Women's Basketball: Tigers hit the road, face No. 4 Stanford

The women’s basketball team will look to get back on track as it faces the fourth-best team in the country: the Stanford Cardinal. Stanford’s only loss came to No. 2 Connecticut early in the season. The Cardinal (6-1) will present an incredibly difficult test for the Tigers (7-3), as a top-ranked team that features some of the best players in college basketball and has not lost at home since the 2006-07 season.

Stanford features the fifth-best scorer in the nation, senior forward Nnemkadi Ogwumike, who is averaging 24 points and 11 rebounds per game. Ogwumike was an All-America last year and is one of the best players in college basketball. In addition, Ogwumike’s younger sister Chiney is another star in the Stanford frontcourt. Chiney Ogwumike averaged 14.9 points and 10.6 rebounds through seven games.

The Cardinal has gotten additional contributions this season from guard Toni Kokenis, who is averaging 7.9 points, and forward Joslyn Tinkle, at 7.6 points per game.

With these talented scorers and other key players, Stanford is ranked 10th in the country in scoring, posting over 81 points per game. The Cardinal is also ranked 12th in the country in scoring margin and eighth in assists per game. Obviously, Stanford will present a tremendous challenge to the Princeton Tigers.

Senior guard Lauren Edwards, one of four Tigers traveling to their home state this weekend, had only glowing remarks about Stanford and said she knows that the Tigers will have to play a great game if they want to stay competitive. “Stanford is a great team with a strong post presence,” she said. “We will certainly be aware of their personnel, as well as try to play to our own strengths. We will need to be focused and accountable on the court throughout the entire 40 minutes.”

The Tigers will send out a team that has faced adversity of late. After winning its first six games of the season, Princeton has lost three of its last four and is coming off of its first back-to-back losses since 2008-09. In the Tigers’ first six games they allowed more than 60 points only once, but three of their last four opponents have topped the 60-point mark. Clearly, this season has been a dichotomous one for the Tigers.

Edwards commented on what has been different in the last four games, as well as on some positives that have been extracted from this tough stretch which included two ranked opponents. “We have certainly been playing very talented teams. Delaware, Navy and DePaul are all great teams who are well-respected and do very well in their conferences,” Edwards said. “Although they were losses, we were able to learn a lot from those games in terms of what we need to work on and how we will approach the rest of the season.”

Despite the bad stretch, the Tigers will still send out an impressive lineup loaded with top Ivy League players. Junior forward Niveen Rasheed, averaging 17.4 points and nine rebounds per game, is coming off of possibly her best performance yet — a 23-point, 18-rebound game against No. 23 DePaul. Edwards, who also reached double figures against the Blue Demons, averages 9.4 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. Princeton has also received important contributions from many other players, including senior center Devona Allgood, junior forward Kate Miller and junior point guard Lauren Polansky.

The trip to Stanford marks a homecoming for Polansky and Rasheed, who both grew up in northern California. After facing the Cardinal, Princeton will remain in the Golden State to face Santa Clara, continuing a five-game road trip for the Tigers that will conclude with their conference opener at Penn.

“Road trips always pose some challenges because you aren’t in the comfort of your own gym, and you have to deal with traveling, getting used to different types of gyms and getting from place to place,” Edwards said. “These next few games will prepare us for Ivy play, as half our games are away in very different gyms.”