Princeton University Athletics
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Women's Hoops Ready For Big Dance Matchup vs. West Virginia
March 17, 2016 | Women's Basketball
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Thursday's Press Conference Quotes - Princeton
COLUMBUS, Ohio – No. 11 seeded Princeton women's basketball team met with the media today and had one final practice at St. John Arena before its first round matchup vs. the No. 6 seed West Virginia Mountaineers on Friday at noon on ESPN2 and the WatchESPN app.
“What an honor it is to play in this tournament,” said head coach Courtney Banghart. Senior Alex Wheatley added, “The NCAA Tournament is such an amazing field and such a great group of people, it's hard to expect to get into something like that.”
Princeton has won five of the last seven Ivy League titles. With winning the conference in previous years, the Tigers always knew they'd have their name called on Selection Monday. This year was different though. After Princeton lost to Penn on Mar. 8, the Tigers were left in limbo as a “bubble team.”
ESPN's Charlie Crème, after the team's loss to Penn, had the Tigers listed as one of the last four teams out during the week leading up to the selection show. “Being on the bubble, there's really nothing you can do,” said Wheatley speaking about the week prior to Selection Monday.
Luckily for Banghart's team, Crème was incorrect as Princeton became the first Ivy League team to receive an at-large bid since the conference became an automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament.
“It was a surreal moment, having no idea who you're playing is kind of a limbo that leaves everyone emotional”, said senior Taylor Williams during the Ivy League conference call on Tuesday, describing what watching the Selection Show was like. “To see where we're going and get another shot at something that the senior class specially has been working towards for the last four years is hard to put into words," Williams recounted.
West Virginia prevents a unique challenge for the Princeton. The Mountaineers was ranked No. 23 in the final Associated Press poll and is No. 25 in USA Today Coaches' Poll. Bria Holmes (16.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists per game) was a unanimous All-Big 12 selection while Lanay Montgomery (8.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.7 blocks per game) was All-Big 12 Second Team and All-Defense. Tynice Martin (10.0 points, 2.9 assists, 1.5 assists per game) was also picked as Big-12 Freshmen of the Year and senior Arielle Roberson was All-Big 12 Honorable Mention.
“We're looking forward to opening up against Princeton; they have a lot of senior athletes and they're a very good and experienced basketball team,” said West Virginia head coach Mike Carey at the team's press conference. “They're pretty good defensively,” noted Carey. Their post players run as well as their guards, which is a concern for us.
When discussing West Virginia's defense, Banghart acknowledged that “It's very different that the way we've played.” The Princeton head coach made mention of the team's non-conference schedule preparing them for these type of matchups, “This will be similar to how we were played in the beginning of the season so we went back and watched a lot of that film.”
The winner of this No. 6 vs. No. 11 contest in the Sioux Falls, S.D. region will take on the winner of the No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes and No. 14 Buffalo Bulls on Sunday at St. John Arena. Princeton is looking for its' second ever NCAA Tournament victory as they became just the second team in Ivy League history to secure a win in the Big Dance last season.