Devona Allgood is known among her teammates on the Princeton University women’s basketball team to be a person of few words.

While the quiet Allgood settled into the background upon joining the Tigers in the 2008-09 season, it didn’t take long for her to make some noise on the court. After coming off the bench in Princeton’s first 13 games that winter, Allgood broke into the starting lineup against Rider on January 6, 2009 and never left.

The 6’3 native of Huntersville, N.C. scored 12 points that day and went on to make the Ivy League All-Rookie team as she ended up averaging 8.0 points and 6.9 rebounds a game.

As a sophomore, Allgood was a second-team All Ivy choice, averaging 10.8 points and 7.8 rebounds as the Tigers went undefeated in league play on the way to their first-ever NCAA tournament appearance.

Last winter, Allgood scored 11.9 points a game with 7.2 rebounds to make All-Ivy first team honors and help the Tigers win a second straight league title.

Coming into this week, Allgood is on the verge of a career milestone, standing at 987 points with Princeton slated to play at Hofstra on December 29 and at Drexel on December 31.

For Allgood, the most important milestone for her may have come before the season when she was named as a co-captain of the Tigers along with classmate Lauren Edwards.

While Allgood was typically understated as she reflected on earning the leadership role in an early-season interview, it is clear that it deeply touched her.

“It is an honor considering this is the team’s decision and the coaches’ decision.” said Allgood, who is averaging 8.8 points 6.3 rebounds a game this season for the 8-4 Tigers.

“They have their reasons for choosing us and I think it is going to be really exciting to work with Lauren side-by-side and having the influence of the other senior, Laura Johnson. It is going to be great working closer with them and making decisions on the team’s behalf.”

Acknowledging that she is not a vocal leader, Allgood believes she and Edwards bring other qualities to the table.

“I think there is going to be a lot of complimenting going on,” said Allgood. “We are going to take out own personalities and see how that goes. We are not like the captains two years ago, Tani [Brown] and Cheryl [Stevens] who were extremely outgoing and yelled all the time. We are not like Addie [Micir] who was a great floor leader or Krystal [Hill] who led by example. We have some attributes and we will put those together.”

Princeton head coach Courtney Banghart realizes the pair of Allgood and Edwards isn’t high volume. “We can’t have the same captains every year,” said Banghart.

“I always say the team plays to the personalities of its leaders and I am excited to see how this team plays under its new leadership. Lauren has gone for every rebound on every possession in every practice since she was a freshman. Devona couldn’t shoot a left-handed layup when she got there, now she has legitimate three-point range. They have led by example one day at a time.”

While Allgood is proud of her progress, she isn’t going to let up in her efforts to hone her game.

“I am much more comfortable with the offense and my expectations,” said Allgood. “I am going to do my best; I will be working hard on the offensive and defensive end.”

The Tigers gained a deeper comfort level with each other last year through their 8-day jaunt to France and Senegal in early September.

“The summer trip was amazing; it was team building on and off the court,” said Allgood.

“We were spending a lot of time together off the court like we always do but in a completely different setting. On the court, we were playing against those foreign teams so that was basketball that we are not used to typically seeing. We were having to make adjustments right when we were out there because it is not like we scouted them.”

With Princeton having done some amazing things the last two years in going 50-8 overall and 27-1 in Ivy play, Allgood and her teammates are looking for even more success

“I wouldn’t say there is added pressure; we always hold ourselves to a pretty high standard,” said Allgood, noting that the Tigers harbor lingering disappointment from suffering one-sided losses in their two NCAA first round games.

“If we feel like a 3-peat is something we can attain that is what we are going to hold ourselves to. We don’t make our goals based on the thoughts of others; it is completely based on what we feel we can accomplish so I don’t think there is really any added pressure. We want to be able to grow from what we learned in those tournament games.”

In Allgood’s view, the Tigers possess the right mindset to achieve their goals.

“We all have to be on the same page which I think we are,” asserted Allgood.

“We all have to be willing to do what it takes in practice and outside of practice. I really think our team has the heart to do as much as we set for ourselves. Our key is to be a team and play together.”