In a poorly played game by both squads, Nova managed to get just enough offense to hold off the Tigers and win their seventh straight game to go 8-1 on the year. Both teams shot the ball poorly in the first half and there were a lot of turnovers on the night.
Laura Sweeney returned to action and scored Nova's first seven points as the Cats "jumped" to a 15-8 lead after 12-1/2 minutes of action. It wasn't pretty. Princeton then let it be known that they were going to go away, closing to 15-14 and 21-17 before Nova ran off five of the last six points of the half to go up 26-18. Nova was 10 of 32 and 4 of 15 on threes for the half and Princeton was even worse at 7-32 and 0-5 on threes. Sweeney had 9 and Lauren Burford 6 on two threes to lead the scoring.
Nova pushed out to a sixteen point lead at 39-23 three and a half minutes into the second half, with threes by Jesse Carey, Burford and Rachel Roberts wrapped around a jumper by Taylor Holman. Nova maintained a 10 point cushion through the eight minute mark when some bad offensive possessions allowed consecutive three pointers and a foul shot to shrink the lead to only four with six minutes to go. Then a jump shot by Emily Leer, a beautiful fast break layup by Roberts from Caroline Coyer and a Roberts three ran the Nova lead back up to 11 with only 3:30 to go and Princeton could get no closer than 5 after that. Nova shot 50% in the second half, including 4 of 8 on threes, spending much of the time trying to push the ball inside.
Coyer finished with 12, Sweeney had 11 with 9 boards and appeared healthy but played less minutes than normal. Leer put in six points on 3 of 6 shooting and brought down 7 tough rebounds. The sloppy play yielded 14 Nova turnovers vs. only 15 assists.
Carey left the game in the second half with a severe facial cut on the upper face area and did not return to the court. No word as to the extent of her injury yet. Harry played only nine tonight.
An ugly win, but a win nonetheless, avenging an incredibly ugly loss to Princeton last year. Nova entered the game with the 22nd best RPI, and this game will not hurt that ranking as Princeton's RPI was 55. Temple up next with a 78 RPI and then Delaware at 90 RPI. If we win over Delaware in the New Year's weekend tournament, we almost certainly would play Duquesne who currently has a 30 RPI. If this team keeps winning they will enter the Big East Schedule with an outstanding record and RPI, boding well for a shot at a tournament spot this year as the Big East strength of schedule will almost certainly generate a low year end RPI for us.
Nine days off until the Temple game; plenty of time to allow wounds to heal, finish final exams and get ready for another Big Five battle.
Update: Link to Mel Greenberg game story. His website also has updated Philly Top 10 Poll with Nova up to #2 behind Penn State.
This post was edited on 12/13 4:56 PM by tpenter
This post was edited on 12/18 7:24 PM by tpenter
Greenberg Game Story
Laura Sweeney returned to action and scored Nova's first seven points as the Cats "jumped" to a 15-8 lead after 12-1/2 minutes of action. It wasn't pretty. Princeton then let it be known that they were going to go away, closing to 15-14 and 21-17 before Nova ran off five of the last six points of the half to go up 26-18. Nova was 10 of 32 and 4 of 15 on threes for the half and Princeton was even worse at 7-32 and 0-5 on threes. Sweeney had 9 and Lauren Burford 6 on two threes to lead the scoring.
Nova pushed out to a sixteen point lead at 39-23 three and a half minutes into the second half, with threes by Jesse Carey, Burford and Rachel Roberts wrapped around a jumper by Taylor Holman. Nova maintained a 10 point cushion through the eight minute mark when some bad offensive possessions allowed consecutive three pointers and a foul shot to shrink the lead to only four with six minutes to go. Then a jump shot by Emily Leer, a beautiful fast break layup by Roberts from Caroline Coyer and a Roberts three ran the Nova lead back up to 11 with only 3:30 to go and Princeton could get no closer than 5 after that. Nova shot 50% in the second half, including 4 of 8 on threes, spending much of the time trying to push the ball inside.
Coyer finished with 12, Sweeney had 11 with 9 boards and appeared healthy but played less minutes than normal. Leer put in six points on 3 of 6 shooting and brought down 7 tough rebounds. The sloppy play yielded 14 Nova turnovers vs. only 15 assists.
Carey left the game in the second half with a severe facial cut on the upper face area and did not return to the court. No word as to the extent of her injury yet. Harry played only nine tonight.
An ugly win, but a win nonetheless, avenging an incredibly ugly loss to Princeton last year. Nova entered the game with the 22nd best RPI, and this game will not hurt that ranking as Princeton's RPI was 55. Temple up next with a 78 RPI and then Delaware at 90 RPI. If we win over Delaware in the New Year's weekend tournament, we almost certainly would play Duquesne who currently has a 30 RPI. If this team keeps winning they will enter the Big East Schedule with an outstanding record and RPI, boding well for a shot at a tournament spot this year as the Big East strength of schedule will almost certainly generate a low year end RPI for us.
Nine days off until the Temple game; plenty of time to allow wounds to heal, finish final exams and get ready for another Big Five battle.
Update: Link to Mel Greenberg game story. His website also has updated Philly Top 10 Poll with Nova up to #2 behind Penn State.
This post was edited on 12/13 4:56 PM by tpenter
This post was edited on 12/18 7:24 PM by tpenter
Greenberg Game Story