INSTANT IMPACT: Princeton University women’s basketball player Bella Alarie lofts a jumper last Friday against Rider in the season opener. Freshman Alarie enjoyed a superb debut, scoring a game-high 24 points but it wasn’t enough as Princeton lost 70-62 to the Broncs. The Tigers, who fell 56-45 to George Washington on Sunday to move to 0-2, host Dayton on November 19 before playing at Delaware on November 22. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

It didn’t take long for Bella Alarie to make an impact last Friday in her debut for the Princeton University women’s basketball team.

The 6’4 freshman won the opening tip-off and then drained a jumper 15 seconds later.

“I was really nervous coming in because starting as a freshman is something I didn’t really expect,” said Alarie.

“It was putting a lot of hard work in the preseason and coming together as a team. I took those nerves and turned them into something exciting.”

Alarie kept the excitement coming, totaling 17 points in the first half as Princeton trailed 35-33 at halftime.

“I play to play hard, just see what is open and just take what I can get,” said Alarie.

“I played without thinking, without letting any nerves get in my head. I definitely felt like I was in a good rhythm, especially once I started hitting 3s. That is when I really picked it up.”

Princeton couldn’t get in a good rhythm in the second half, falling behind 54-37 to the Broncs in the third quarter on the way to a 70-62 setback.

While unhappy with the outcome, Alarie liked the way the Tigers battled down the stretch as they narrowed the gap to 56-53 midway through the fourth quarter.

“I think we just wanted to fight, we wanted to pull together in the end and use our grit and play tough,” said Alarie.

“Unfortunately, it didn’t go in our favor but just coming together and playing as hard as we could was all we could ask for.”

In assessing her debut, Alarie knows she has to play harder on the defensive end.

“I think I was a much lazier defender in high school because my height was a huge advantage,” said Alarie.

“Now we have these big, strong athletic players and I have to learn how to defend better. That is a big difference and the speed and strength of the opponent and playing at a faster pace.”

The influence of Alarie’s father, former Duke star and NBA player Mark Alarie, has made a big difference in her development as a player.

“He has had a huge impact on my basketball game, he has been my coach for most of my life,” said Alarie.

“Now it is just a nice thing to have him in the stands. I know he is watching and he is proud of me. I just want to play hard for him. I am wearing the number that he wore when he played in the NBA so I want to make him proud and play in his name.”

Princeton head coach Courtney Banghart was proud of how Alarie performed in her debut.

“For a freshman to play with that level of fearlessness and to play at the level that she is playing is something,” said Banghart.

“We are a program that hasn’t been able to start freshmen because we have so many good players in front of them. This is the first one since Niveen Rasheed and LP (Lauren Polansky) started (in 2009-10). It is what we expected. It is what we get from her night after night in practice but we don’t take it for granted with a young kid.”

With a roster that includes only three seniors, Banghart is expecting her team to take some lumps in the early going.

“We are really a young group without knowing how to deal with the ebbs and the flows of the game, but we have got a lot of heart,” said Banghart, whose team moved to 0-2 with a 56-45 loss at George Washington last Sunday.

“The challenge is going to be to help them play the way they practice, which sounds really clichéd but it is not easy to do and then defensively day to day make sure that we are getting better because we are not a very good defensive team right now.”

In Banghart’s view, the Tigers have the potential to be very good. “I think it is one of those teams that is going to get better and better as we go,” said Banghart, who hopes the Tigers get on the winning track when they host Dayton on November 19, and then play at Delaware on November 22.

“I hope the steps taken are giant steps. We all know that they may be baby steps as long as they are forward.”

Alarie, for her part, is confident that Princeton will keep moving forward.

“Our team needs a lot of work on knowing how to play together,” said Alarie, who had eight points in the loss at GW.

“We are a very young team and we need to learn how to play through those times when we are down and to play as tough as we can to the last second. We did lose a little bit of hope for a brief second there and being able to pull through was definitely something good.”