Women remain on roll, then men rally
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Before breaking for their exams, both the Princeton University men’s and women’s basketball teams passed big tests on the court Saturday.
The Tiger teams swept the University of Pennsylvania at Jadwin Gym in the Ivy League opener for both programs. In the day game, the women ran away with an 83-54 win over the Penn team that had unseated them as Ivy champions a year ago with an 80-64 win at Jadwin.
This game was more reminiscent of last year’s Ivy opening 84-53 win at Penn. Princeton, which is ranked 22nd nationally, raced out to a 35-25 halftime lead that was punctuated by Blake Dietrick’s 1,000th career point on a 3-pointer with 7:39 to go in the first half.
”It definitely meant a lot more to do it in a big game against Penn and at home in front of a big crowd,” said the senior point guard. “We had a huge student section. And to do it with this great group. I felt like I was sharing it with this team. It felt like a team thing more than an individual thing.”
The Tigers extended their lead in the second half thanks to solid defense, 66-percent shooting, a big rebounding edge and winning the turnover battle, 17-8. Princeton held Penn to 29-percent shooting in the first half while shooting 50 percent themselves for the game. Princeton scored the first 11 points of the second half to take full control.
”The first half, we had a little bit of jitters and adrenaline coming into such a big game,” Dietrick said. “Second half, it allowed us to settle in. We fouled too much in first half and missed some defensive rotations. We needed to clean it up and get back in our flow. That allowed us to pull away.”
Dietrick finished with 25 points, five assists, four rebounds and a steal. She made 5-of-6 from 3-point range. Michelle Miller scored 15 points and Alex Wheatley had 13 points and three blocks. Annie Tarakchian had a terrific all-around game with eight points, four assists and 17 rebounds. Princeton never trailed in the game, and now they lead the Ivy standings. The Tigers are 17-0 overall, 1-0 in league play.
”It’s been awesome,” Dietrick said. “I haven’t had a second to think about it. It’s been all Penn all the time. Now it’s all school work all the time. We haven’t had time to breathe. After the written work is due (today), I’ll talk to my family and be grateful for what we’ve been able to do so far. I never expected it.”
Dartmouth is also 1-0 after topping Harvard. The Tigers will return from a 20-day break for exams to play at Harvard. Princeton will try to stay sharp by using a collection of male athletes over the exam break to stay sharp in game situations.
”It’s good practice and good practice for postseason,” Dietrick said. “We want to keep improving every aspect of our game. We definitely can still improve.”
Princeton is adding to its Ivy record winning streak every time it plays, and it’s not unprecedented that it could remain unbeaten in the Ivies and close out a perfect regular season, but that is getting way ahead of an all-Ivy schedule that resumes Jan. 30 and continues to Mar. 10, when Princeton plays at Penn in a rematch of the conference’s top two teams.
”I think we still know what happened last year and this was a similar score so we know we have a long way to go and a lot to work towards and can’t get complacent,” Dietrick said. “It was more of a lack of urgency (last year). I don’t think we have that this year. Everyone is fired up to keep chasing what we’re chasing.
”The things we’re chasing are top-20 teams. We know we have big goals for the rest of the year, and we have to work hard if we want to achieve them.”
In the nightcap Saturday, the Princeton men fell behind Penn, 58-43, with just under 14 minutes left in the second half. The Tigers roared back for a 78-74 win behind a career-high 23 points from Henry Caruso and a defensive effort led by Ben Hazel, who returned to prominence with three steals.
”You always have to be ready,” said Hazel, the senior guard who logged 16 minutes, the most he’s had since Nov. 22. “That’s how it’s been this year — next man up. Then you’re out there and it’s basketball. It’s us against Penn. You gotta stop (Penn guard Tony) Hicks and do different things. That’s pretty much all you think about when you’re out on the court.”
The Tigers fought back from the 15-point disadvantage to take the lead, 64-63, on a layup by Caruso, the sophomore forward. The game remained tight over the final five minutes. It was tied last, 71-71, on a Caruso foul shot. His next foul shot with 1:01 to go gave Princeton a lead it would not relinquish. Hazel made four free throws in the final minute and Hans Brase also made a pair from the charity stripe.
”As a team, we were pretty aggressive and we were taking it to the basket,” Caruso said. “We got to the foul line a bunch, and that helped. Being aggressive and tough and strong, that’s what this game really needed.”
Princeton shot 32-for-43 from the foul line. Caruso was 14-for-16 himself. Penn finished 9-for-14 from the foul line in a game where most of the other statistics were close. Caruso has scored 37 of his 75 points this season in the last two games.
”Henry was terrific,” Henderson said. “For two games in a row, we’ve been missing Steve (Cook), he’s been under the weather. It’s nice to have someone coming off the bench that gives you an attacking the basket mentality, which is what this game called for all the way. We had to go inside. We had to be physical going to the rim because that’s the way the game was going.”
Spencer Weisz scored 20 points and Amir Bell and Brase had nine points apiece. Hazel’s three steals helped to fuel the comeback.
”Coach always mentions having a teeth to our defense,” Weisz said. “And when Ben came in, he got one early steal and you could just tell momentum swung in our favor. They wanted no part of him, and once that got going, it’s contagious and we stuck with man-to-man the whole game. We were thinking 1-3-1, but we said, let’s just stick with man-to-man, and when Ben came in the game it just swung in our favor.”
Added Henderson: “There’s no magic potion there. I thought we were about to get run out of the gym. 56-41 or 58-43, it was just let’s stick with something that’s going to work, let’s get one stop. And we got one, and I think that was it. It started swinging a little bit. Momentum is a funny thing. And then the fouls, we were getting to the line. It’s all about the free throw line. We made more than they attempted. That helps you.”
Princeton improved to 7-9 overall, 1-0 in league play. Penn is 3-8 overall, 0-1. Princeton returns to the hardwood in 15 days when it hosts Rowan University on Jan. 25. It returns to finish its conference schedule beginning Jan 30 when it hosts Harvard. The Tigers go into their exam break with momentum that they hope to sustain after an inspiring comeback to net the sweep for Tiger tams.
”We’re fortunate to get a win,” Henderson said. “I’m proud of our guys for not going away, for staying with the plan.”