When women's basketball coach Chris Wielgus went recruiting this past off-season, she went looking for height, and she got with two six-foot centers, but it was the shortest recruit of them all, Courtney Banghart, standing at 5'6" who led the Green over Army on Sunday.
Coming off the bench, Banghart's 15 points in her 16 minutes of court time led the Big Green to a 69-48 win over the Knights.
If the score didn't convey the total domination that was exhibited by the Big Green, perhaps one simple statistic will do the job. Steals by Dartmouth: 22. Steals by Army: 11.
The resultant 15 points off of the steals was key to Dartmouth's 19-5 lead midway through the first half.
The aggressive, swarming defense also took away any type of game up the middle, leaving Army to fling outside shots.
"We are very quick and athletic, but we just need to pull everything together offensively and defensively," Rewalt said.
Dartmouth was voted third in the preseason Ivy media poll, indicating just how much respect is given to these players, despite their youth. Wielgus is counting on the experience of seniors Sally Annis, Jen Pariseau and Jill Marple to take control when necessary.
In her 12th season as coach of the Big Green, Wielgus has amassed a 155-105 record, including six Ivy league championships.
In action at Northeastern on Friday night, the Big Green defeated the Huskies 59-50. Rewalt's led the team with 13 points and nine rebounds.
Now 2-0 on their new season, the Big Green will look to add another win against UVM tonight at 7:00 p.m. in Leede Arena.
