Boxscore

NASHVILLE (11/26/10) - With her team up 59-58, USC's Cassie Harbets fouled the wrong Princeton basketball player - the team's best free-throw shooter, senior captain Addie Micir. Micir hit both of her free throws with five seconds left to give the Tigers a 60-59 victory over the Trojans on Friday, Nov. 26 at Memorial Gymnasium in the second game of the Vanderbilt Tournament.

USC would fumble down the court due to high pressure from guard Laura Johnson and didn't have enough time to get a decent shot off as Princeton celebrated on the opposite end of the court.

“I've said it over and over again from the very beginning, I love the fight of this team," head coach Courtney Banghart said. "After the heartbreaker losing at the buzzer at Rutgers last week, I'm so proud that we were able to pull this one out. My team never stopped competing, they stayed composed and executed when we needed it most. We were a stop or a score away from beating Rutgers a week ago. This time we got what we needed. It was a gutsy performance and a total team win. I couldn't be prouder of them or happier for them.”

Princeton will play in the championship game against the host school Vanderbilt on Sunday, Nov. 28 at 2 p.m. The game will be webstreamed, with live audio and live stats available. Check back tomorrow for links as well as video footage of the win.

It was a back and forth affair in the first half. The lead changed hands six times and was tied four times. USC scored first but Princeton would take it's first lead on a Niveen Rasheed three-point play at 15:38, 5-4.

USC would regain the lead on a pair of free throws by Christina Marinacci and would go up by four, 11-7, before Princeton battled back to take the lead 14-13 when Rasheed stole the ball and ran down the court for a jumper in the lane.

USC scored the next five points, 18-14, but Princeton answered with seven straight with Rasheed scoring twice and Micir draining a three, to give the Tigers their largest lead of the half, 21-18.

The Trojans went on a 14-3 over the next 5:16 to take the 32-24 lead with 2:35 to play.

Sophomore center Meg Bowen added two baskets to inch Princeton within four to head into the locker room with a 32-28 score.

At the end of the half both teams had committed eight turnovers, but it was the Tigers that capitalized getting 10 points off of them compared to USC's six.

The Women of Troy started the second half on a 9-5 run to regain an eight-point lead, 41-33 at 15:59.

Rasheed scored the game's next six points, going 4-for-4 from the free-throw line and adding a jumper to make it a two-point game, 41-39 at 13:48.

A pair of free throws by Harbets ended Rasheed's run but Bowen drew a charge on a jumper in the paint and made good on the three-point play to make it a one-point game, 43-42 with 11 minutes to play.

Ashley Corral and Marinacci teamed up to score the next six points to make it a 49-42 game.

A free-throw by Lauren Edwards, followed by a basket by Rasheed after getting the offensive rebound on Edward's second free throw, and a basket in the paint by Allgood put Princeton back within two with seven minutes left.

A minute later the Tigers remained down by two, 53-51, before Marinacci and Harbets added four points. Princeton's Allgood responded going 2-for-2 and adding a basket to make it a 57-55 game with a little more than three minutes left.

Harbets followed with a basket before Edwards earned a steal and raced down the court for a layup.

Harbets fouled Rasheed, who made the back end of the two shots to get Princeton within one with 1:08 to play.

The Trojans missed two three-pointers with Edwards getting the second rebound to give Princeton possession with 26 seconds. Bringing the ball down the court, Rasheed drove to the basket but missed the shot with Kari LaPlante getting the defensive rebound and a chance at two baskets as Rasheed was called for the foul.

LaPlante missed both shots and Johnson got the defensive board with 14 seconds to play.

Key to Princeton's success in the second half was its rebounding. USC had a 25-17 edge in boards in the first half, the most rebounds the Tigers have allowed in a half this season. The Tigers outrebounded the Trojans 28-20 in the second half. Princeton also got 12 points on second-chance opportunities.

Allgood recorded her first double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Rasheed led the team in scoring with 18 points and had six rebounds, three assists and two steals. Edwards added seven points and 10 rebounds, while Micir contributed 10 points. As a team Princeton shot 32.8 percent from the floor, 80 percent from the line and 26.7 percent from long range.

This is Princeton's first win over a Pac-10 team in program history.

Corral scored a team-high 21 points for USC, while adding five rebounds, three assists and a block and a steal. Harbets added 21 points and eight rebounds, while Marinacci had 11 points and eight boards. The Trojans shot 35.4 percent as a team, 50 percent from the foul line and 26.7 percent from the three-point line. USC is receiving votes in the both national polls.