Obama's Niece Threatened Before College Basketball Game: Report

WASHINGTON, March 23 (Reuters) - A phone message threatening President Barack Obama's niece, a player on the Princeton basketball team, prompted authorities to increase security at Monday night's NCAA women's tournament game between the Ivy League school and Maryland, USA Today reported.

An eight-minute voicemail was received at the University of Maryland athletic department offices on Monday afternoon in which a woman said a man was driving on the College Park, Maryland, campus with a Glock handgun in his possession, the newspaper reported, citing a person with knowledge of the threat.

The caller linked the man's appearance on campus to the game and Leslie Robinson, a freshman forward at Princeton and the daughter of Michelle Obama's brother, USA Today said.

Robinson was not told of the threat, but Princeton coach Courtney Banghart was aware of it, the paper said.

University of Maryland police had no immediate comment.

In addition to normal game security, undercover security officers were near the Princeton bench. Secret Service officers also were in the arena due to the presence of Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, USA Today reported.

Obama attended Saturday's first-round game between Princeton and Wisconsin-Green Bay but was not at Monday night's game. (Reporting by Eric Beech; Editing by Peter Cooney)