Women's Basketball: Bench players lead team to blowout win over Broncs

“It shows how much depth we have,” said Rasheed, who racked up 22 points in just 20 minutes. “Even when our starters come off, we have people who can come in and perform without missing a beat.”

After leading the Tigers to a 19-6 lead just seven minutes into the first half, the starters had all sat down by the 10-minute mark, leaving it to the bench players to maintain the lead. Led by junior guard Laura Johnson’s five points and three rebounds in less than five minutes, the bench carried Princeton to a 42-22 halftime lead.

With such a huge lead a quarter of the way into the game, head coach Courtney Banghart gave some of the rookies, who had seen limited playing time so far this season, a chance to introduce themselves to the home crowd. In the waning minutes of the first half, freshman guard Nicole Hung swished back-to-back three-pointers from behind the arc, prompting encouraging cheers from her teammates and the fans. Freshman guard Alex Rodgers also made her mark, collecting six rebounds and dishing out two assists in just four minutes.

“It’s key,” Banghart said of the bench players’ strong performances. “I told them at halftime, ‘This is the time when we develop our depth.’ We need everyone. In the Ivy League push we’ll need everyone, and today we had everyone.”

While the Broncs managed to cut the Tigers’ lead to seven points six minutes in, after Princeton had opened the match with an 8-0 run, the Tigers scored six straight points and maintained a double-digit lead for the rest of the game. Besides Rasheed’s 14 first-half points, the Tigers propelled themselves to a 20-point lead at the half with clever and pretty plays from players who are not normally known for their scoring. At the five-minute mark, sophomore forward Kate Miller drove along the baseline and flipped up a perfect reverse layup from under the basket. Thanks to successful screens with the clock winding down, sophomore guard Lauren Polansky found herself without coverage at the arc and drove into the paint for the easy layup.

The second half unfolded with a similar structure. After Banghart removed most of the starters midway through the half, Johnson carried the team, finishing with 10 points and five rebounds in 19 minutes. Johnson sunk a three with just under nine minutes remaining in the game to put the home team up by 40, and with less than four minutes left in the half she stole the ball and dribbled all the way down the court to convert on the layup.

With Princeton in possession of the ball and less than 10 seconds remaining in the game, yet another rookie — freshman forward Kristen Helmstetter — demonstrated her potential, sinking a high, arcing three-pointer to solidify the final 42-point margin of victory. Aside from that shot, Helmstetter had a strong six minutes, collecting two rebounds, dishing out an assist and blocking two shots.

Princeton’s defense was exceptionally strong throughout the game, limiting the Broncs to less than 30 percent field-goal shooting and zero successful three pointers in eight attempts. While no player on the Rider squad scored in the double digits, the Broncs did have two quick and talented guards, MyNeshia McKenzie and Dior Brown. McKenzie had a strong game, scoring nine points and grabbing nine boards, and while Brown showed off her moves and style, the Tigers limited her to just 2-for-11 shooting from the floor. Additionally, the Tigers were able to limit the output of 6-foot-2-inch forward Caitlin Bopp, Rider’s leading scorer, and powerful 6-foot-3-inch center Sarah Homan.

“They’re good inside players, and we knew we had to have that ball pressure on the perimeter to make that pass difficult,” Banghart said.

While the Tigers were on the whole shorter than usual because the bench saw so much playing time, senior guard and co-captain Krystal Hill attributed the futility of Riders’ post players’ efforts to the fact that in practice, Princeton’s smaller players often guard the larger players to prepare themselves for such situations.

“We’re used to that,” said Hill, who scored five points and dished out two assists in 14 minutes. “Whenever we’re put in the game, we know that we’re expected to be out there and contribute and give it all that we have.”