Athlete of the Week: Kate Thirolf - Women's Basketball

Most of this season has been a struggle for the women's basketball team, as it has worked its way to a disappointing 7-18 record. Senior forward Kate Thirolf has had to struggle through the season as well, battling her way through hobbling knee injuries.

In the last home game of her Princeton career, however, Thirolf overcame her injuries to help the Tigers to their biggest win of the season. The Tigers pounded first-place Dartmouth, which had won 11 straight games, 64-51.

The senior had 16 points, a team-leading eight rebounds and four assists. Adding to the team's outstanding 50 percent three-point shooting performance, Thirolf hit 4 of 7 from long range.

Her most important pair of three pointers came at the start of the second half. The Tigers and the Big Green had been trading leads since the end of the first half, and Princeton led 29-28 with 18 minutes, 38 seconds to play in the game.

Thirolf broke the game open for the first time with her next two shots, however. Once ahead, 35-28, the Tigers would run their lead to 48-34 and never look back, picking up their first win over Dartmouth in over a year.

Friday, Princeton fell to visiting Harvard, but Thirolf nearly made a win happen. In a heartbreaking last-minute loss, the Crimson topped the Tigers by just four points, 47-43.

Thirolf now has just two games left in a storied career. A four-year starter, she was a first team All-Ivy as a sophomore and made the second team last year. She is one of 13 players in Princeton women's basketball history to score 1,000 points.

Just when it seemed that her career might end with a disappointing season, Thirolf helped the Tigers salvage a large chunk of pride by dismantling the league's best.