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 (Photo by Bill Allen/NJ SportAction) caption:
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Rogers' Recent Surge Has Tiger Women's Hoops Aiming to Clinch First Winning Season in 6 Years
By Bill Alden
Ariel Rogers didn't have to deal with a lot of criticism on the court during her stellar high school basketball career. The 5'11 forward from Evanston, Ill. burned up Chicago basketball circles, being named as a Central Suburban All-League selection, a fourth-team All-State choice, and a McDonald's All-American nominee. Rogers' smooth ride up the basketball ladder, though, hit some turbulence when she started playing this winter for the Princeton University women's hoops squad.
Struggling to adjust to the demands of the game at the next level, Rogers found herself only seeing action for brief stretches early in the season.
"They definitely got to me in the beginning, it was overwhelming," said Rogers referring to the intensive tutelage she was receiving from the Princeton coaching staff.
"In high school, if you're the best player, you don't make mistakes very often or you're not told. Here, a mistake can be the difference between a win or a loss. That one foot you didn't run under the basket to get a rebound could be the difference between a win or a loss."
Getting an opportunity for more playing time after classmate Meg Cowher went down with a foot injury earlier this month, Rogers has proved to be a quick study. After not scoring in double figures in Princeton's first 17 games, Rogers is averaging 10.8 points an outing in the Tigers' last five contests.
Last Saturday, she poured in a career-high 14 points to help Princeton earn a hard-fought 53-50 win over Ivy title contender Brown.
In the wake of the win over the Bears, who had edged Princeton in overtime when the two teams met in January, Rogers said she is developing a comfort level.
"I think my quickness in the post is a threat," said Rogers, who snared six rebounds in the win over Brown and made several clever moves in the paint.
"At first I didn't know how to use that but the coaches have helped me to figure it out and play smart. I think they have more confidence in what I can do because I have more confidence."
The Tigers gained some collective confidence with the way they outlasted Brown. Leading the game by 27-25 at the half, Princeton found itself trailing 39-37 with 13 minutes remaining in regulation.
Keeping their heads, however, the Tigers built a 49-41 lead with 3:36 left. The Bears, who came into the night with a 7-2 Ivy mark good for second in the league standings, then reeled off a 9-0 run to take a 50-49 lead with 1:36 to go.
Princeton came up big in crunch time as Katy Digovich scored on a putback under the basket to give the Tigers a 51-50 edge and then hit two free throws to seal the victory.
For Tiger head coach Richard Barron, the win over Brown was particularly sweet since the Tigers were missing the services of Cowher and junior star Becky Brown, who was out with a sprained ankle. "We really played smarter this game," said Barron, whose team improved to 12-10 overall and 4-5 in Ivy play.
"To do it without three starters makes it extremely satisfying. I think this is part of the growth curve of the team. We were in a situation last year when Casey Lockwood went down and we didn't rally around her being out."
The victory over Brown capped a solid weekend for the Tigers which began with Princeton cruising past Yale 75-49. Barron, for his part, had a feeling that his club was primed to take care of business.
"This week we really worked on them on being focused," asserted Barron, who got 16 points from Katy O'Brien in the win over Brown with Digovich chopping in eight points and eight rebounds. "We talked a lot about discipline issues, commitment levels, and work ethic."
Barron was happy with the commitment shown by the fast-improving Rogers. "I think she is developing a confidence," said Barron referring to Rogers. "She still makes mistakes, there were four turnovers in there tonight. To be a freshman and to be thrown into playing extended minutes, she's not doing bad. She is so good at facing the basket. If she has any space at all, she can really create."
Barron, whose team has won three of its last four games, is hoping the Tigers can build on that momentum to create a strong finish.
"It's nice that we've had this stretch where other people have gotten a chance to step up and play well," said Barron, whose team was slated to play at Penn on February 22 before hosting Columbia on February 25 and Cornell on February 26.
"Maybe when we get back to full strength, we can end on a positive note. If we can find a way to win two of three next week, that would guarantee us a winning season for the first time in six seasons (since a 16-11 mark in 1998-99). It shows we've made a lot of progress. This weekend meant a lot so that we have something to build on for the end of this year and into the summer."
Rogers, for one, believes the Tigers are ready to keep progressing. "We're excited, we really want to finish the season strong," declared Rogers. "We're building confidence going into these next few games. We need to play hard and hustle hard. We don't want to get outworked."
With the way Rogers has worked herself into the picture, she is in position to help the Tigers earn plenty of praise down the stretch.
