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 (Photo by Bill Allen/NJ SportAction) caption:
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Digovich's Efforts to Break Out of Slump Helping Tiger Women's Hoops Turn Corner
By Bill Alden
Katy Digovich had fallen into a rut recently and she wasn't alone among her teammates on the Princeton University women's basketball team.
The Tigers had lost five of their previous six games coming into last Saturday afternoon's game against the University of New Orleans.
Digovich, a sophomore forward who was named to Ivy League All-Rookie team last year, found herself on the bench as the Tigers took on the visiting Privateers.
"My performance in the past couple of games hadn't been very good," said Digovich, who had been suspended for the Tigers' recent game at Rutgers. "I think coach [Richard Barron] wants me to earn my way back on the floor which is something I plan on doing."
Digovich took a step in that direction Saturday as she came off the bench to contribute 11 points and six rebounds in 17 minutes to help Princeton top winless New Orleans 47-36.
The Palo Alto, Calif. native credited her teammates with helping her through her current rough patch.
"I' ve been stressed out lately, I haven' t been having fun when I play," said Digovich, who is averaging 10.8 points a game this season.
"My teammates are amazing, I' ve been struggling a little bit and they have been so supportive. Lillie Romeiser is always talking, making me feel good. Casey Lockwood talks to me from the bench and keeps me from falling apart. I don' t know what I would do without them."
In Digovich's view, coming through with a win Saturday was good tonic for her and the team. "A win is awesome, it feels good," asserted Digovich with a broad grin. "We didn' t shoot very well but a win is a win. We' re definitely going to come out harder the next game."
Princeton head coach Richard Barron acknowledged that his team has found it difficult to get in sync in the early going this season.
"Katy is like all of our players," said Barron, whose club built on Saturday's win by cruising past Mount St. Mary's 79-58 last Monday to improve to 4-5 on the season.
"They are kind of struggling to find an identity. They' re great kids but they are not quite giving themselves completely to playing. There is a fear of making mistakes more than the desire to go out and make the play."
Barron thought that Digovich showed more desire to make plays in the win over New Orleans. "She did a little better today," said Barron, who got a team-high 13 points from freshman star Meagan Cowher in the win over New Orleans.
"We' re limiting her minutes; she' s got to play with more energy. You see her get lost the longer she plays. We' re pulling her out more so that she is more focused."
For the Tigers, coming up with a win should sharpen their focus. "A win is a win, especially for this team," said Barron, whose club is next in action when it hosts Fairleigh Dickinson on December 30.
"We struggled on the road against some pretty tough competition. When you can win a game by double digits even though you play poorly, that' s a good sign."
With just four games remaining before Princeton starts its Ivy League season with a January 28 clash at Brown, Barron knows his team has plenty of work to do.
"We want to get to where we are playing our level the whole time," said Barron, whose team went 4-10 last season in Ivy play, tying for sixth in the league standings.
"We are coming out of the gate waiting to see what kind of game it' s going to be rather than dictating what kind of game it' s going to be. We need to be a team that is more in control of its destiny. We' re trying to empower these kids and help them realize what they need to do to ensure ultimate success."
Digovich, for her part, sees the next four games as crucial to the team' s ultimate success in Ivy play. "A lot of the teams that we play now are faster and more athletic than the Ivy League teams," explained Digovich, who contributed seven points and seven rebounds in Princeton's win over Mount St. Mary's.
"We know that if we can execute against these guys, we' ll be able to execute against anybody. I think that we have a lot of talent; we can do a lot of damage in the league."
The Tigers will need the talented Digovich to be at full throttle if they are to do damage to their Ivy foes.
