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 Senior Erika Velez posts 12 points 8 rebounds |
Dec. 5, 2007
NEWARK, NJ - NJIT battled and then battled some more in the second half, but in the end a series of comeback tries came up short and visiting Princeton took a 56-45 women's basketball win Wednesday night in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.
Highlander senior Erika Velez posted personal season-high totals of 12 points and eight rebounds to lead her team. Freshman Jessica Gerald also scored 12--all in the second half--and captain Katie Piekielski added 10 for NJIT. Piekielski also collected six rebounds.
Princeton's star senior center Meagan Cowher had a subpar game by her personal standards, making just five of 14 shots from the field. But she nonetheless led both teams with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
A two-time first-team all-Ivy League player and the 2005 Ivy Rookie of the Year, Cowher came in averaging 18 points per game and had scored 1,283 points in her stellar career.
The visiting Tigers also got 11 points from senior forward Ali Prichard, who connected on two of three three-point tries. Freshman Shelbie Pool came off the bench to chip in 10 points for Princeton.
Perhaps the biggest defensive play of the game for Princeton was turned in by Addie Micir, who stepped in and drew a charge to snuff out the last of NJIT's rallies with 3:24 left in the game.
NJIT, which trailed by 10 points, 49-39, after a pair of Prichard free throws with 5:36 left, had run off six quick points on back-to-back three-pointers by Taiwo Oyelola and Piekielski to close the score to 49-45.
The Highlanders were running the fast break, with Jill Dickinson running hard after taking an outlet pass from Piekielski. Seeing a good angle to the basket, Dickinson drove and put in an acrobatic layup that would have pulled NJIT to within two points, only to have it waved off due to contact with Micir who came back into the picture and got the better of the close block/charge call. The whistle drew the loud disapproval of the home crowd throughout the ensuing media timeout.
Having been denied at least two points, with the possibility of three if the call had gone their way, the Highlanders fell back and Princeton closed with seven straight points for the eventual 11-point winning margin.
Trailing at halftime, 25-13, NJIT fell behind, 29-15, after Prichard's three-pointer with 17:11 left. The Highlanders followed with a 13-5 run, closing the score to 34-28 after Gerald's three-pointer with 12:45 left.
Princeton pushed its lead back to 10 on two occasions, the latest at 10:07, 40-30, on a pair of foul shots by Pool. Again, NJIT fought back and closed to 42-38, when Gerald hit another three with 8:06 left.
But NJIT was doomed to slip back again, as Princeton used a 7-1 run, capped by Prichard's two free throws for the 49-39 lead with 5:36 left, setting the stage for the Highlanders' final push.
That NJIT even had a chance in the second half was a tribute to the Highlanders grit, considering a rocky start that saw them manage just a single field goal in the game's first 14 minutes. By the time Piekielski made the first of two free throws for NJIT's third point with 5:51 left in the half, the Highlanders trailed, 20-2.
Still, they were playing good defense and when the shots started to fall, they showed the determination that would resurface in their second-half rallies.
Down, 22-6, with 4:44 left in the half, they ran off seven straight points--five by Velez--over the next 3:22 to cut the deficit to 22-13. with 1:23 left.
Both teams shot their free throws well, as Princeton made 78 percent (14-18) from the foul line and NJIT was 10-for-15. Princeton's 78 percent, which included 14-for-16 (88 percent) in the second half, was out of character for the Tigers, who shot a modest 54 percent at the line in the season's first eight games.
The Highlanders are slated to visit Lehigh for a 3:30 pm game on Saturday.
