The Dartmouth women's basketball team will defend its one-game Ivy League lead this weekend when it hosts Brown and Yale. The team is looking to continue its current seven-game winning streak as it continues the quest for the Ivy crown.
Dartmouth's record of 8-1 in the Ivies puts them in first place, followed closely by Harvard, with a record of 7-2.
The Big Green, while continuing its successful strategies of the past seven games, still try to treat each game individually. "We have to realize that each game is different than the one before," said Nicole Galanek '97, who added a spark to last weekend's Princeton game by scoring six points.
The Big Green weresuccessful last weekend, defeating Penn on Friday, 64-59, and Princeton on Saturday, 63-40, largely because if they're suffocating defense.
"We've trying to perfect things all week at practice, and have been practicing a lot of defensively-oriented things," Galanek said.
Just two weeks ago, Dartmouth traveled to Rhode Island and Connecticut and defeated both Brown and Yale. Brown is currently tied for third in the Ivies with Princeton, while Yale is in seventh place.The Bears are led by senior Martina Jerant, who racked up a total of 41 points and grabbed 20 rebounds last weekend in Brown's contests with Cornell and Columbia. Brown's point guard Tammy Sanchez, is also an exciting player to watch. Brown plays a tough inside game and frequently uses a zone defense.
"Martina [Jerant] scored 25 points the last time we defeated Brown, which proves that even when they lose, Brown still plays well. At any given time one of the players could turn it on," Galanek said.
Yale is led by Mary Kalich, a sharp shooter whose is averaging 16.3 points per game. Junior guard Kathleen Offer recently broke Yale's all-time assists record when she dished out her 396th career assist against Columbia.
Apart from it being an important weekend in Ivy play, this weekend will also be the final time the seniors play at home.
Seniors Betsy Gilmore, Brandi Jones, Laurie Stucker and Ilsa Webeck have all played a crucial part in the Big Green's success, and have added their own personality to the game itself.
"I've tried not to think about it too much," Webeck said. "It's hard to realize that it's almost over for good. But, it's nice to know that our last home games aren't the last games of the season. We're looking forward to possibly playing in NCAA's."
Webeck is still not certain whether she will be able to play this weekend. She has been sidelined with a wrist injury that occurred during the Pennsylvania game last Friday night.
"I'm still remaining hopeful that I'll be able to play," Webeck said. "It depends on how it feels in practice today. It's still really painful, especially when it gets hit."
If all goes well, the four seniors will be on the court for the last time this weekend. The game time for both nights is six.
