Apparently the trek to Easton, Pa. this weekend was worth it, as the Dartmouth women's basketball defeated Lafayette College, 69-56. The win improves Dartmouth's record to 10-5 overall (2-1 in the Ivy League).
The game started off rather slowly, with Lafayette playing good defense and keeping the Big Green from scoring. Dartmouth shot 13-24 from the floor in the first half, but had a perfect free-throw percentage, at 7-7.
Dartmouth's Jen Stamp '96 got into foul trouble early in the first half, but that did not stop her from shooting the ball and scoring. Stamp racked in 20 points in the game and shot 5-5 from the line.
"Lafayette played great defense in the first half," Nicci Rinaldi '99 said. "We would get our hands on the ball, and then lose it. We weren't moving enough."
Dartmouth led 39-28 at the half and was determined to work the offense in the second period. Rinaldi controlled the outside wing for Dartmouth in the first half.
"At halftime, Chris [Weilgus] told us that we needed to move around more, and cut to the ball," Rinaldi said. "Some of the perimeter players were just standing around and needed some spark."
That spark had junior Nicole Galanek's name written all over it. Galanek, a forward, entered the game, grabbed five rebounds and scored eight points.
"Before I went in, Chris said she wanted someone to box out and rebound," Galanek said. "I knew it was a close game, and that offensively we needed a little help."
Rinaldi said, "Nic came in and played really hard. She stepped it up, and helped us out. A lot of things that happened in the second half were because of Nicole."
Dartmouth's Erin Rewalt '99 also performed well on the boards, taking six rebounds and scoring five points. Although Lafayette's Tiffany Bedics scored 24 points in the game, it was not enough to stop the Big Green.
"When the game started rolling, we didn't stop," Galanek said . "Our outside shooting kept us in the game and made us win."
The Dartmouth women will not play again until the weekend of Feb. 2 and 3, when they host Brown and Yale. Dartmouth will use these next two weeks to improve their game.
"We've really been emphasizing rebounding and boxing out," Galanek said. "We'll need to continue to work on that. Also, we'll be focusing on using the perimeter players more often, like Sally [Annis '97] and Nicci" Rinaldi.
So, as the team practices and regroups, the fans must wait in anticipation of the next two Ivy League games. Both games begin at 6:30 p.m. in Leede Arena.
