Box Score
Mission accomplished.
The long hours, tiring practices and most of all battles on
the court were undoubtedly worth it as the Princeton women's basketball team can
once again call itself Ivy League champion.
Saturday's 80-51 win over Brown brought home the fourth consecutive outright
Ivy title, procuring the squad's ticket to the NCAA tournament.
The road to four straight Ivy championships began with the
Class of 2013. The winningest class in Ivy women's basketball history, the
quartet is an unprecedented 53-2 all-time in league play. They are taking this
team to its fourth consecutive Big Dance, something that had never happened
before they stepped onto campus.
The four seniors each shone on their night, Senior Night.
Niveen Rasheed (14), Kate Miller (12) and Megan Bowen (11) each were in double
figures, while Lauren Polansky tallied six rebounds.
The catalyst to the program's unparalleled success, the
group closed out their Jadwin Gym playing days on a high note. They have won
the last 20 consecutive home contests, as an aside.
A flat start by the Tigers provided Brown the initial
advantage and the Bears went on to hold as high as an eight-point lead. It took
an Alex Wheatley layin to lift Princeton to a 16-15 advantage at 9:43 and from
there both sides battled for control through halftime.
Unable to seize a comfortable lead before the break, it was a Kristen
Helmstetter basket at 14:21 that proved to be the turning point. She put the Tigers
up by 10, 44-34, and Brown was unable to get closer than seven for the rest of
the night.
Along with the trio of seniors in double digits, Helmstetter
had 11 points and off the bench Michelle Miller tallied 12, including three
triples.
Princeton (21-6, 12-1 Ivy) has one final regular season
test, heading to Penn for a Tuesday, Mar. 12 meeting at 5 p.m.
And then the Tigers will wait for the NCAA Selection Show to find out their tournament fate.
