Women's Basketball: Tough schedule tests Tigers’ new defense

As the two-time defending Ivy League champions, the women’s basketball team entered the 2011-12 basketball season with a different set of expectations. Simply making the NCAA Tournament would not be quite as satisfying an end goal for a talented team that dominates within its league and increasingly threatens outside teams.

In four years under head coach Courtney Banghart, the team vastly improved upon its 7-23 record in 2007-08. Before last year’s repeat campaign, Banghart spoke about the target on the team’s back: the inevitable determination each of their league opponents had to dethrone the league champs.

Another overwhelmingly successful Ivy campaign last season consolidated Princeton’s standing as the clear league favorite. The question is no longer whether the Tigers (7-2) can prove yet again that they are the best team in the Ivy League, but whether they can prove that they belong in the conversation as one of the top teams in the country.

Before the season began, Banghart noted that, in response to the return of junior forward Niveen Rasheed and the loss of guard Addie Micir ’11 to graduation, the Tigers would adapt a messier, faster-paced style with an emphasis on full-court press.

So far, this new look has led to seven wins, including double-digit victories over Villanova and Marist — which made it to the NCAA Tournament last year before losing to Duke by five — that earned Princeton several top-25 votes in nationwide polls.

“It’s allowed us to take our game to another level,” Rasheed said.

Banghart said the starting five have adapted particularly well to the new defensive strategy. A big part of that has been junior point guard and last year’s Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year Lauren Polansky, who consistently plays defense over the court’s 94 feet and leads the team with 30 steals.

With many games close at the half, maintaining the full-court press in the second half has forced turnovers from their opponents, providing opportunities for easy baskets that the Tigers have capitalized on to blow the score open.

“When we’re on our defensive game plan, when we’re disciplined, it’s outstanding, especially with our starters and top minute-getters,” Banghart said.

The Tigers have held their opponents to an average of just 54.1 points per game while averaging 66.2 themselves. But there have been times when the team has not executed its defensive game plan, and Princeton’s two losses so far correspond with two of the three times the defense has allowed more than 60 points.

In the 81-70 loss to No. 21 Delaware, the Tigers knew that Hens forward Elena Delle Donne — who is averaging about 30 points per game and is widely considered to be one of the top players in the country — would score a lot on them, but they failed in their goal to shut down her supporting cast, allowing three other players to score in double figures.

In both this game and the loss to Navy, a team Princeton beat by double digits last season, sophomore guard Nicole Hung said defensive breakdowns ultimately lead to the Tigers’ demise.

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“We weren’t as aggressive and disciplined as we usually were on defense,” Hung said. “Everyone has to mentally reengage in the mindset of how our defense creates offense. We have to refocus on that principle and get back to what we’ve been doing right all along. It’s not a physical thing, but a mental readjustment.”

Banghart added that there is a defensive drop-off when it comes to effectively implementing the full-court trap, noting that the reserves have not quite brought the same defensive discipline as the top minute-getters. Since the press requires coordination among all five players on the court, a lapse from anyone could result in easy baskets for the opposition.

Additionally, senior guard and co-captain Lauren Edwards said that, since Princeton has arranged such a challenging preseason schedule against many NCAA Tournament-caliber teams, effectively implementing the press is often the most viable defensive strategy.

“We have a really tough schedule this year,” Edwards said. “To play teams like that, we have to put pressure and make sure everyone’s on track.”

Princeton will pay particular attention to consistently applying defensive pressure tonight when it hosts No. 23 DePaul at Jadwin Gymnasium. The Blue Demons are coming off a blowout loss to No. 6 Tennessee at Madison Square Garden. They struggled against the Lady Volunteers’ full-court trap, scoring just 61 points and falling short of their average offensive production of 80.8 points per game.

Before the Tennessee game, DePaul had taken advantage of its high-scoring output and strong performances from forward Anna Martin, who averages 19.1 points per game, and forward Keisha Hampton, who averages 16.8, to go on a six-game win streak. The Tigers will need to present a unified effort on defensive pressure if they wish to avoid losing consecutive games for the first time since the 2008-09 season.

“We’ve earned the right to play them, so we all just need to be on the same page,” Rasheed said, noting that she and her teammates are excited to play a top-25 team in their home gym. “We’re looking at them as just another team. We need to not be intimidated, not look at the name or the ranking, but just stick to our principles.”