ivy League team in the poll while Penn is 13th.
- The Tigers are 29th in the Jeff Sagarin/CBN Women's College Basketball Ratings and 36th in the NCAA RPI.
In The Rankings
- Princeton places inside the top 10 nationally in rebound margin (2nd), defensive rebounds per game (4th), rebounds per game (6th), scoring margin (7th) and field goal percentage defense (8th) as of Monday night.
- Nationally, the Tigers rank inside the top 50 in field goal percentage (11th), three-point field goal percentage (12th), scoring offense (19th), assists per game (20th), assist-turnover ratio (46th) and three-point field goal percentage defense (49th).
2015-16 Season Review
- Princeton currently stands at 23-5 on the season.
- After a loss at Seton Hall (Nov. 19), the Tigers won seven straight contests, highlighted by wins over Michigan (Dec. 6) and Pittsburgh (Dec. 12).
- Following back-to-back losses including a 90-70 decision to No. 10/No. 12 Ohio State (Dec. 18), the team won two games to finish 11-3 during the non-conference portion of its schedule.
- The Tigers were defeated by Penn in the Ivy Opener (Jan. 9). Princeton proceeded to then win 12 consecutive Ivy League matchups to set up a de facto Ivy League Championship against Penn (Mar. 8).
- During the team's 12-game winning streak, Princeton outscored its opponents by an average of 22.7 points.
Ivy League Notes
- The Ivy League is set to add another milestone in its storied history, adding men's and women's basketball tournaments to its slate of conference championships beginning with the 2016-17 academic year.
- Under head coach Courtney Banghart, the reigning National Coach of the Yearm the Tigers have posted a 104-19 (.846) record against Ivy League opponents.
- Princeton is averaging 76.0 points per game, highest among Ivy League foes.
- The Tigers place second in the Ivy in scoring defense at 57.8 per contest. Banghart's squad maintains the top scoring margin at +18.2.
- In its Ivy matchups, Princeton has held opponents to a .335 field goal percentage and .283 three-point field goal percentage.
- The Orange and Black hold a +14.4 rebounding edge in Ivy League play this season.
- Michelle Miller is averaging 14.4 points in the Tigers' conference games, good for 7th.
- Annie Tarakchian has the second best rebounding average in conference games (10.2).
Climbing the Charts
- Michelle Miller currently stands at 1,311 career points; she is 8 points shy of 7th place on the all-time list.
- One of the program's most prolific shooters, Miller's 42.3 career three-point percentage is currently the second highest mark in school history.
- Miller's 212 made threes are the third most all-time while her 503 attempts from beyond the arc is ninth.
- Annie Tarakchian is fifth in program history with 739 rebounds.
- Tarakchian's 6.7 career rebounds per game is tied for 10th in the program's history.
- Taylor Williams is currently on pace to finish with a program-record 56.8 career shooting percentage.
Eating Your Wheaties
- Alex Wheatley became the 24th member of the Tigers' 1,000-point club on Feb. 7 vs. Harvard.
- Wheatley is currently averaging a career-high 12.7 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game.
- The senior also has a career high 84 offensive rebounds this season.
- Wheatley is also shooting a career-high 70.2 (59-84) percent from the free throw line.
- Wheatley's 55.7 career shooting percentage is currently tied for second in program history.
Ivy Player of the Week
- Princeton has claimed 9 Ivy POTW awards this year.
- Senior Annie Tarakchian was picked as the Ivy League Co-Player of the Week on Mar. 7. It's her eighth career accolade making her one of just 11 players in Ivy League history to reach that milestone.
- Senior Alex Wheatley was named Ivy League Co-Player of the Week on Feb. 29. It was her third career POTW award and second this season.
- Senior Amanda Berntsen was selected as Ivy League Co-Player of the Week, the league on Feb. 22. It's was the senior's first career weekly award.
- For the seventh time in her career, Michelle Miller was picked as POTW on Feb. 8. She is one of just 15 players in conference history to reach that mark, joining her teammate, Annie Tarakchian and head coach Courtney Banghart.
- Miller also took home the accolade in January after averaging 16.5 ppg and 9.0 rpg against Marist and Hampton while shooting 50.0 percent from the floor and 53.8 percent from three.
- Annie Tarakchian took home league-wide honors on Nov. 16 and Nov. 30, while Miller garnered her first POTW award of the season on Dec. 7.
- Alex Wheatley was named the league's POTW on Dec. 14.
- Dating back to 2014-15, a Princeton player has claimed the Ivy League POTW award in 22 of the last 29 weeks in which the team has played a game and been eligible.
- Below is a list of Princeton's Ivy POTW awards dating back to 2014-15:
Nov. 17, 2014 – Michelle Miller
Nov. 24 – Blake Dietrick (Co-Player)
Dec. 1 – Annie Tarakchian
Dec. 8 – Blake Dietrick (Co-Player)
Dec. 15 – Blake Dietrick
Dec. 22 - Annie Tarakchian (Co-Player)
Jan. 5 - Blake Dietrick (Co-Player)
Jan. 12 - Blake Dietrick (Co-Player)
Feb. 2 - Alex Wheatley (Co-Player)
Feb. 9 - Michelle Miller (Co-Player)
Feb. 16 - Annie Tarakchian (Co-Player)
Feb. 23 - Annie Tarakchian
Mar. 2 - Blake Dietrick (Co-Player)
Mar. 9 - Blake Dietrick (Co-Player)
Nov. 16, 2015 - Annie Tarakchian
Nov. 30 - Annie Tarakchian (Co-Player)
Dec. 7 - Michelle Miller
Dec. 14 - Alex Wheatley
Jan. 4 - Michelle Miller (Co-Player)
Feb. 8 - Michelle MIller (Co-Player)
Feb. 22 - Amanda Berntsen
Feb. 29 - Alex Wheatley (Co-Player)
Mar. 7 - Annie Tarakchian (Co-Player)
Series History
- Princeton has never played West Virginia.
- Princeton is 0-2 all-time vs. Ohio State, having lost 87-58 to the Buckeyes in in 1979 and 90-70 on Dec. 18, 2015.
- Princeton dropped Buffalo in the two team's only meeting, 78-55 on Dec. 19, 1992.
Last Time Out For West Virginia
- Texas ended West Virginia's run in the Big 12 Tournament with a 67-51 victory in the semifinals.
- Chania Ray hit a three-pointer to open the game, but Texas (28-3) used an 11-3 run to take an early lead.
- The No. 6/7-ranked Longhorns led by 15 at the half and started the third quarter on a 10-2 spurt to extend their advantage to 23.
Scouting West Virginia
- The No. 23/T-No.25 Mountaineers will be making its 11th overall appearanc in the NCAA Tournament.
- West Virginia (24-6, 12-6 Big 12) finished third in the Big 12 Conference and advanced to the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship semifinal game versus Texas.
- The Mountaineers are making their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2014 and the ninth time under coach Mike Carey. WVU has made the postseason for a school-record 10th consecutive year.
Last Time Out For Ohio State
- Michigan State defeated Ohio State, 82-63 in the Big Ten Semifinals.
- Kelsey Mitchell led the Buckeyes with 20 points but fellow All-Big Ten first-teamer Aerial Powers was on point most of the night and finished with a game-high 31 points and 12 rebounds for the Spartans.
- The Buckeye offense struggled to get in gear. OSU scored a season-low 20 points in the opening half and trailed 44-20 at the break.
Scouting Ohio State
- The Buckeyes are making their 23rd NCAA Tournament appearance and are playing in Columbus for the first time since 2011.
- Ohio State has an all-time record of 24-22 in the NCAA Tournament and has made seven Sweet 16 appearances. The Buckeyes have advanced to the Elite Eight three times with its best run being a runner-up finish in 1993.
- Senior Ameryst Alston and sophomore Kelsey Mitchell were named to the first team while junior Shayla Cooper and sophomore Alexa Hart were named to the second team.
Last Time Out For Buffalo
- Stephanie Reid banked in a runner in the lane to beat the buzzer and give the University at Buffalo women's basketball team its first ever Mid-American Conference championship on Mar. 12.
- The Bulls upset second seed Central Michigan, 73-71, in overtime, to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history.
- The eighth-seeded Bulls become the lowest seed in MAC history to win the Women's Basketball Championship.
Scouting Buffalo
- The Bulls are making their first ever trip to the big dance after a 73-71 overtime win over Central Michigan in the MAC Championship Game.
- Joanna Smith is the team's leading scorer at 17.9 points per game. She also averages 6.1 rebounds and 1.5 steals per contest.
News and Notes
- Annie Tarakchian was invited to the USA Basketball Junior National Team Trials last May and won gold at the 2015 Pan Armenian Summer Games.
- A Princeton Shapiro Prize for Academic Excellence award winner and third-team CoSIDA Academic All-America honoree last season, Michelle Miller is a finalist for the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship.
- One of just five Princeton juniors to be accepted into the University's Scholar's in the Nation's Service Initiative, Alex Wheatley spent the summer interning at the National Institute of Health in Washington, D.C.
- Sophomore Leslie Robinson is the daughter of Princeton alumnus Craig Robinson, who is one of only two men's players in program history to twice be named Ivy League Player of the Year. Her aunt Michelle Robinson (Michelle Obama) graduated from Princeton in 1985 and is currently the First Lady of the United States and the wife of President Barack Obama.
- Freshman Qalea Ismail is the daughter of Qadry “The Missle” Ismail, who played 10 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with her uncle Raghib “Rocket” Ismail, who played for nine seasons.
- Jordan Muhammad's father, Muhsin, played 14 seasons in the NFL, for the Carolina Panthers and Chicago Bears.
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