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Princeton's Banghart Named NJSWA Women's College Coach of the Year
Courtesy of Princeton Athletic Communications
PRINCETON, N.J. -- Princeton head women's basketball coach Courtney Banghart was honored Sunday, Jan. 30 as the New Jersey Sports Writers Association Women's College Coach of the Year. The 75th annual banquet was held at The Pines Manor in Edison, N.J.
The NJSWA's board of directors closely monitors the world of sports, statewide, nationally and internationally, and endeavors to invite the finest performers of them all to its annual banquet.
In her third year as head coach of the Princeton women's basketball team, Banghart guided the Tigers through their most successful season in program history. The 2009-10 squad finished the season with a 26-3 overall record with a perfect 14-0 Ivy League record to reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. The team set numerous records during the year including: most wins in a season (26), winning 25 of those 26 games by double figures, most road victories (14), longest win streak (21), longest home win streak (9), fewest losses (3), best win percentage (.897), most conference wins (14), most points (2051), highest scoring average (70.7), ranking sixth in the nation in scoring defense and fifth in scoring margin.
Going 14-0 in the Ivy League has happened just three other times, but the Tigers can boast that they won all 14 games by 11 or more points. Princeton also received the highest seed in the NCAA Tournament by an Ivy League team grabbing the No. 11 seed and also received the most votes by an Ivy team in the national poll. The Tigers recorded the program's first 4-0 sweep of Dartmouth and Harvard and earned five All-Ivy League honors, the most received by the Tigers in a season. Freshman Niveen Rasheed became just the second Princeton player to be named the Ivy League Rookie of the Year, after she won nine Rookie of the Week honors during the season.
A native of Amherst, N.H., Banghart is a graduate of Dartmouth College.
Past NJSWA honorees include: Yogi Berra, Phil Rizzuto, Althea Gibson, Joe Paterno, Ara Parseghian,Tommy Lasorda, Mickey Walker, Joe Frazier, Jack McKeon, Larry Kelley, Milton Campbell, Joe Medwick, Dick Kazmaier, Alex Wojciechowicz, Doc Cramer, Horace Ashenfelter, Larry Doby, Willis Reed, Carol Blazejowski, Harry Carson, Nick Werkman, Cosmo Iacavazzi, Rick Barry, Bruce Baumgartner, Lou Piniella, Giorgio Chinaglia, Tom Heinsohn and Digger Phelps.
