PRINCETON — Between Jan. 20 and 27, the Princeton Tigerettes won two games and dropped three. They beat Capital and PikeView by decisive margins. In their three losses, the Tigerettes played well. They bowed by a respectable 12 points to the powerful Huntington quintet. They suffered a three-point setback to Parkersburg in the closing seconds, and were beaten by eight points by Ripley in a game that was closer than the final margin would suggest.



TIGERETTES—64, PIKEVIEW—37

Princeton took out their frustration of the Ripley loss the previous evening by swamping the visiting PikeView Lady Panthers on Jan. 27.

The Tigerettes sprinted to a 12-1 advantage to start the game. The Panthers were never able to mount a challenge. At the half, the hosts held a 20-point margin (36-16). After three quarters, Princeton led 51-26.

Coach Debbie Ball was generally pleased with her team’s performance. She remarked, “We increased our defensive intensity in this game.”

Princeton prevailed in every facet of the game. They shot 41 percent from the field while their opposition hit 30 percent. The Tigerettes had a commanding 36-23 advantage in rebounding. Princeton committed only nine turnovers to match a season- low total. They forced PikeView into 25 errors. Normally, the Tigerettes are a good foul-shooting team, but in this contest, they converted less than half of their foul line attempts.

Ten Tigerettes played. Every player scored and every player gathered a rebound. Cheyanne Walker and McKenzie “Zee” Akers shared scoring honors with 11 points each. Cheyanne was an impressive five of eight from the field. McKenzie made the team’s only three-point goal.

Mary Beth Miller and Hannah Preservati both tallied eight points. Mary Beth hauled in seven boards while Hannah distributed four assists and recorded three steals.

Krystle White contributed seven points while Kendria Perkins added five markers.

Chelsy Walker, Brittany “CD” Lankford, and Kim White all scored four points. Brittany led the rebounders with eight and snatched three steals. Cydney Graham added two foul shots.

Sasha Pendleton paced the Panthers’ attack with 11 points.



TIGERTTES—55,

RIPLEY—63

Ripley visited Princeton on Jan. 26 and left with a hard-fought victory. Ripley has an excellent team, but in the view of many of the Princeton faithful, the winners benefitted from frequent highly questionable calls by the officiating crew.

Princeton jumped out to an early 5-0 lead, but the Lady Vikings reeled off 11 consecutive points. The first quarter ended with Ripley holding a 16-12 advantage. In the second quarter, Ripley assumed a 27-12 lead, but the Tigerettes staged a mini-rally and trailed at the half 35-23. By the end of the third quarter, Princeton cut the Lady Viking advantage to 45-36. Princeton tallied the first two points of the fourth period to narrow the gap to 45-38. At that point, Ripley started an incessant parade to the foul line. Of Ripley’s 18 points in the final period, 16 points came via the foul stripe. During the period, the Lady Vikings made one of only two field goal attempts.

For the game, Ripley made a solid 46 percent of their field goal attempts including seven three-pointers. The Tigerettes shot 33 percent with six long-range goals. The Lady Vikings had a 28-24 rebounding edge. Princeton committed 13 turnovers and they forced 16 Ripley miscues.

Krystle White was held scoreless in the first half, but she exploded with 17 points in the second half to pace the Princeton attack. She connected on two long-range bombs and added two assists and two steals.

McKenzie Akers tallied 12 points and drained three three-pointers. She also contributed five assists. Cheyanne Walker scored nine points and hauled in nine rebounds. Kendria Perkins accumulated six points and turned in a fine defensive effort.

Hannah Preservati had a productive game, but played only the first half due to an injury. She connected on a three-pointer and totaled five points. In addition, she dished out four assists. Mary Beth Miller added two points.

Brittany Lankford had not seen game action since December 16 due to an injury. Against Ripley, she came off the bench and performed admirably. She totaled four points, eight rebounds, and three blocks.

Alannah Sheets, the Mountain State Athletic Conference’s leading scorer, pumped in 29 points including 16 of 18 foul shot attempts to lead Ripley’s offense

This setback was a bitter pill for the hard-fighting Tigerettes to swallow.



TIGERETTES—66,

CAPITAL—39

Home-standing Princeton recorded its largest victory margin of the season with the dismantling of Capital on Jan. 23.

The Tigerettes jumped out to a 9-0 lead and led 20-5 at the end of the first quarter and 39-19 at half. Early in the third quarter, the Cougars cut their deficit to 14 points, but could not get any closer.

Princeton dominated every aspect of the game. They shot 37 percent from the field to their visitors’ 29 percent. Moreover, the Tigerettes collected three three-pointers while Capital did not connect on any long-range shots. Princeton converted 71 percent of their foul shots attempts while the Cougars managed 30 percent. Princeton’s rebounders pulled down 41 rebounds to 27 for their opposition. Capital committed 20 turnovers to the Tigerettes’ 15 errors.

McKenzie Akers paced the Tigerettes in scoring with 23 points including two baskets from beyond the arc. The 5’5” point guard almost registered her first double-double as she pulled down nine rebounds. Krystle White tallied 11 points including a three-pointer. Mary Beth Miller also pumped in 11 points and grabbed five offensive rebounds. Cheyanne Walker scored eight points and yanked down 10 boards. Hannah Preservati contributed eight points and six boards. Cydney Graham hit for five points.



TIGERETTES—48, PARKERSBURG—51

Princeton made the long trip to battle the Big Reds on Jan. 22. Unfortunately, the return trip seemed even longer as the Tigerettes sustained a tough setback.

It was an exciting contest although neither team shot well from the field. Princeton made 24 percent of their attempts while their hosts hit 29 percent. Both teams were error prone committing 22 turnovers. Princeton had a slight rebounding edge.

The Tigerettes led most of the first two quarters. With seconds remaining in the half, Princeton held. a 25-20 advantage. At the buzzer, the Big Reds’ Tori Wilson banked in a desperation 30-foot shot to make the half time score, 25-23 Princeton.

At the start of the third quarter, the Big Reds went on the warpath as they tallied seven consecutive points in rapid-fire succession during a 75-second time span to bolt into a 30-25 lead. After that barrage, Princeton managed to tie the score on several occasions, but they were not able to take the lead again.

McKenzie Akers sparked the Tigerettes’ attack with a career-high 24 points including three long-range goals. Krystle White scored nine points, hauled in six boards, and dished out three assists. Before she fouled out, Cheyanne Walker hit for eight points and grabbed seven rebounds. Mary Beth Miller recorded five points and pulled down a team-high eight rebounds. Kendria Perkins, who also fouled out, produced two points.

Tori Wilson had an outstanding game for the hosts. She collected 23 points, hit six three pointers, and snagged 10 rebounds.

Tigerette captain and leading rebounder Brittany Lankford has been sidelined with an ankle injury, but she was indirectly involved in a “rebound”. The basketball became stuck between the basket and the backboard. When usual methods to dislodge the ball failed, Brittany offered one of her crutches to the officials, and the ball was promptly freed.



TIGERETTES—59, HUNTINGTON—71

The highly-ranked Huntington Highlanders visited Princeton on Jan. 20. The Highlanders, who have played in the state championship game the last three years, featured two players who have received All-State honors, Erin Bailes and Talequia Hamilton. This duo quickly demonstrated why they have received all-star acclaim. Bailes pumped in 27 points including five long-range goals while Hamilton tallied 23 points and hauled in 13 rebounds. Despite the exploits of the Huntington stars, this game was probably the Tigerettes’ best performance of the season.

Princeton played hard during the contest. After one quarter, the Tigerettes held a 15-13 advantage. In the second period, the Tigerettes scored only six points and Huntington claimed a 30-21 lead. After three quarters, the Highlanders extended their advantage to a 15-point margin. In the final quarter, Princeton rallied and cut their final deficit to 12 points.

Huntington shot 41 percent from the floor including nine long-range bombs while the Tigerettes connected on 37 percent of their field goal attempts and countered with five goals beyond the arc. In addition, Huntington held narrow margins in rebounding and turnovers.

McKenzie Akers spearheaded the Tigerette attack with a season-high 24 points including 14 points in the fourth quarter. Akers made three three-pointers, recorded four assists, and snatched the ball from the opposition three times. Cheyanne Walker contributed 11 points and eight boards. Krystle White connected on two long-range shots and tallied eight points. In addition, she collected six rebounds, dished out two assists and registered three steals. Kendria Perkins hit for eight points and grabbed three rebounds. Hannah Preservati had a team-high five steals. Also, Preservati six points, grabbed five rebounds, and dished out four assists. Rounding out the scoring were Kim White (four points) and Mary Beth Miller (two points).