Women's Basketball: 34 straight points complete domination

The women’s basketball team had little difficulty fine-tuning their skills in the Ivy League this weekend. The Tigers (13-4 overall, 3-0 Ivy League) dismantled Cornell 64-35 on Friday and followed with a crushing 94-35 rout of Columbia on Sunday afternoon. The decisive wins extended Princeton’s win streak to six games and continued to solidify the Tiger hold on the top spot in the Ivy League.

Princeton started Friday with difficulty piecing together its offensive form. The Tigers went into the game expecting a dominant start, but for most of the first five minutes, Princeton missed open shots and struggled to build momentum in the paint against the zone of Cornell (5-9, 0-1).

But the Tigers found their form again in the latter part of the first half, as they jump-started the defense to force four Big Red turnovers. At the same time, the Tigers found their offensive spark. They entered the half with a 25-17 lead after an 11-point run.

“We did have a hard time at the beginning of the game against Cornell ... but I think it was clear that we were able to get together the way we wanted to,” junior forward Kate Miller said.

The offensive struggles subsided for the rest of the weekend, as Princeton opened up the second half of the game with a 13-point run. The rest of the game became business as usual for the Tigers, with their brick-and-mortar defense holding the Big Red to only 18 points after halftime. The Tiger squad scored from all angles, with nearly every single player on the Princeton squad contributing in the second half.

Sunday afternoon was little trouble for the Tigers, who found their rhythm on both sides of the ball to nearly set a scoring record. Princeton started the game strong and never gave Columbia (2-13, 0-1) a chance at the lead. The Tigers held the Lions scoreless through the first three minutes of the game, and the match was soon out of the Lions’ reach as Princeton held a 36-13 lead after 10 minutes.

The Tigers cemented the game with 34 consecutive points, a run that lasted for the first 15 minutes of the second half.

Senior guard Lauren Edwards led the charge with her three three-point shots during the streak and ended the day with five three-pointers and 19 points. Senior guard Laura Johnson added four triples of her own.

Princeton continued to mount the lead on the Lions until game end and eventually finished the match three points shy of the program record of 97.

“Sometimes you’re feeling it in a game and it just clicks, and that’s pretty much what happened today,” Edwards said. She added that the weekend “really showed that our team is really deep and that freshman through seniors can come out and make a serious contribution in the game.”

The Tigers finished the game with 10 three-pointers, three shy of the most in a game in program history.

The Tiger squad’s winning ways have caused high expectations for the program, and ESPN’s Charlie Creme recently predicted that Princeton will obtain a No. 9 seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament, which would be the best seed in Ivy League history.

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But the high hopes matter little for the Tigers right now. “As a team, we’ve got to let the coaches focus on the outlook and just make sure that we can continue winning each game,” Miller said.

In three weeks the Tigers will try to extend their 13-game Ivy League winning streak when they host Brown and Yale at Jadwin Gymnasium.