PHILADELPHIA, January 7, 2012 – The Princeton Tigers Women’s team is going after their third consecutive Ivy League title. The Tigers sent a message to the Ivy League that the fully intend to win the crown as they opened the season soundly beating the University of Pennsylvania Quakers 83 – 48 at the Palestra.
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is was a game where the statistics did tell the story. Princeton made 31 of 70 shots, mostly layups as they outscored Penn 38 – 8 in the paint. On the boards the Tigers had 52 rebounds, 20 on the offensive glass. Penn committed 15 turnovers that led to 20 Princeton points off turnovers. The 9 steals for the Tigers gave their team a 15 – 0 edge in fast break points. Penn managed to shoot only 26% (13 – 50) and had only 3 assists on 13 baskets.
Princeton started quickly. After Penn pulled to within 6 – 4 on a 3 by Sophomore guard Alyssa Baron, Princeton responded with a 14 – 0 run where four players scored. Baron scored again for Penn, and Princeton scored the next 10 points. The Tigers had a 41 – 14 halftime lead. No Penn player other than Baron had a field goal. Penn wanted to try to get back early in the second half. Princeton ended those hopes by opening the second half with a 15 – 4 run to take a 59 – 18 lead. The largest lead for Princeton was 43 points at 70 – 27 with 8:48 to play.
Ten of thirteen Princeton players scored. They were led by center Davona Allgood with 13 points. Three other Tigers scored in double figures; guard Nicole Hung (11), guard Niveen Rasheed (10), and guard Lauren Edwards (10).
Baron led all scorers with 23 points shooting 7 – 16, 2 of 5 from distance, and made all 7 foul shots. Forward Kara Bonenberger had 6 points. Junior guard Katie Davis and Sophomore forward Courtney Wilson got their first points of the season. Davis had 4 and Wilson contributed 2. Penn was without Senior forward Co-captain Jess Knapp due to injury.
One positive of note for Penn was despite the score differential, the team would lean forward and listen as one when Coach Mike McLaughlin came to the bench during timeouts. The team is listening. The problem in this game was not intensity as much as execution. Penn is building, Princeton is on top of their game wondering who is second best in the Ivy League.
Written By: Glenn Papazian
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