PU women try to build on win
By: Justin Feil
Whitney Downs has had some challenges come her way, and has come back to contribute to the Princeton University women’s basketball team.
The Tigers have faced their share of challenges this season as well, and perhaps with a last-second win over Duquesne last Friday, they too are starting to put it all together.
"We have to start figuring it out soon," Downs said. "Before the Ivy League season."
The Tigers have two games remaining before opening the Ivy season. Princeton travels to No. 12 Vanderbilt 2 p.m. Saturday, then plays at Lafayette on Wednesday before opening the Ivies at the University of Pennsylvania on Jan. 6.
"This team hasn’t shown the maturity, for lack of a better word, to deal with the adversity like last year’s team did," said PU head coach Richard Barron whose team is 5-7. "Last year’s team never let things get out of control. We haven’t developed that yet. That was a positive about Duquesne. We saw some of that. It was a tight game where we came out on top."
Meagan Cowher put the Tigers ahead for good with a layup with 24 seconds left. Downs played a season-high 24 minutes and filled up a statistic sheet. She had nine points, one of four Princeton players to score nine while freshman Jillian Schurle had 12, and added five rebounds, three assists, two blocks and two steals and did not have a single turnover.
"She’s defending well, getting some rebounds, some steals and the biggest thing is she’s not turning the ball over," Barron said. "She’s getting to the rim a couple times a game, hitting some shots. As long as she’s playing within herself, she can play an important role."
Downs is happy to just be playing. Last year, she played in 17 games as a freshman, but her season was cut short by a stress fracture in her hip.
"It was very gradual," Downs said. "My hip started hurting at the end of December. It was nagging me and in the Brown game we lost, I could hardly run. It was mentally and physically draining to be hurt like that. I tried to play through it. Nothing showed up when I got it checked. I knew something was wrong. I got an MRI. If I played a week or two more, they said I could have had a full fracture in the hip and never played again."
Downs wasn’t able to run for six months. She did not start playing again until mid-June, and the road to recovery wasn’t quick.
"That was the first time I got back on the court," she said. "It was a hard road. It would have been nice if I could actively rehab. It was tough. It did help me realize how much I value being on the team and how much I miss it.
"I came into the season and after the preseason we all felt good, that we had a good hard preseason. Then I got a concussion. I wasn’t able to do anything. That threw me off and then I started pressing."
Finally, Downs has begun to play the way she knew she was capable of all along. She has set or equaled her career highs in points, rebounds, blocks, field goals, three-pointers and minutes in the last two games. She has started the last six games for the Tigers, confirming that she is all the way back from her injuries.
"Everyone has challenges," she said. "I have to keep stepping it up. I feel more and more comfortable as the season progresses.
"I definitely think I as well as our team, have started to become more comfortable with the roles we’re supposed to fill. With each game that goes by, I get a little more confidence. You know what the team expects of you."
Downs is trying to take to heart the words of Barron. He has spoke of the Tigers trying too hard to make the amazing pass or amazing play when they would be better off making the lower-risk, good play.
"We’ve shown flashes of greatness," Downs said. "Then some medium play for several minutes and then some bad. We need to play a solid 40 minutes of basketball. That’s what I’m trying to do.
"I feel like to this team, I’m supposed to bring energy. When I was coming off the bench, I was supposed to be a spark plug. Now being a starter, I’m still trying to bring that energy. I’m defending and trying to get my hands on passes and help out who I can. On offense, I’m not trying to make too many great plays. If there’s a play, I’ll take it. If there’s an open shot, I have to knock it down. And not have any turnovers. I’m doing a better job of that this year."
Added Barron: "She has a pretty good head on her shoulders about basketball. Her playing time has gone up as her confidence has gone up. It comes down to who is producing. Right now, she’s getting it done."
It means that Downs will be in the starting lineup, her progress there for everyone to see, when the Tigers take on Vanderbilt. It’s a special game for Downs in that it will be played five minutes from Harpeth Hall, where she played her high school basketball.
"Each game is the most important," she said. "But it’s hard not to be a little extra excited going into this game. When everyone tells you they’re coming. I’ve played with a lot of girls on Vandy and I’ve gone to a lot of their games.
"It’s 20 minutes from my home, five minutes from my high school. I had team camps there, I play pick up there. It was one of the places maybe I wanted to go."
When Princeton came into the picture, Downs knew that another Harpeth Hall graduate had been enjoying a solid career for the Tigers. Becky Brown, who graduated last year as the third-leading scorer in program history, had also attended Harpeth Hall. Princeton last year journeyed back to their home state to take on then-No. 1 Tennessee. This year, it’s Vanderbilt which comes on the heels of the Tigers’ best win of the season.
"If we use it the right way," Downs said, "it could be the game we’re looking to turn it around with. We’ve been in so many situations like that and not come through. We knew we could turn it around if we got tough. We did it at Duquesne. We didn’t allow a field goal in the last 6 minutes, 15 seconds. That showed our toughness. Now that we know we can do it, we can look back at it and say we did it before. It is a great building block."
The win is a building block to the season, just as Whitney Downs’ improved play can help push the Tigers toward their Ivy goals. What Barron is looking for most of all as they head to Downs’ hometown game is for her and the Tigers to continue to build on the Duquesne win as they look ahead to the Ivies.
"This team has to play with more consistency," Barron said. "We have to play with more urgency. The great thing about Duquesne is the game reinforced that we have to do the things we want to do."

