DOUBLE PLAY: Princeton University women’s basketball player Leslie Robinson drives to the basket in recent action. Last Saturday against visiting Yale, junior Robinson contributed a double-double with 16 points and 15 rebounds to help Princeton rally to 74-62 win over the Bulldogs. A night earlier, Robinson produced another double-double in a 98-88 loss to Brown, scoring a career-high 21 points with 11 rebounds. The Tigers, now 7-9 overall and 1-2 Ivy League, are on exam hiatus and return to action when they host Dartmouth on February 3. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

It was only mid-January but the Princeton University women’s basketball team was badly in need of a win when it hosted Yale last Saturday evening.

Having lost 98-88 to Brown the night before to fall 0-2 in Ivy League action, Princeton didn’t want to dig a 0-3 hole even with the safety net of the league going to a postseason tournament which will include the top four in the final standings.

Princeton junior forward Leslie Robinson and her teammates brought a sense of urgency into the clash with Yale, which was Princeton’s last game before going on a 20-day hiatus for exams.

“I think personally and throughout the team, we knew that we needed this one,” said Robinson.

Finding itself down 56-49 entering the fourth quarter against the Bulldogs, Princeton produced the run that it needed, outscoring Yale 21-4 over the first 8:16 of the quarter to take control of the contest on the way to a 74-62 win before 755 at Jadwin Gym.

“We came together in the fourth quarter, we played together on defense and that led to some good looks on offense,” said Robinson, who ended up with 16 points and 15 rebounds in helping Princeton improve to 7-9 overall and 1-2 Ivy. “We pulled it out.”

Robinson produced one of the best offensive weekends of her career as she scored a career-high 21 points with 11 rebounds in the loss to Brown on Friday.

“It is really a product of everything that we have put in as a team and knowing that we needed this win,” said Robinson, a 6’0 native of Corvallis, Ore. who is averaging 9.6 points and 7.3 rebounds a game this season.

Princeton head coach Courtney Banghart saw the fourth quarter run as the product of intensity at both ends of the floor.

“The run was a combination of people playing together on the defensive end, playing with discipline and energy,” said Banghart.

“On the offensive end we finally decided that we were going to shoot it and that we are going to trust our teammates by making the right pass, instead of trying to probe. It was just a matter of our one-versus-ones; we wanted to win our one-versus-ones with grit, either off the dribble or off the pass.”

In Banghart’s view, Robinson held the Tigers together as they rallied for the win.

“I give a lot of credit to Leslie; she knows these are the numbers that we need from her,” said Banghart.

“She needed to be an anchor on defense and also needed to trust her teammates on offense. It has been a heavy lift for Leslie, there are a lot of people in the stands that are happy for her. No one is happier for her than the coach.”

Banghart was also very happy with the play of junior guard Tia Weledji.

“I thought we got a huge weekend out of Tia,” added Banghart. “She has been struggling a little bit and she went for 16 last night and 17 tonight.”

While Banghart was disappointed to see her squad lose two of its first three Ivy contests, she feels the Tigers are on the right track.

“We have now seen almost half of the Ivy League play,” said Banghart.

“Because of the non-conference schedule that was so challenging, the beginning of the Ivy season was let’s see what they are about. I thought tonight they decided I know what you are about. I know who we are about, so hopefully it is confidence that we have already seen some of the better teams in the league. We could have a different record but that doesn’t matter, what matters is what we do from here.”

With Princeton next in action when it hosts Dartmouth on February 3, Banghart is looking to fine-tune things over the next three weeks.

“I love January, we have a lot of individual skills stuff to get those pieces better,” said Banghart.

“I have a better feel halfway through the season for how to help these guys on the offensive end and these last three games have showed them we are not where we want to be defensively. We are OK saying that we are not where we want to be defensively. We will spend a considerable amount of time; we will bring in some guys. We will recommit to the defensive end.”

In Robinson’s view, beating Yale in the final action before the break should give the Tigers a boost during the hiatus.

“I think it can be a big confidence builder, it shows us who we are and how we can be in the Ivy League,” said Robinson.

“These couple of weeks are going to benefit us more than they are going to hurt us.”