PARKING IN THE PAINT: Princeton University women’s basketball player Parker Hill goes up for a shot in a game last season. Last Saturday, senior forward Hill posted career-highs in points (18) and rebounds (9) to help Princeton defeat Cornell 72-39 in the Ivy League opener for both teams. The Tigers, now 10-4 overall and 1-0 Ivy, host Harvard (12-1 overall, 1-0 Ivy) on January 11. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Parker Hill was fired up to start her final Ivy League campaign for the Princeton University women’s basketball team as it hosted Cornell last Saturday afternoon.

“This is where we define our season, this is where we make our run for the postseason,” said Princeton senior forward Hill. “This is where it all really counts.”

Hill started the Ivy run with aplomb, producing career highs in points with 18 and rebounds with nine as Princeton rolled to a 72-39 win over Cornell, improving to 10-4 overall and 1-0 Ivy.

Setting the tone for her big day, Hill went 6 of 6 from the floor in the first half.

“If you keep seeing it go in, you are more motivated to keep shooting it,” said a grinning Hill, who ended up going 9 of 11 from the floor in the win. “I was kind of feeling it, I won’t lie.”

While Hill had the feeling that she had eclipsed her career best in scoring, she didn’t realize that she was one rebound away from her first-ever double-double.

“I didn’t know,” said Hill, a 6’4 native of Bethesda, Md. “I knew I was close to 20 [points], I didn’t know I was at nine rebounds.”

As part of a frontcourt rotation that includes junior Tabitha Amanze, senior Katie Thiers, and junior Fadima Tall, Hill believes that working as a unit helps each of the players excel.

“We are definitely like a team effort, we all work off of each other,” said Hill. “We all have individual strengths but at the end of the day, we are all great post players and we are all great teammates. We all work to get it done. If one of us is having a bad shooting day or if one of us is getting extra fouls, we cover for each other.”

Having nearly doubled her stats from last year, going from 3.5 points a game to 6.4 and 2.6 rebounds a game to 5.0, Hill is excited to make a greater contribution this winter.

“I think the role has definitely expanded a little bit, I am more of a consistent starter than I was last year,” said Hill. “I am definitely playing a little bit more and scoring a little bit more. I worked on shots around the rim, shooting a little bit, nothing crazy just the simple basics and getting shooting percentage up.”

Heading into the season, Hill sensed she would be playing a greater role in the wake of the graduation of forward Ellie Mitchell and guard/forward Chet Nweke.

“I thought so because we were losing some really dominant post presence,” said Hill. “We are a very young team. I am one of the players that is a little bit older and has a little more game experience. Playing the last few years I sensed it. I wasn’t expecting it 100 percent but I knew had to prepare for it just in case.”

Hill has imparted some of the wisdom she has gained from her experience to the squad’s younger players.

“I play more of role mentoring the post perhaps than maybe the guards one-to-one,” said Hill. “We all help each other out. We have the point guards and they are usually running the court so part of helping them is being flexible with whatever plays they are calling. They have a lot going through their heads. You can use that game experience to help them make decisions easier.”

The message that Hill and the veterans communicated heading into the Cornell game centered on keeping in the present.

“The main thing is one game at a time, we took this game very seriously,” said Hill. “We came out and we had a dominant win. We have another game next week and we have to keep it up, so don’t be satisfied and don’t relax because it is a long season. You have got to stick with it.”

Princeton head coach Carla Berube liked the way her players took care of business against the Big Red.

“We were just really excited to start this new season,” said Berube. “We needed to have a good start to the game and bring a lot of energy and bring it defensively. Things were working offensively, we just got out on the break. Clearly we were trying to get the ball inside, whether it was Tabby or Parker or Fadima. That was definitely a focus for us.”

Berube credited Hill with giving the Tigers some very good work at the offensive end.

“I thought our guards and our posts found her well inside,” said Berube. “She had a lot of one-on-one opportunities in there and she made the most of them.”

With Princeton outscoring Cornell 44-24 in the paint, Berube was happy with how Princeton dominated inside.

“We have some good posts in there that we want to get touches,” said Berube, who got 12 points from Tall, eight from Amanze, and four from Thiers in addition to the 18 from Hill. “They are big targets so why not put it in there. They are all really good scorers. They also know that when the double is coming, they need to kick the ball out. They are just smart, that is where we are going to.”
Sophomore point guard Ashley Chea played a key role in getting the ball inside, contributing a game-high seven assists.

“Ashley had some great assists in there,” said Berube. “When she is pushing and attacking good things happen and then she found her three. She just did some crazy things like she did down at this end, she came to a jump stop, I was like, ‘oh oh’ and then she turned and shot the ball and scored it. I was like ‘oh my gosh.’”

The Tigers did some very good things at the defensive end, holding the Big Red to 33.3 percent shooting from the floor (16 of 48) and forcing 19 turnovers.

“I like it when you can keep a team under 40, that is the goal,” said Berube. “It is coming along. I always say it takes a while to develop team chemistry on the defensive end. Everyone talks about offensive chemistry but it just takes a while defensively. Things are coming together. There is always a lot to work on still but I like where we are at.”

Hosting a hot Harvard team (12-1 overall, 1-0 Ivy), the Tigers will need to put in some good work to overcome the Crimson.

“It is a huge challenge, Harmoni Turner is probably the best all-around player in this league,” said Berube. “She is the best, if not one of the best. That is a challenge within itself being able to just limit her touches and her scoring opportunities. She has got a great team around her. They are a well-coached team. It is a whole week for preparing for them and us getting better as a group and feeling good going into Saturday. We know how big that game is.”

In Hill’s view, the Tigers will be ready for another big effort when they take the court against Harvard.

“They are a great team, I am sure we will do all of the preparation to be ready for it,” said Hill. “We will be working. It is nice that we are at home. It will be a tough game but we will be ready.”