The Dartmouth women will be in an unfamiliar situation this weekend: they'll be seeking revenge. Having all but cruised through the Ivy League season so far, Dartmouth looks to avenge its only road loss of the conference, which came two weeks ago at the hands of Brown.
Dartmouth has five games left in the season and must win them all in order to keep pace with first-place Pennsylvania, who has one loss to Dartmouth's two. The Big Green will travel to Philadelphia next weekend in hopes of handing Penn a second defeat.
First, the women have to take care of business at home. "Every game from here on out is a championship," said head coach Chris Wielgus Thursday afternoon. "Again
st Brown in particular, we must play solid defense and rebound the basketball, and our shot selection has to be the product of a team effort."
Two weeks ago at Brown, Dartmouth failed to hit a stride in the first half and trailed by 12 at intermission. Down by as much as twenty early in the second half, they mounted an improbable comeback that cut Brown's lead to three, but turnovers hurt the Big Green down the stretch. Additionally all five Brown starters scored in double figures, above their season averages.
Said co-captain forward Jamie Librizzi '04, "In terms of our game plan, we're mostly adjusting our defense from when we played them last. They have a strong inside game and like to get to the hoop, so we're going to try and make them beat us from the outside. We'll be changing up our defense throughout the game, switching from man to zone to keep them off guard."
It is also crucial for the Big Green to get their shooters open, as shooting guard Jeannie Cullen '06 was held to seven points against Brown, though she's averaging seventeen per contest on the season. "We're all just excited to get a chance to play Brown again," Cullen said. Both as a team and individually we struggled, so it's nice to have the chance to get redemption on our home court.
"I think playing at home will definitely make a difference for me personally. This week in practice we focused on setting and running off screens so that should help. I just have to stay confident and get into the flow of the game. As long as we come ready to play I know we'll have a great weekend."
Besides Cullen, Dartmouth is led by freshman center Elise Morrison, who is averaging 17.7 points per game and point guard Angie Soriaga '06, who ranks third in the Ivy League with 92 assists on the season. Freshman guard Ashley Taylor and Librizzi round out the starting five and provide the spark and consistency necessary for the team's end-of-the-season run.
Said Librizzi, "From here on out, every game is for the Ivy League title. With Penn losing last weekend, we're again in control of our destiny. We know we have to win the remainder of our games if we're going to win the title. But knowing that it's within our reach, I think we've really increased our intensity and focus towards the remainder of the season. We're ready to play."
And given Dartmouth's propensity for second-half comebacks and late-game heroics -- think Harvard and Yale -- there is little doubt that they'll be ready for this final push.
Both games this weekend tip off at 7 p.m. in Leede Arena.
