Dartmouth women's basketball looked for a clean sweep this weekend. And they got it. In the last week, it has become apparent that the Big Green would be the team to beat this season and maybe next season, as well.
"We knew it would be tough to win on the road, especially with the long bus trips, but we knew that we could get both games," Jeannie Cullen '06 said.
While many teams disregarded Dartmouth's first-place ranking in the media preseason poll, the Big Green's wins over Cornell and Columbia this weekend attracted serious attention from fellow league rivals.
Although the Big Red and the Lions aren't the real threats to Dartmouth's run for the League title, the Big Green's immaculate 9-0 record in Ivy play alarms runner-up teams, Harvard and Brown.
This weekend's trip to New York was perhaps the most demanding test on Dartmouth. The exhausted Big Green traveled over 550 miles in two nights before returning home.
"I was so relieved. The trip to both campuses was a grueling one and really takes a lot out of you both physically and mentally," Sydney Scott '08 said. "I think we were all glad to get this one under our belts."
Angie Soriaga '06 added, "It's good to get two wins on a road trip like this. The bus rides to Cornell and Columbia are seven and five hours respectively, so it's hard to get yourself energized to play when you're battling fatigue from those rides. But we played hard and fortunately came up with key wins, especially against a really scrappy Columbia team."
On Friday night, Dartmouth traveled 350 miles to play at Cornell's Newman Arena. The Big Green came away with an easy 88-51 win over the Big Red (2-21, 0-10 Ivy), who remains last place in the league despite high expectations for this weekend's games.
"The Cornell game was a good win for us. We've had trouble closing out games, making them a lot closer than they should be," Soriaga said. "And so to beat Cornell at their place by about 40 was a good confidence boost for us."
Cornell opened scoring with a three-pointer, but it proved to be the biggest lead for the Big Red in the game. Dartmouth captured its first double-digit lead 12 minutes into the first half and continued the hot shooting to finish the half 44-23.
The Big Green returned from the locker rooms with a 24-4 run to create a 41-point gap in scores. In the second half, Dartmouth converted 17 of 24 field goal attempts and was five for seven in three-pointers and free-throws.
Cullen came through for the Big Green in major ways. She scored a game and season high of 29 points to lead Dartmouth in scoring. Cullen was 10 for 14 from the field and four of five from behind the arc.
Elise Morrison '07 aided the Big Green's scoring efforts with 21 points. Scott chipped in 13 more points to round out the double-figure scorers. Krista Perry '06, the team's most consistent defensive player, grabbed seven rebounds for the Big Green.
Dartmouth shot an impressive 70.8 percent from the floor in the second half to complete 56.4 percent of its field goal attempts overall.
Winning the color war in Collegetown carried the Big Green into Saturday's match against the Columbia Lions (11-12, 4-6 Ivy). Dartmouth escaped with a 59-56 result that must have left Brown and Harvard devastated.
The Lions gave the Big Green a surprise. "After beating them [Columbia] quite handedly in our house, they came ready to scrap and do whatever they had to win. It was a real dog fight, and we had to play hard for everything we got," Scott said.
The Lions kept Dartmouth on its toes throughout a close game. While the Big Green scored the first seven points of the game, it proved to be the biggest lead for Dartmouth in the contest. The Big Green was up by seven with 11 minutes left in the first half until the Lions hit two three-pointers to close the gap. Columbia came close to surpassing Dartmouth in the first half, but the Big Green was able to pull ahead 29-26 at the half.
With 2:16 left in the game, Dartmouth held a 54-48 advantage over Columbia. However, the Lions soon cut the lead down to 56-54. But Morrison scored a layup and a free throw to put the lead out of Columbia's reach. The time ran out before the Lions could respond.
"Columbia was really tough. The game was really physical and close throughout," Soriaga said. "Columbia was able to take us out of our game for a good part of it. But we hit some key shots and free throws towards the end when they were really needed, which propelled us to get the win."
Morrison recorded her sixth double-double of the season against Columbia. She scored 21 points to lead the scoring efforts for the Big Green and grabbed 10 rebounds in the game. Ashley Taylor '07 trailed Morrison in scoring with 10. Soriaga nearly missed double digits with nine points.
The Big Green hits the road again next weekend, traveling to Brown and Yale for a chance to capture its 10th and 11th wins in the conference.
