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 (Photo by Bill Allen/NJ SportAction) caption:
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O'Brien's All-Around Production in Backcourt Has Tiger Women's Hoops on Winning Streak
By Bill Alden
Katy O'Brien is determined to do whatever she can to help the Princeton University women's basketball team win games this winter.
Playing mainly at point guard last season, the junior co-captain has diversified her game this year by playing at the shooting guard position.
Last Monday, O'Brien displayed her versatility as she scored 12 points on four 3-pointers, dished out eight assists, and had four steals to help lead the Tigers to a 67-50 win over visiting St. Peter's.
The win lifted Princeton to a 6-5 record and was the team's fourth straight victory, the program's longest winning streak since the Tigers won seven in a row during the 1998-99 season.
In the wake of the triumph, a smiling O'Brien acknowledged that she takes pride in her multi-faceted contribution to the team. "It's nice to be able to run the offense from a different perspective," said the 5'6 O'Brien, reflecting on the change in her on-court role this season.
"I work hard on having a solid all-around game. There will be nights where I have high-scoring games and games where I score five points. It's not really an issue for me because I know the points will come."
O'Brien was happy to see the Tigers pile up the points Monday as they started the game with an 11-0 run. "Our coach [Richard Barron] has really emphasized getting off to a hot start," said the Ventura Calif. native, who came into Monday averaging 7.1 points per game together with 3.6 assists and 2.1 steals.
"We need to break out of the habit of playing down to the opponent. We need to play to our best. Coach emphasized passing the ball inside and getting 3-point shots off of that. It's a good sign of maturity for our team."
Barron is pleased with the mature play he has been getting from O'Brien. "Katy is in the unfair position of being someone we have to depend on so much," said Barron, whose club shot 50.9 percent from the floor in the win over St. Peter's.
"Sometimes, too much is expected of her. We expect her to play the perfect game. She tries to make a great pass sometimes when she doesn't need to force things. Even though she isn't always the ball handler, she is very much a leader on the floor."
In racing past St. Peter's, Princeton forced things in the paint. "We were able to hit our first couple of shots and set a tone," said Barron, who got great productivity inside as freshman Meagan Cowher scored a career-high 28 points and junior center Becky Brown chipped in 19.
"We've got a lot of stuff we can do offensively, maybe too much stuff right now. Tonight we simplified things and just posted people up. We just pounded it in. Meg was fantastic. We ran some stuff for her but some of her points came off of her hustle."
Utilizing collective hustle, the Tigers are putting the disappointment from last year's frustrating 7-20 season behind them. "We're exorcising demons," asserted Barron, whose team hosts Army on January 5 before breaking three weeks for exams.
"You want to feel that you have gotten last year's monkey off of your back. We got over the .500 mark. This was a big win for us, we got another win at home and it came over a team that came in here at 5-5. We won only three non-conference games last year and we've won six this year already."
Barron is hopeful the team can keep up the momentum when it returns to action after the exams by playing at Lafayette on January 25 and then starting its Ivy League campaign with games at Brown on January 28 and at Yale on January 29.
"I think we have to build on this, we can't get complacent," said Barron, who is in his fourth year at the helm of the Tiger program and has a 33-60 mark in his Princeton tenure. "I think with this team, we won't. They are enjoying the ride, they don't want to see it end."
In O'Brien's view, the way the Tigers fought off St. Peter's, who closed the gap to eight points during the second half, demonstrates the team's progression.
"Last year when we were in games like this, the other team would make a run and we wouldn't respond," explained O'Brien. "The difference with this team is our composure; we don't lose our confidence."
And having the versatile O'Brien in the backcourt has certainly boosted Princeton's confidence.
