Princeton 67, Penn 55

3/7/2006 11:11 PM

PRINCETON, N.J. (AP) - Meagan Cowher scored 15 of her 20 points in the second half to lead Princeton to a 67-55 victory over Penn on Tuesday night and force a three-team playoff for the Ivy League's NCAA tournament berth.

Princeton (21-6, 12-2) finished tied in first with Brown and Dartmouth, which beat Harvard 76-55 on Tuesday. The three-team tie necessitates two playoff games to determine which school will receive the league's automatic NCAA tournament berth.

Princeton won a coin flip Tuesday night and will receive a bye, while Brown and Dartmouth will play Friday at 7 p.m. at Yale. The winner of Friday's game will face Princeton Sunday at 2 p.m., at Yale.

The Tigers earned their first Ivy League title since 1999 and their second since the 1984-85 season. In 1999, Penn spoiled the Tigers' chance at an outright title with a win in the final game of the season, and Princeton lost to Dartmouth in a playoff game. Princeton has never been to the NCAA tournament.

Princeton set a school record for victories with Tuesday's win, but the Tigers couldn't pull away from the sixth-place Quakers (5-22, 3-11) until Cowher went on a scoring spree late in the second half.

With her father, Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher, looking on from the stands, Cowher scored nine consecutive points in a four-minute stretch to give Princeton a 60-48 lead with 4:13 left in the game.

After a 3-pointer by Penn's Joey Rhoads, Jessica Berry scored on a fast break and was fouled and Becky Brown rebounded the miss and scored to put Princeton ahead 64-51.

Cowher finished 8-for-10 from the field and 4-for-4 from the free throw line. Brown added 16 points for Princeton.

Rhoads led all scorers with 25 points.