SENIOR MOMENT: Princeton University women’s basketball star Lauren Edwards drives to the hoop in recent action. Last Saturday, star guard Edwards came up big on her Senior Night, scoring a career-high 29 points as Princeton topped Dartmouth 94-57 to clinch the Ivy League title outright and a berth in the next month’s NCAA tournament. The Tigers, now 21-4 overall and 11-0 Ivy, play at Yale on March 2 and at Brown on March 3 before hosting Penn on March 6. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Lauren Edwards is not one to grab the spotlight for the Princeton University women’s basketball team, preferring to go about her business in an understated manner.

But last Saturday, senior guard Edwards took center stage as Princeton hosted Dartmouth, needing a win to clinch the Ivy League title outright and a berth in the next month’s NCAA tournament.

Prior to the game, Edwards and her two classmates on the team, Devona Allgood and Laura Johnson, were honored in the program’s annual Senior Night ceremony.

“It was certainly really emotional, walking up there with my family and seeing where the program has come in our four years,” said Edwards, a native of Los Angeles.

“Seeing how it has transformed into this great tradition of having a great team and a program that really prides itself on working hard, practicing hard, and earning our wins. It is really emotional and it was great to see.”

Riding that wave of emotion, Edwards hit the court and produced one of the greatest games of her career, pouring in a career-high 29 points as the Tigers rolled to a 94-57 win over the Big Green, improving to 21-4 overall and 11-0 Ivy and ensuring a third straight trip to March Madness.

“This was one of my last two home games of the season and I have to give all I have got,” said Edwards, who hit 11-of 16 shots on the evening, including 7-of-10 from three-point range.

“I am probably not going to play after Princeton so this is my last time playing in an organized sport. I love this team and all I want to do is go out with a bang.”

The Tigers were banging in their shots as they ended up going 36-68 (52.9 percent) from the floor.

“I think a lot of the shooters were clicking today, we were sharing the ball well,” said Edwards, who was later named the Ivy League Player of the Week for her weekend which also saw her score 17 points in a 74-44 win over Harvard on Friday.

“Laura Johnson came out and she hasn’t really started much. She starts tonight and came out with a 3-pointer. After that I knew it was going to be a good night.”

One of the greatest moments of the night for Edwards came when she left the game for the final time and hugged each of the Princeton coaches on her way down the bench.

“It was great to whisper a little something in their ear, telling them how they have helped me through the years and how much I have grown because of them,” said Edwards, who now has 1,273 points in her career. “I love them and I love this team.”

Edwards has loved having an impact on her younger teammates this season as a senior leader.

“This is a team that I have to lead now, Devona and I as co-captains and LJ [Johnson] as the other senior,” said Edwards, who is a finalist for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award.

“We had to take control of our underclassmen and teach them the way our seniors taught us. The seniors set the foundation when we came in with this new coaching staff with a whole new system of play, a whole new offense, and a whole new defense. They taught us and we want to play it forward.”

Princeton head coach Courtney Banghart appreciated the leap of faith her seniors took when they decided to join the program.

“They took a big chance on me and the university and on the program and they have only done right by it,” said Banghart.

“I had never coached a college basketball game when they committed and in our first year, we were 7-23 and now this. We have three straight titles, they could become the only class in Ivy League history to have two undefeated seasons. They have done it the right way, they have done it by celebrating each other. They have done it by a great work ethic. They have done it by setting high standards. These are really special people.”

Banghart was thrilled to see Edwards experience such a special game on Senior Night.

“Her parents are here; they came all the way from Los Angeles for this,” noted Banghart.

“I think she is peaking at the right time; she is not the kind of player who likes to stand out in front of everybody. I think she realizes now that the next step for our program is that she does need to step out in front of everybody and it’s nice to see. She did look great tonight, we felt we could get her some open looks and we did and she knocked them down. She is catching fire late; it is the right time for us.”

While another perfect Ivy campaign would be nice, Banghart has her sights set on catching fire in the NCAAs.

“Every game is its own entity and as long as we are making steps forward, I don’t really care about the undefeated record,” said Banghart, whose team plays at Yale on March 2 and at Brown on March 3 before hosting Penn on March 6.

“I care that my team gets better every single day and that we are the better team that day on the opening round.”

For Banghart, the joy of winning the Ivy title is tempered by her desire to see Princeton make an impact on the national stage.

“All my coaching friends say enjoy it,” added Banghart, reflecting on winning the title.

“I say I am trying to but I see such a high ceiling for this team that I want to just keep going. To win one at a school is pretty special but to win three in a row shows the collective effort of this group year after year. We have a great staff; we work hard for it and we want to enjoy it.”

Edwards, for her part, enjoyed the title clinching moment and the post-game celebration which saw the Tigers cut down the net on the basket near their bench.

“It is great; it is not something we take for granted,” said Edwards. “We work hard to get it. We work for every win and every championship. We punched our ticket today; we are pretty excited about that.”

In order to produce an exciting NCAA run, Edwards knows that the Tigers have to keep working hard.

“The last two years we have had to play more athletic teams and we haven’t been able to match their athleticism,” said Edwards, referring to NCAA first round losses to Georgetown last year and St. John’s in 2010.

“This year we want to focus on being able to do that and keeping up our intensity, especially the intensity that we have had in the preseason, playing against top-ranked teams like Stanford and Delaware.”