For the second time in the past week, the Dartmouth women's basketball team hit the road to play a highly-ranked team.
Last weekend the team flew to Virginia to play Old Dominion University, and Wednesday night it took to the road to play the University of Massachusetts, losing 78-55.
Against UMass, Dartmouth held its own throughout the first half, shooting 12-30 from the floor. The team played tough defense and limited UMass's scoring.
"We stayed right with them in the first half, partly because we were playing good defense, and partly because we were hustling to the ball. Our shots were falling and overall we played really well together," Katie Samuelson '97 said.
Samuelson had her season high six points in the game, including a three-pointer at the final buzzer.
With 8:13 left in the first half, UMass led 15-14. But then UMass's offense exploded, outscoring Dartmouth 11-2 in the next two minutes and 23 seconds, stretching its lead to 26-16.
Still, the players did not lose hope and at halftime they had chipped the UMass lead down to five, 33-28.
The Big Green was excited to come back in the second half and take the lead.
"At halftime we were really pumped up," Samuelson said. "We knew we were playing well and we just wanted to go out there and continue. Even at the beginning of the second half, we had quite a bit of momentum."
Dartmouth's Jen Stamp '96 scored the first basket of the second half, edging the score to 33-30. But that was the closest the Big Green came. UMass hit its next three shots, while Dartmouth's shots stopped falling.
"Our rebounding was especially weak," Ilsa Webeck '95 said, who had 11 points and nine rebounds in the game. "Coach reminded us at halftime that we had to box-out, still, we weren't getting enough second shots."
With 14:39 left in the second half, UMass held a 39-34 lead. But UMass went on another barrage, scoring 21 points in approximately seven minutes, while Dartmouth only tallied five.
With less than two minutes in the game, UMass's Beth Kuzmeski hit her seventh three-pointer of the game, seting the UMass school .
After UMass's shooting spree, it was only a matter of time until the buzzer sounded.
Dartmouth's leading scorer was Sally Annis '97, who contributed12 points and six rebounds, while junior forward Kira Lawrence scored a season high of nine points and snagged four rebounds.
Co-Captain Betsy Gilmore '94 had six points, five steals and four assists.
"Even though we've lost these past two non-conference games, we've been playing really well together," Samuelson said. "We've definitely learned a lot from our losses, and know more about what to do in certain game situations."
The loss brings Dartmouth's record to 5-9, 2-1 in the Ivy League.
UMass is now 9-6, and has won nine of its last 10 games. They are now tied for first place in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
The team has the weekend off and will suit up again Monday night for their last non-Ivy game of the season, at Siena College. The game will begin at 7 p.m.
