Wheatley picks up where Micir left off at Princeton
BucksLocalSports Editor Council Rock North and Princeton rniversity alum Addie Micir knows a thing or two about making the most of the opportunity at hand.
A former guard for both the Lady Indians and the Tigers, Micir’s Princeton teams were never able to attain any success in the NCAA Tournament, though they got their in each of Addie’s last three seasons there.
The Tigers’ last three trips to the Big Dance resulted Ln fiUVW-URunG ORVVHV. :KHn Micir was a sophomore in 2010, they made their tournament debut and lost to No. 9 seed St. gohn’s in Tallahassee. Two more trips to the Tournament resulted in losses — to No. 5 seed Georgetown in College Park, Maryland in 2011, and to No. 8 Kansas State in Bridgeport, Conn. in 2012.
Soon after the loss to the Wildcats, Micir departed the ranks of the team.
Now it’s up to freshman Alex Wheatley — a 2012 graduate of Council Rock South from Holland — to represent the Rocks and she’s doing it well.
Princeton (22-6, 13-1) entered the tournament after capturing its fourth consecutive Ivy League title. 7KH 7LJHUV DUH WKH fiUVW-HYHU Ivy women’s team to advance to the NCAA tournament four straight years. Coming off back-to back wins over Brown and Penn, Princeton’s record in the Ivy League the past four years is a collective 54-2.
The Tigers are led by se- nior Niveen Rasheed who is averaging 16.9 PPG and nine rebounds per game this season. Collectively, the seniors account for 32.6 PPG.
Wheatley has done her part as well, contributing an average of 5.8 PPG off the bench. Her 162 points ties senior Kate Miller for sixthbest on the team. She’s also done her part on the boards, collecting 105 rebounds -60 off the defensive glass, good enough for fourth-best on the roster.
The success of the 6-2 Wheatley should come as no surprise. At South, she averaged nearly 20 PPG and 16 RPG for the Golden Hawks. Two years ago as a junior, she was named Suburban One League (SOL) Player of the vear.
Now Alex is contributing in other ways at the college level, chipping in with 19 blocks, 22 steals and 26 assists this season. Her .556 shooting percentage (T5-of135) IURP WKH flRRU ZDV EHVW on the squad this season.
In the Ivy League Championship March 9 at gadwyn Gym, the Tigers home court, Wheatley hit 3-of-4 shots IURP WKH flRRU Ln WKH 7LJHUV’ 80-51 win over Brown. Alex added another shot from the foul line, where she was 1-for-2, adding two DVVLVWV DnG fiYH UHERunGV Ln 18 minutes of action.
In Princeton’s regular VHDVRn finDO ZLn RYHU 3Hnn March 12 at The Palestra, Wheatley was a perfect 4-IRU-4 IURP WKH flRRU WRgether with four rebounds and one steal in a 19-minute effort off the bench.
When the women’s NCAA bracket was revealed March 18, Princeton learned it was heading to Waco, Texas as the ninth seed in the Oklahoma City region, facing No. 8 Florida State March 24.
Having won the past four Ivy League championships, this was Princeton’s fourth NCAA tournament appearance under head coach Courtney Banghart. While the Tigers have set plenty of records, they’ve yet to win a game in March Madness. With four key seniors on the team — Rasheed, Miller, Meg Bowen and Lauren Polansky — expectations were high that this could be the year for Princeton to break through.
“The athletic mortality of seniors is something that can’t be overstated,” Banghart said. “It’s win or go home now.”
If the Tigers did manage to beat Florida State, they would not get much time to celebrate. They would have to face Baylor, the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament, on the Bears’ home floor. Just before their matchup was announced, the players were forced to sit through a highlight reel of dunks by Baylor’s 6-foot8 center Brittney Griner.
“We’ve never faced anything like that,” Miller said. “It’s a bridge we’re going to have to cross when we get there.”
“We’ve been hunted all year long, and that target is getting a little heavy,” Banghart said. “Now we get to do a little hunting of our own.”
Having been a heavy favorite in nearly every game they’ve played for the past two and a half months, the Tigers are welcoming the
challenge.
♦♦♦ UPDATE: Princeton was ousted from the tournament in a 60-44 win that favored the Seminoles Sunday March 24 at the Ferrell Center, in Waco, Texas. The Tigers were paced by Rasheed and sophomore Blake Dietrick with nine points each. Wheatley posted four points on 2-of-4 shooting. For Florida State, it was their 10th straight win in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The Seminoles were paced by Leonor Rodriguez (12 pts.), Morgan Toles (12) and Yashira Delgado (11).
NOTES: Wheatley was a four-time SOL National Conference selection at South. She was the first Golden Hawk ever to record 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds.
Portions drawn from March 18 Trentonian story by Nick Peruffo.