Box Score
In
a battle for first place in the Ivy League, it was the Princeton women's
basketball team that maneuvered past Cornell, 77-46, Friday evening in Ithaca,
N.Y. The Tigers improve to 11-5, 2-0 Ivy, while extending their Ivy win streak
to 26 and current win streak to five. The contest also marked their 10th double
figure victory on the year.
Princeton opened the game with an 8-2 run, but Cornell
managed to remain in range and come as close as three, 10-7 with 14:31 to play.
With a one-possession game on their hands, the Tigers upended the Big Red run
and set up a double figure differential of their own, 19-9 at 11:54.
Cornell seriously contested for the lead inside the
10-minute mark, riding a 9-0 run to make it a three-point game for the second
time. Blake Dietrick ended the Big Red's scoring rally with four decisive
points and a steal to Princeton up 25-18 at 7:56.
Dietrick finished with 17 points for a career-high. She came
in off the bench and was 7-for-8 from the field, including draining a pair of
three-pointers, and tallied five rebounds, five assists and two steals in 22
minutes of work.
By halftime the Tigers found their flow on the floor and held
a 38-22 advantage.
Much of their first half success was credited to feeding the
ball to Megan Bowen in the post. The senior center had 10 of her 12 points over
the first 20 minutes of play.
Classmate Niveen Rasheed scored in double figures for the
14th consecutive game, finishing with a game-high 21 points. She shot 75 percent
(9-for-12) from the field and grabbed five boards.
On an evening where the seniors showcased their veteran
leadership, Kate Miller established a new career-high in assists with five and
point guard Lauren Polansky returned to action with a team-high eight boards.
At the other end of the spectrum, all five freshmen saw minutes
and combined for 17 of the bench's 40 points.
While individual achievement highlighted the evening, as a
whole Princeton shot a season-best 58.6 percent (34-for-58) from the field and
held a 42-26 rebounding differential.
The Tigers head next to Columbia (2-15, 0-3 Ivy) for a
Saturday, Feb. 2 meeting at 7 p.m. in New York City.
