Monday night's 76-69 win over Boston University looked like deja vu all over again for the Big Green women's basketball players, and they're beginning to like the feeling.
The team's fifth straight win was another come-from-behind blindsiding of a team that didn't know what hit it until the final buzzer sounded.
Dartmouth scored the game's final 11 points to erase a four-point deficit with the help of eight points from Ilsa Webeck '94, who finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds for her third consecutive double-double.
But the real catalyst in the game was, once again, a dynamic freshmen class that has ridden a wave of confidence all the way to installing Dartmouth as the Ivy League's hottest team.
The wave began back in November when Jen Pariseau hit a three-pointer the first three times she touched the ball against Vermont. It continued a few weeks later when Sally Annis scored 14 points to lead the Big Green to the championship of the Dartmouth Invitational Tournament.
And it just keeps hitting peak after peak. Monday night, Jill Marple and Katie Samuelson came off the bench to score 19 and 11 points respectively - both individual season highs.
The Big Green (5-5 overall, 2-0 Ivy) began their second-half comeback with a 10-0 run that trimmed a 12-point Terrier lead to only two, 45-43. That's when Samuelson exploded and scored 11 of Dartmouth's next 13 points to give the Big Green a 56-52 lead.
The Terriers regrouped and took a 69-65 lead with less than two minutes to play, when Webeck's offensive onslaught began.
Betsy Gilmore '94 again played the full 40 minutes, scoring five points and adding six assists and five steals, including two with less than a minute to play.
"Betsy's leadership down the stretch was key," Marple said. "Ilsa also hit some shots at all the right times."
The key to Dartmouth's win, according to coach Chris Wielgus, was the team's balance and depth. Kira Lawrence '96 had seven rebounds and five assists, Annis had eight points, and Pariseau scored nine.
And then it comes back to the big scoring nights of Marple and Samuelson.
"Jill shot very well [9 for 12] and Katie was a nice spark off the bench," Wielgus said. "Since Ilsa was in some foul trouble, it was good that so many people stepped up off the bench and contributed."
