Dec. 14, 2004

Princeton, N.J. -- Despite a career-high 15 points from sophomore Elyse Umeda and a season-high five steals from junior Katy O'Brien, Princeton fell 56-46 to St. Mary's. The Tigers record drops to 2-5 on the season, while the Gaels improve to 5-4.

Sophomore Shelly Slemp opened the game with the first basket off the opening possession and gave Princeton the 2-0 lead. The Tigers and Gaels then matched baskets for the first eight minutes of the game and were locked at 10-10.

St. Mary's took the lead following an and-one play by Brianna Winn that gave the Gaels a five-point advantage, 15-10.

A six-minute scoring drought was broken when freshman Meagan Cowher connected on a free throw at the 5:46 mark to make the score 21-11 in favor of St. Mary's.

A three from Umeda at 3:06 brought the tigers back within nine, 14-23. Umeda then scored a layup and stole the ball to set up a three-pointer to close the half at 29-19.

The second half began with more scoring from the Gaels as they took a 35-21 lead in the first five minutes.

Umeda's three-pointer in the 13th minute started a 13-2 run for Princeton, which was escaladed by another three from Brien to bring the Tigers within five, 40-35.

Princeton was then called for two quick fouls on the defensive glass and put St. Mary's on the charity stripe. The Gaels went back up 46-35.

The Tigers found momentum again with a couple hustle plays on defense that lead to fast break opportunities and closed the gap to seven, 46-39 with a little over five minutes to play.

However, that was as close as Princeton would get as the Tigers experienced two two-minute scoring droughts in the final minutes of action. Junior Becky Brown finished with 10 points and Umeda grabbed a team-high six rebounds.

Princeton hosts New Orleans on Saturday, Dec. 18 at 2 p.m.