This is it. The women's basketball team's entire season boils down to these three games.
The Big Green square off against Ivy League foes Yale University, Brown University and Harvard University over the next five days, and how well they fare will determine just how long their season will last.
Heading into this final weekend of league play, Dartmouth is in second place with an 8-3 record in the Ivy Leagues, one game behind two-time defending Ivy champ Brown (9-2) and one game ahead of Yale (7-4). Harvard is out of the title hunt with a 4-7 record.
If the Big Green can win these last three games, they will grab at least a share of the Ivy title. In the case of a tie, a one-game playoff at a neutral site will be played to determine which team gets the coveted automatic NCAA tournament bid.
"We're approaching these games like a tournament," Coach Chris Wielgus said. "We have three games in five days, and if we win, we're fine. No one game is more important than the others."
The Big Green start their final stretch tonight, hosting Yale in Leede Arena. Dartmouth fell to the Elis in New Haven, 69-65, on Feb. 5. That loss came the day after an emotional 59-55 win at Brown, who Dartmouth plays Saturday. The Big Green close out the regular season at Harvard on Tuesday. Dartmouth beat the Crimson 57-44 in Hanover on Jan. 15.
Each opponent features one of the Ivy League's premier post players. Yale's Mary Kalich, a first team All-Ivy pick last season, averages 16.6 points and burned the Big Green for 24 points in their last meeting.
Brown has last year's Ivy Player of the Year, 6-foot-five Martina Jerant, who averages 15.4 points. She was not a factor in the last match-up, thanks to foul trouble and good defense by Ilsa Webeck '94.
Harvard's Tammy Butler is fourth in the nation in rebounding, with 13.2 boards a game.
"Each team has an 'Ivy elite player,'" Wielgus said. "We'll have to contain them. Defense has been our mainstay all year, and there's that old saying, 'Defense wins leagues.'"
Betsy Gilmore '94 sparks that defense. She's ranked sixth in the nation with 4.5 steals per game, and is just nine steals away from her single-season school record.
Both games will be played in Leede Arena, where the Big Green is undefeated in Ivy League play this season.
