Box Score
A 20-point first half rally and 19 Niveen Rasheed points
powered the Princeton women's basketball team to a 72-68 victory over UC
Riverside Friday evening in Riverside, Calif. With the win, the Tigers improve
to 3-1, while the Highlanders fall to 3-2.
Princeton opened the game with the initial momentum, seeing
a 4-0 run from Rasheed and Kate Miller in the opening minute; however the early
run was not sustained.
UC Riverside responded to even things up, 7-7, at 16:03 off
a Natasha Hadley jumper. From that point forward both sides would battle for
control of the game.
After nearly two scoreless minutes, UCR took the lead for
the first time, 10-7, at 11:39. A rattled Princeton side, had to regain its
bearings and work to reestablish its pace in the game.
Down 15-10 at 11:39, Rasheed ignited a 20-point rally over a
six-minute run. During that span, freshman and Southern California native Michelle Miller buried a two of her three triples in the game to put distance between
Princeton and UC Riverside.
The Tigers went into halftime holding a 41-29 advantage.
Similar to the first half, Princeton would see the early
surge, going up as high as 52-39 at 14:58, but it was not prolonged.
UC Riverside tested the Tigers' lead with a 13-5 run heading
into the midpoint of the half, to chop down Princeton's once double figure lead
to 57-52 at 10:31.
With 8:08 to play, freshman Annie Tarakchian buried a shot
from range to set up a 9-4 run and reestablish Princeton's double digit advantage,
68-57.
Unabated, UCR remained persistent to remain within range
behind Brittany Crain three-pointer at 4:14. Crain had 20 points to lead the
Highlanders.
The Tigers managed to deflect Riverside's ensuing offensive
rallies, to preserve the victory.
Rasheed finished the game with her second double-double in
as many contests, going 8-for-18 from the field for 19 points and she grabbed
12 rebounds. Scoring in double figures for the first time of her career was
freshman Alex Wheatley, who was 6-for-7 from the field and had 13 points.
The Tigers utilized a 45-34 rebounding differential, including
grabbing 18 offensive boards to convert into 18-second chance points. Princeton
shot 42.2 percent (28-for-66) from the field to UCR's 39.6 percent (21-for-53).
The Highlanders did dominate from beyond the arc, going 55.6 percent (10-for-18).
Princeton heads next to face No. 19/22 UCLA on Sunday, Nov.
25 at 4 p.m. ET. The Bruins are coming off a 76-64 loss to No. 5 Notre Dame
Friday, falling to 2-1 on the year.
