The Dartmouth Women's basketball team converted two must win games into a pair of thrilling conquests that has propelled them into fourth place in the Ivy race.
Friday night's 62-61, come-from-behind thriller against Princeton was done with panache. Bess Tortolani '98 hit a fall-away jumper at the buzzer to cap off a 14-point second half comeback.
In Saturday's night's slugfest, a game that looked like it could parallel Friday night's matchup turned ugly as the Big Green ran away in the second half, winning 92-70 on 22 points from Tortolani and a stellar performance from center Katie O'Connor '99.
The first half of the Princeton game looked dismal for Dartmouth. Holding a lead for only the first two minutes of the first half, the Tigers steadily opened up a lead against Dartmouth, closing the half with a 10 point lead.
The team averaged a dismal 35 percent from the field, while hitting only two of six free throws.
The second half would be a different story, as Dartmouth cut the lead to one point midway through the stanza, eventually taking a four point lead with just under three minutes to go.
Princeton wasn't about to roll over, however, as they battled back to take a one point lead with just two seconds left.
Coming out of a time-out, senior Sally Annis's inbounds pass went right to Tortolani who nailed the bucket while falling to the ground.
For Dartmouth Head Coach Chris Wielgus, the win was her 200th of her college coaching career.
In addition to Tortolani's clutch shot, Nicci Rinaldi '99 provided a chunk of the offense with 15 points, including two from downtown.
"I think we showed ourselves, our coaches, and the crowd just what we are made of," Courtney Banghart '00 said.
The source of the second half comeback: a 50 percent field goal percentage, including four from long range on eight attempts -- much improved from the first half's stark 35 percent from the field and seven misses from the three point arc.
The Penn game was reminiscent of the very physical games from years past, with elbows flying and bodies smacking the floor hard.
Despite a dismal shooting performance in the first half, Dartmouth owned an eight point lead at its close.
A rough second half start saw Dartmouth's lead dwindle to just one basket. But then foul trouble began to catch up with the Quakers.
Dartmouth had been working on Penn's star forward Michelle Maldonado the entire game. Their hard work paid off when Maldonado fouled out with 10 minutes remaining in the game.Primarily responsible for Maldonado's early exit was O'Connor.
Coming off the bench, O'Connor poured in 16 points in her 19 minutes of court time.
"That's the best game I've seen from Katie so far," Wielgus said.
Five minutes after Maldonado fouled out, another Penn starter fouled out while trying to defend O'Connor.
Not only was O'Connor able to force two Quakers out of the game, but she was also able to convert on 8 of 10 opportunities from the charity stripe.
All that remained after Maldonado's exit was blowout city, as Dartmouth stretched it's lead by 10 in the closing 10 minutes to ice the cake.
Revitalized shooting from the free throw line was another key to the victory. Dartmouth's 77 percent conversion rate was responsible for 33 points on the night -- more than one third of their total points.
"We were psyched from last night, and it carried over. Without a doubt," Tortolani said.
Not to be overlooked on the night was another superb performance from Tortolani, as well as from Banghart, who drained 21 points and snagged 9 rebounds in just 24 minutes of play.
"Courtney Banghart is such a fierce competitor," Wielgus said. "She was coming up with rebounds in the land of the giants."
This Big Green team that was at a crossroads coming into the weekend, proved that it has the game and the heart to contend in this very competitive league. At a crossroads no more, the team plowed ahead and is looking forward to next weekend's home matchups against Columbia and Cornell.
