The big question for Tiger fans as their team took the court to face the Temple Owls in Philadelphia Tuesday night was the status of captain and team leader Abby Meyers. A leg injury kept Meyers on the bench in the final period of Saturday’s nine-point loss at Rhode Island, after a career-best 23 points. Thankfully, Abby was in the starting lineup against the Owls, suffering no ill effects.
Carla Berube’s quintet exploded out of the blocks, racing to a 15-0 advantage before the Owls could get their gun out of its holster. The first quarter ended with the Tigers up 17-4. Princeton’s fresh legs on defense gave the Tigers another trademark single-digit yield.
Temple found itself in the second stanza, holding the Tigers to 10 points while closing to within 11 at the half, 27-16.
The Owls struck back vigorously in the third period, going on a 9-0 run in the first 4:38, cutting the Tiger lead to just two at 27-25. Princeton gathered itself, as good teams must do, scoring seven consecutive points to maintain a 38-31 margin at quarter’s close. Order was restored but the lead was far less than comfortable. One of the issues facing Princeton through three quarters was the inability of Meyers to score even one point.
Not to worry. At this point, Meyers put her team on her back, taking over the ball game. Her 11 points in the final period was one more than the Owls as a team were able to put on the board. Sparked by Meyers, Princeton went on a 20-4 run, at one point leading by 24. The final margin was a comfortable 18, 59-41. The Tigers came into the contest leading the Ivy League in scoring defense. They came out of it in the same position.
Berube took it as a good sign that the Tigers could hang in there against a quality team without Meyers firing on all cylinders. When the Tiger captain hit the gas, she overwhelmed the demoralized Owls. Meyers grabbed 10 rebounds, notching her first career double-double in the process.
Julia Cunningham turned in another quality start, adding 12 points on an efficient 5-for-12 from the field, contributing seven rebounds as well. Maggie Connolly’s eight points and five assists were hugely beneficial, particularly in the initial stages of the game when the outcome was by no means clear.
Two telling stats explain the result. Princeton held the Owls to a miserly 24% from the field, while outrebounding the hosts, 49-34.
Princeton’s most recent starts told a tale of fourth quarters. Against Rhode Island, the Tigers were without Meyers and saw their 25-game winning streak snapped in a close loss. Against the Owls, Meyers decided the outcome with her final period heroics.
Princeton returns to action on Sunday at 1 p.m. against Maine at Jadwin.