This Week for the Tigers: The Princeton women's basketball team (6-4) will look to snap its two-game skid versus a pair of Midwest opponents. The Tigers face off with Illinois State (6-3) on Wednesday, Dec. 19 at 8:05 p.m. ET, before wrapping up their non-conference road slate with DePaul (8-3) on Friday, Dec. 21 at 8:05 p.m. ET.

Last Time Out: A first half deficit was too much to over come, as the Tigers suffered a 61-54 loss at Villanova on Dec. 12. Niveen Rasheed led the way with 15 points and seven boards, while Kristen Helmstetter and Blake Dietrick notched 11 and 10 points, respectively.

On Deck: The Tigers conclude 2012 at home versus Drexel on Monday, Dec. 31 at 2 p.m. Princeton's final non-conference game will be on Tuesday, Jan. 8 versus Navy at 7 p.m.

Follow the Tigers: Live video and stats will be available for all Princeton home games at GoPrincetonTigers.com. Live audio ($), stats and video ($) will be available from Illinois State and DePaul via GoPrincetonTigers.com.

Get Connected: Are you following Princeton on Facebook and Twitter? Follow the athletics department at Facebook.com/PrincetonAthletics and Twitter.com/PUTIGERS. Connect with the Tiger women's basketball team on Facebook.com/PrincetonWBB or follow head coach Courtney Banghart on Twitter @CoachBanghart.

Scouting Illinois State: Illinois State enters Wednesday's meeting riding a two-game winning streak, dropping Northwestern, 64-46, on Dec. 7 and Ball State, 71-56, on Dec. 16.

The Red Birds (6-3) are led by a trio of double figure scorers in Janae Smith (15.7), Jamie Russell (15.1) and Candace Sykes (13.1). Smith and Russell lead the rebounding effort with 8.2 and 6.4 boards per game, respectively.

All-Time vs. Illinois State: Princeton owns the all-time series versus Illinois State, 1-0. The two programs have not met since 1995-96, when Tigers faced the Redbirds in the WNIT. Princeton's season concluded with a 68-65 win over Illinois State on Mar. 23, 1996.

Scouting DePaul: DePaul is amidst a four-game home swing, having won its last two contests. The Blue Demons (8-3) host Loyola-Chicago on Tuesday, prior to playing the Tigers.

Jasmine Penny leads the Blue Demon offense with 15.4 points per game. Both Brittany Hrynko and Anna Martin follow with 13.5 and 144.4 points per game, respectively. Katherine Harry is the team's rebounding leader with 10.7 boards per game.

All-Time vs. DePaul: DePaul owns the all-time series versus Princeton, 1-0. In the first meeting, the Blue Demons handed the Tigers a 78-67 loss on Dec. 13, 2011 in Princeton.

Back on Track: For the first time this season the Tigers suffered consecutive defeats. The squad will look to get back into the win column versus Illinois State and DePaul.

Final Road Trip of 2012:

The 2012 road schedule will conclude this week, with a final pair of games at Illinois State and DePaul. Princeton officially wraps up the year at home on New Year's Eve versus Drexel.

Ivy Slate on Deck: After a final non-conference game on Tuesday, Jan. 8 versus Navy at 7 p.m., the Tigers will look to defend their Ivy crown with the commencement of the conference season. Princeton will open the Ivy season with Penn on Saturday, Jan. 12 at 3:30 p.m. in Jadwin Gym.

Rolling Rasheed: Senior Niveen Rasheed maintains her stance as the Tigers' top performer, averaging team-highs in both points (15.4) and rebounds (8.6) per game. She also has dished a team-best 33 assists and is second in steals with 20. Rasheed has scored in double figures nine times this season and has a pair of double-doubles.

She is the Ivy League's third-leading scorer; however she has scored in double figures versus a top-25 opponent and a pair of teams receiving votes.

Comforts of Home: The Tigers are 4-0 at home this season, putting together a quartet of dominant performances at Jadwin.

At home, Princeton is outscoring opponents 336-197. The Tigers saw a season-best performance versus UMBC on Dec. 2, outscoring the Retrievers 51-8 in the first half.

Helmstetter Notches Another Career High: She's already eclipsed personal bests in points, three-pointers and assists, but junior Kristen Helmstetter managed to establish a new career-high in rebounds on Dec. 9 at Delaware. The forward grabbed nine defensive boards, tying for team leader in the stat.

Since moving into the starting lineup five games ago, she's moved to the team's second-leading scorer (7.8) and rebounder (5.1)

Ranked Opponents: Princeton's meeting between then-No. 19/22 UCLA on Nov. 25 marked the squad's first game versus a ranked team. The Tigers have also faced two teams who were receiving votes towards a national ranking in Rutgers and Delaware.

College Insider Mid-Major Top-25: The Tigers remain tabbed No. 7 with 522 votes, including a first-place vote, in this week's CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top-25 Poll.

Quintet in Double Figures: For the first time this, season five players scored in double figures versus UMBC on Dec. 2. Four of the starting five reached the scoring mark, along with newcomer Michelle Miller in 17 bench minutes.

Kate Miller led the offense for the first time this season with 13 points, going 3-for-6 from beyond the arc.

Assists 4 Africa: The Princeton women's basketball team will be hosting Assists 4 Africa events at Jadwin Gym as part of the Princeton Varsity Club Service Circle. Its efforts will raise money for Vivre Ensemble Madeshael, the orphanage in Senegal the team visited in 2011, working with Progress 4 Africa (501(c)3) charity.

To pledge a one-time donation search for "Assists4Africa" on www.crowdrise.com or pledge an amount based on the number of assists the team makes throughout the season. Please direct all questions to PrincetonAssists4Africa@gmail.com.

Banghart Reaches Career Milestone: Sixth season head coach Courtney Banghart won her 100th career game at the helm of the Princeton women's basketball program Sunday in the Tigers' 93-46 win over UMBC. Banghart is now 101-54 all-time and 65-16 in Ivy play. Assistant coach Milena Flores has been on Banghart's coaching staff throughout that span, as well.

Rasheed Named to Wooden Award Preseason Team & Naismith Watch List: Senior Niveen Rasheed was selected to the Wooden Award Women's Preseason Top 30 and to the 50-player Naismith Watch List. The Tiger guard is the only Ivy League representative on the prestigious preseason teams recognizing the top NCAA Division I players in the nation.

Preseason Poll Predicts Ivy Four-Peat: Behind 132 votes and 13 first-place nods, Princeton was predicted to win the Ivy League title for the fourth consecutive season in the Ivy preseason media poll. Harvard was the only other team to collect first-place votes, earning 120 points and three first-place votes.

Ivy First: The Tigers made history a year ago by becoming the only Ivy League women's basketball program to earn a national ranking. Princeton was No. 24 in the final AP Poll of 2011-12.

Welcome Back: The Tigers welcome back 10 letterwinners from a year ago, including unanimous Ivy Player of the Year Niveen Rasheed and two-time Ivy Defensive Player of the Year Lauren Polansky. Princeton will be led by a sturdy group of four seniors, looking to conclude their careers on top of the League for a fourth straight season.

The Newbies: Five freshmen join the Tigers in 2012-13. Princeton bolsters its lineup with a versatile group, each looking to become immediate contributors. The Tiger newcomers are: point guard Amanda Berntsen, guard Michelle Miller, guard/forward Annie Tarakchian, forward Alex Wheatley and forward/center Taylor Williams.

Preseason Honors: The Tigers have already picked up several preseason honors entering 2012-13. College Sports Madness tabbed head coach Courtney Banghart as the Preseason All-Mid Major and Ivy League Coach of the Year. Senior Niveen Rasheed was named the Preseason Ivy League Player of the Year and to the Preseason All-Mid Major and All-Ivy First Team.

Ivy Domination: This year's senior class has only seen one Ivy League loss throughout their careers, going 41-1. They have won the last three consecutive conference championships and were members of the first group to advance to the NCAA Tournament in Princeton history.

Rasheed Featured on ESPN: Senior Niveen Rasheed was featured on ESPN.com in a preseason article by women's sports writer Graham Hays. To view the article click here: http://m.espn.go.com/ncw/story?storyId=8603963

My Captain, Oh My Captain: Princeton's co-captains in 2012-13 are reigning Ivy Player of the Year Niveen Rasheed and two-time Defensive Player of the Year Lauren Polansky.

New Faces, New Roles: In addition to five new players on the court, the Princeton coaching staff saw some new additions. After two years at the team's director of basketball operations Megan Griffith has been promoted to assistant coach. Griffith replaces Melanie Moore.

Tyler Cordell was hired during the summer as the program's new director of basketball operations. Cordell comes from Ithaca where she was a graduate assistant with the Division III women's basketball team.