The Ivy title was impossible. Jen Stamp '96 was out for the season with a broken leg. And after falling hard to Yale Friday night in a 67-49 decision, it seemed the Dartmouth women's basketball team was ready to give up.
The Big Green fought to the bitter end at Providence, R.I. on Saturday and defeated Brown in double overtime 61-52. The win was long overdue, especially after demoralizing losses to Princeton and Pennsylvania two weekends ago at home. For the first time in a while, the team pulled together and played like Ivy League champions.
Friday night's performance against Yale proved something to forget, as the Big Green's defense was not strong enough to meet the match of three-point shooters Katy Grubbs and Kathleen Offer.
Dartmouth shot 15-53 from the floor and 5-15 from three-point land, while Yale shot 56 percent from behind the three-point line.
Dartmouth, down 37-24 at the half, was never able to jump back into the game. The team showed sparks of intensity in the second half but nothing the Bulldogs took seriously.
Saturday, however, was a different story. Katie Samuelson '97 rose to the occasion, hitting a three-pointer with just 12 seconds left in regulation to push the game into overtime. Samuelson played a career-high 40 minutes and scored 16 points, including four three-pointers.
Dartmouth starters Bess Tortolani '98 and Erin Rewalt '99 fouled out before overtime began, leaving the game up to Samuelson and freshman Gyvonne Pinkston to put the ball in the net.
That they did, with the help of Nicci Rinaldi '99, who tallied nine points and four steals.
"We wanted to prove to the coaches and ourselves that we could beat anyone, and we had something to make up to ourselves," Pinkston said. "In overtime, we demonstrated that we could stick together during hard times."
"This game was meaningful, because it was the last road trip." Pinkston added. "There was a lot of positive emotion going into this game, and I think that had a major part in our win. We really pulled together."
The team will play Harvard tonight at home, ending the season and the careers of seniors Kira Lawrence and Stamp. The Big Green lost to the Crimson in Cambridge at the beginning of the season, 92-70. Still, the women hope to end the season on a win.
Tip-off is at 6:30 p.m.