Dartmouth women's basketball captured two more Ivy wins over the weekend, crushing Princeton 69-55 Friday night and devastating the Penn squad 73-71 Saturday evening. The Big Green improves to 9-8 overall and remains undefeated in the Ivy League with an immaculate 5-0 record.
The Princeton Tigers dropped a 69-55 decision to Dartmouth Friday night in the Jadwin Gym. The Tigers fell to 9-8 for the season and 1-3 in Ivy play.
In the first half of the game, Dartmouth and Princeton battled for the lead. The scores were tied at the ninth, 11th and 17th point before Princeton took a firmer lead at 21-17. The Big Green responded with a 14-4 run with significant contribution from Fatima Kamara '07, who scored eight points and added an assist. Dartmouth held on to the lead and finished the half 31-30.
The second half was characterized by a series of lead-and-chase. The Big Green did not solidify the win until Angela Soriaga '06 extended the lead to 50-42 with 9:56 left. After Princeton's Katy O'Brien netted a three-point goal, Dartmouth went on a 19-6 run to stretch the lead. Although Dartmouth completed only three field goals in the last quarter, the team was flawless from the free-throw line. Dartmouth finally ended the game 69-55.
Jeannie Cullen '06 led Big Green scoring efforts with 18 points. "We were able to get a comfortable lead against Princeton and kept the pressure on all game," she said.
Ashley Taylor '07 and Kamara contributed 12 points each while Elise Morrion '07 just missed a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds.
Overall, the Big Green shot a solid 50 percent from behind the arc and was 28-of-29 from the charity stripe. Princeton finished the game completing 41.5 percent from the field and 60 percent from the free-throw line.
After vanquishing Princeton, Dartmouth proceeded to defeat last year's Ivy League Champions, the Penn Quakers (10-8, 3-2 Ivy), at the Palestra 73-71. The Big Green win on Saturday night foiled Penn's eight-game winning streak against Dartmouth, and stood as the first victory against the Quakers in almost four years.
While the Big Green held an advantage over the Quakers throughout the game, Penn slowly chipped away the Dartmouth lead. In the first half, Dartmouth shot eight of 10 from behind the arc and 72.7 percent from the free-throw line. The Big Green led the game at halftime 42-36.
In the second half, Dartmouth continued to dominate an able Penn squad. With 4:39 left in the game, the Big Green led 69-60. However, the Quakers went on an 11-2 run to tie the game at 71-71 with 1:31 left on the clock. The tie was broken with seven seconds left when Morrison scored a lay-up that sailed Dartmouth to its fifth conference win of the season.
"It is great to finally beat [Penn] as it has not happened in a while. We shot the ball real well and were able to hold them defensively," Cullen said. "We had a little bit of a let up at the end blowing a lead, but we were able to finish and get a big win."
Taylor led four Big Green players in double figures with a career-high 22 points. Taylor was also 5-of-5 from behind the arc. Cullen contributed 14 points while Morrison and Soriaga added 11 points each to the win.
The Big Green hit 61.1 percent of three-point shots, 50.0 percent from the field and was 10-of-13 from the free-throw line.
The Lady Green were generally pleased with their performance this weekend. Taylor spoke favorably of the team's overall performance.
"We knew that both Princeton and Penn were going to be tough teams. We are very excited for the wins, yet we know there is still a long road ahead," Taylor said.
"I can never be satisfied with my performance," she added, despite her remarkable accomplishment against Penn. "No matter what happened this weekend, there are always things I need to work on."
The Big Green return home to Leede Arena next weekend for more action against Ivy rivals Brown and Yale, ranked second and seventh respectively in the league after this weekend's battles. Brown currently holds the best overall record in the League (13-6) and is 5-1 in Ivy play, while Yales holds a 4-15 overall record and fell to 1-5 in the Ivy League after succumbing to Columbia on Friday.
