Box Score
In
a season full of team and personal milestones, the Princeton women's basketball
team added to its credentials Friday evening versus Columbia. The Tigers tied
the all-time Ivy League win streak with 32 consecutive conference victories, a
record established by Harvard from 1995-96 through 1997-98 and was snapped
fortuitously by Princeton, 56-53, on Feb. 7, 1998.
Megan Bowen headlined the early charge with eight of her 17
points as the Tigers opened with a 15-2 run over the first five minutes and put
together another wire-to-wire victory.
Princeton handed the Lions a 98-36 defeat, improving to 17-5,
8-0 Ivy and extending their conference double figure win streak to 23.
By the midpoint of the half senior Kate Miller scored her
500th career point, finishing with seven to bring her to 506 officially, and
Princeton held a 24-7 advantage.
The Tigers' shot nearly 50 percent from the field throughout
the first half, connecting on 16-of-33 (48.5 percent) by halftime, while taming
the Lions to only 9-of-24 and a 46-21 differential.
Niveen Rasheed made seven quick points to open the second
half en route to recording her 21st straight game scoring in double figures.
She finished with 15 points, eclipsing the 1,500-point mark with 1,512. The
guard also surpassed the 800-rebound milestone, grabbing seven boards to bring
her total to 802.
As the veterans set the early pace, much could be said about
the future of the program - the five freshmen. The quintet saw extended minutes
on the floor as a unit and combined for 47 of the bench's 53 points.
Leading the pack was Michelle Miller who scored a career and
game-high 21 points, including a career-best five triples. In 24 minutes, the
highly effective M. Miller nearly had a point for every minute she was in the
game.
Classmate Annie Tarakchian also established a new
career-high with 10 points, scoring in double figures for the first time.
With 14 seconds left in regulation, Amanda Berntsen made her
third steal and the Tigers could have attempted to score that elusive 100th
point, but head coach Courtney Banghart had them run out the clock instead.
With that milestone still ahead, the Tigers look forward to
their next game tomorrow versus Cornell. Tip is slated for 6 p.m. in Jadwin
Gym.
