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McCracken Saves Her Best Play for Last As Tiger Women's Hoops Tops Dartmouth
By Bill Alden
Maureen McCracken saved her best for last when it came to her Princeton University basketball career.
The lanky 6'2 post player came into the last week of her senior season having scored 86 points in the Tigers first 24 games.
In her three final Princeton appearances, McCracken scored a career-high 13 points against Penn on March 2, chipped in 13 points again last Friday against Harvard, and then a night later ended her college career with eight points against Dartmouth.
For McCracken, the effort against Dartmouth was the sweetest since it helped the Tigers end the season on a high note as they pulled a 66-58 upset over the Big Green at Jadwin Gym.
As she looked back on her last night in a Princeton uniform, McCracken acknowledged that she had been determined to go out with a flourish.
"Just knowing that this is it and I'll never get another shot after this, that kind of turns your thinking," said McCracken, who also chipped in six rebounds and two assists in her finale. "Senior night is always an emotional night. I was thinking that when we started there were five of us and now there's just two (McCracken and Mary Cate Opila). It's kind of bittersweet."
Beating Dartmouth in her finale after previously going 0 for 7 against the Big Green , though, was a totally sweet experience. "This is the first time I've beaten Dartmouth, this is the first time our coach (Richard Barron) has beaten Dartmouth," added McCracken, whose scoring totals went up each season in college as she scored 16 points as a freshman, 44 as a sophomore and 71 as a junior. "That was a big goal for us."
Although Princeton posted losing records in each year of her career, McCracken leaves with some special memories, both on and off the court.
"I'll remember the big games, like when we beat Harvard my sophomore year and when we beat Penn last year," said McCracken, a native of Langhorne, Pa. who is majoring in politics. "Both of those games were at home and they were really exciting games. All of my best friends are on the basketball team. I live in the area and I leave knowing that I'll be coming back to check them out next year."
Princeton head coach Barron wishes McCracken could suit up when she visits Jadwin next year.
"Mo has really improved so much," said Barron, whose club finished at 7-20 overall and 4-10 in the Ivy League. "It's too bad she's graduating with the improvement she's made this year. More than anything, it's just an example of dedication and loyalty. Things didn't go the best for them (McCracken and Opila), they had a couple of different coaches and the coach that recruited them never coached them. For so many other people, it was easy to give up. They were the ones that stuck it out, that's special."
In Barron's view, his other players can learn a lot from McCracken's late blooming ways. "We tell 'em it's never too late to improve," said Barron, whose team ended up tied for seventh with Cornell in the Ivy standings. "Mo was the perfect example. She went out playing the best she has in her career."
The Tigers collectively went out playing their best in upending the Big Green, which came into the evening third in the league,
"We had a lot of parents and family here tonight," said Barron, whose club led by eight going into the second half and then had to fight off a furious rally by the Big Green. "It was senior night, emotions were high. This wasn't a night where they didn't want to compete. People were diving for loose balls, those were the plays that gave us some emotion."
Barron is hoping the triumph can give his team some momentum heading into the offseason. "These are the teams that are going to be battling over the next few years," said Barron, noting that both clubs are stocked with freshmen and sophomores. "I think this gives us a certain edge, you just feel better about yourself."
Princeton needed that in a frustrating season that saw the club lose seven in a row after star freshman Casey Lockwood was sidelined for the season due to a knee injury suffered in the team's win over Cornell on February 13.
"Overall there was disappointment," acknowledged Barron, whose record after three full seasons at Princeton is 27-55. "We didn't get as many wins as we wanted. There were other factors, the injury to Lockwood really hurt us. There were a lot of lessons to be learned and hopefully they will be."
Certainly McCracken provided her teammates with a valuable lesson by virtue of the way her passion for the game never waned despite some frustrating moments.
"I just love to play basketball," said McCracken, who emerged as the "mother" of the team, taking the team's five freshmen and four sophomores under her wing. "I've been playing since kindergarten when my dad started me playing. It's part of who I am, I just can't imagine not playing."
The Princeton program is certainly going to have trouble imagining what things will be like without McCracken around.
