Five women's basketball recruits have accepted offers of admission to the Class of 1999 and should help compensate for the team's losing of four of its top six players to graduation this spring.
Looking ahead to the 1995-1996 season, the Big Green will need to replace Betsy Gilmore '94, Ilsa Webeck '94, Brandi Jones '95 and Laurie Stucker '95.
Head Coach Christina Wielgus will look to fill open spots with Jen Stamp '96, Nicole Galanek '97, Katie Samuelson '97 and Deirdre Driscoll '98. The team also hopes to get quality playing time from Jill Marple '97 and Jen Pariseau '97, who were both injured for much of last season.
Also contending for playing time next year will be Big Green recruits who include Nicci Rinaldi, Kelly Johnson, Katie O'Connor, Erin Rewalt and Gyvonne Pinkston.
Coming to Hanover next fall is Rinaldi, a 5'9" point guard from Reading, Penn. Rinaldi is "an excellent athlete and highly recruited," Wielgus said.
Joining Rinaldi will be Johnson, a 5'10" guard from Medway, Mass. "[She is] a great off guard who can hit the three [point shot] and play solid defense," Wielgus said.
Also recruited is O'Connor from Chicago, Ill. O'Connor is a 6'1" center who is "a strong rebounder and has good basics," Wielgus said.
Joining the Big Green from Richmond, Mich. will be Rewalt, a 6'1" forward."She is a very good offensive rebounder and runs the floor very well," Wielgus said.
Rounding out Dartmouth's newest recruiting class is Pinkston. Pinkston is a 6'0" swing player from Georgia. "She is a good athlete with decent speed," Wielgus said.
Wielgus said it is difficult to compare Dartmouth's recruiting class to those of other Ivy League schools because some good high school athletes do not adapt well to play at the college level.
She also refused to speculate on the team's chances to repeat as Ivy League Champions, saying she concentrates on the process, not the result.
The Class of 1999 recruits walk in some pretty large footprints.
Gilmore will leave the Big Green team this year after earning second-team All-Ivy honors during the 1994-1995 season. The previous year she was named Ivy League Player of the Year and was a first-team All-Ivy pick.
Gilmore holds school records for career assists with 428, steals in a game with 11 and career steals with 370.
Webeck was a two-time honorable mention All-Ivy selection heading into her last season of eligibility. During the 1994-1995 season, she was named to the first team All-Ivy League roster. Webeck holds the school records for blocks in a single game at 11, blocks per season with 74 and career blocks with 211.
Gilmore took off junior year for personal reasons and Webeck red shirted a season due to a foot injury. Stucker was also a major contributor for the Big Green this past season, despite battling injuries.
Jones broke school records for three-point field goal converted in a game with five and for her career with 75.
Kira Lawrence '96 and Sally Annis '97 will be the only two returning starters from last year's Ivy League championship team. Lawrence is a third-year starter at forward and was an Academic All-Ivy in 1994.
Annis has accumulated an impressive set of honors in two years of starting as guard for the Big Green. Freshman year, she was named Ivy League Rookie of the Year, to the second team All-Ivy and to the Academic All-Ivy team. This past season Annis was an honorable mention All-Ivy pick.