Dartmouth's undefeated Ivy season came to a sudden halt this weekend after the Lady Green fell 68-64 to the Brown Bears on Friday, ending a nine-game winning streak against League rivals. However, the Big Green managed to redeem itself on Saturday evening with an easy 68-52 victory over Yale. Despite the loss, Dartmouth remains in first place in the Ancient Eight with a 10-1 record.
Going into its second week of back-to-back Ivy play on the road, the insurmountable women's basketball team visited the Pizzitola Center to battle the Bears (16-9, 8-4 Ivy) on Friday but came short of winning by two baskets.
The Bears edged Dartmouth 27-26 in the first half in spite of 25 turnovers and six ties. Ashley Taylor '07 and Elise Morrison '07 each contributed eight points in this half for the Big Green, while Jeannie Cullen '06 added six points from behind the arc. Dartmouth completed 40 percent of field goal attempts but shot a disappointing 2-for-10 in three-pointers.
The Bears opened the second half with a 16-7 run to create a 10-point gap. The Big Green was able to decrease the Brown lead to seven with 4:37 left on the clock after sophomore Fatima Kamara's layup.
Cullen and Morrison chipped in four points within the next minute to trim the deficit to three. But Brown's Sarah Hayes scored two free throws to push the lead up to five. Angela Soriaga '06 made it a two-point game with a distant three-pointer.
With two minutes remaining, Morrison hit two free throws to tie the game at 62 for Dartmouth. However, Brown's Colleen Kelly quickly made a three-pointer and a free throw to break the tie. Morrison returned the favor from the floor with 59 ticks left on the clock. Lena McAfee scored a jumper with 30 seconds left in the game to seal the win for Brown.
Morrison led the scoring efforts for Dartmouth with 23 points and 13 rebounds. She was 9 of 17 from the field and 5 for 6 in free throws. Morrison had earned her third Ivy League Player of the Week earlier last week, sharing the honor with Harvard senior Reka Cserny.
Taylor scored 16 points for the Big Green and was 8 for 8 from the charity line. The Lady Green connected 42 percent from the field and completed 78.3 percent of free throw attempts.
"We were kind of down, but we picked our heads up and knew that we still are in the race to win," Kamara said. "The loss was a learning experience that we can't take any team lightly."
The loss to Brown did not slow down the Big Green. The Lady Green carried on the same charisma and confidence that had helped them defeat first-round rivals to the Yale (5-20, 2-10 Ivy) game and went on to acquire their 10th league win 68-52 on Saturday night.
The Bulldogs took an early 11-2 lead, but the Big Green slowly chipped away the Yale lead. Cullen's free throw 10 minutes into the first half tied the game at 17 for Dartmouth. The Big Green continued the hot-shooting to end the half 35-25.
In the second stanza, Dartmouth continued to dominate the court. The Big Green led by as many as 22 points at five separate instances in the half. With 1:41 left in the game, Dartmouth had a 68-46 advantage over Yale after Taylor hit her second free throw. The Bulldogs managed to score six points in the final minute but could not offset the Big Green's 22-point lead.
Morrison earned a double-double for the second consecutive night, recording her eighth one this season against Yale. She finished the game with 23 points and 12 rebounds. Taylor also recorded a double-double with 17 points and 12 boards.
Cullen added 13 points to round up Big Green double-digit scoring and scored her 1000th career point in the first half.
Dartmouth struggled, fell, and recovered. The team proved that it could withstand defeat and recuperate immediately. There was no negativity regarding the loss; the team simply took it in and learned from it.
"We played with a lot of heart," Kamara said. "We knew what we had to do, and unfortunately we fell short with Brown but still proved to ourselves that we are capable of defeating teams with our constant defensive pressure."
Dartmouth's weekend split was what Harvard's Cserny had hoped for. In a recent article by Harvard's daily news, The Crimson, she commented, "We know Dartmouth needs to lose one before we play them, but we're trying to focus on our game."
Harvard now trails the Big Green by two games with a 9-2 record after a clean weekend sweep of Yale and Brown.
The Big Green returns home next weekend and plunges into its last back-to-back Ivy League week.
Dartmouth will take on Princeton (13-12, 5-7 Ivy) and Penn (15-10, 8-4 Ivy) before battling for an NCAA bid in the final showdown with Harvard (17-7, 9-2 Ivy) in Cambridge, Mass., on March 8.
