It was a weekend of memorable moments.
Friday night Jen Stamp '96 sparked an overtime victory for the women's basketball team in Leede Arena, when it defeated Cornell, 66-60. The team's winning streak continued on Saturday when it beat Columbia, 68-23, and Betsy Gilmore '94 set a new school record for steals in a single game with 11.
The wins improve Dartmouth's record to 7-9, 4-1 in the Ivy League, good enough for a first-place tie with Harvard.
Dartmouth 66, Cornell 60
The team certainly had its work cut out on Friday night.
The players were evenly matched throughout the game which made it difficult for Dartmouth to take a big lead. But Dartmouth's strong defense kept the game close.
"We knew we had to work on the defense, because Cornell is such an offensively strong team," said star-of-the-game Stamp. "As long as we shut out Mary LaMacchia and Keri Farley, we knew we would be okay, because they were such great shooters."
Dartmouth did manage to limit Cornell's scoring in the first half, and led 28-25 at the intermission. LaMacchia had 10 points, and Farley had four. Still, the Big Green had their work cut out for them.
"At halftime we knew we were playing great defense," Stamp said. "We also knew that Cornell could explode at any moment so we had to keep our intensity up."
Intensity is an understatement.
Both teams came back from halftime ready to fight for the win, and with 12 minutes to go, the score was tied, 39-39. A minute later, it was tied again at 43-43.
It was back-and-forth throughout the remainder of the game, and with 2:10 left, Cornell lead, 58-57. Co-Captain Ilsa Webeck '94, who had a total of 15 points and 15 rebounds, hit a free throw with 2:07 left to tie up the game.
Dartmouth had possession, and called a time-out with 18 seconds left and the game tied at 58. Betsy Gilmore '94, who had a game total of eight points, seven assists and five steals, was fouled with 10 seconds left.
After she missed front end of the one-and-one, Cornell stole possession and called a time-out.
The fans were on the edge of their seats as Cornell brought the ball over the halfcourt line, but the strong Dartmouth defense prevented Cornell from getting a shot off.
The overtime play looked like a Stamp highlight film. Stamp scored seven of the team's eight points in the extra period and had Leede Arena cheering. The Dartmouth defense held Cornell to a single bucket in overtime, winning 66-60. Stamp finished with a game high of 20 points.
"I always play better when I don't think about things too much, but rather just let them come," Stamp said. "We were able to shut them down defensively, and it just ended up that the lane was open, and I could go to the hoop.".
Coach Chris Wielgus said "The overtime win was due to our defense. I knew if we could hold them for 10 seconds without scoring, then we would be able to dominate in overtime. Most teams who have possession when the final buzzer sounds in regulation and do not score usually end up losing in overtime."
Dartmouth 68, Columbia 23
Coming off of a close-call victory Friday night, the team relaxed a bit on Saturday when it played Columbia.
The Lions have a record of 0-17, 0-5 in the Ivy League.
Because Columbia is not a strong offensive threat, Wielgus was able to experiment on the defensive end.
"We were able to try out many different defenses which was really beneficial," Wielgus said. "As always, our success on the defensive end triggers our offense."
Bess Tortolani '98 also triggered the offense, coming off the bench to score a career high 15 points.
"We were really able to put two halves together which is something we normally have trouble doing," Tortolani said. "We worked the ball well on offense and shot really well."
Perhaps the most memorable point in the game occurred with two minutes left in the game, when Gilmore set a new Dartmouth record for steals in a single game, with 11.
Webeck had a usual 13 points, 10 rebounds, and four blocked shots while Brandi Jones '95 and Stamp both added seven points.
