As the weekend nears Dartmouth's women's basketball team prepares for two major Ivy contests. It is crucial that the Big Green claim victory in both games in order to keep themselves at the top of the pack pursuing this year's Ivy championship.
Dartmouth will host Yale in the opener of this doubleheader weekend tonight at 7p.m. in Leede Arena. The Bulldogs' season is off to a rough start. They have a 7-9 record and are 1-3 in Ivy competition.
Their key standouts are Katy Grubbs and Autumn Braddock who are averaging 12.8 and 11.6 points per game, respectively. These two players' inability to play well at the same time cost them games in the past, especially against Dartmouth. During Dartmouth's 80-61 victory last season, Braddock was held to nine points, while Grubbs had a game high with 24.
A similar pattern resulted when Dartmouth faced-off with Yale at home on March 1st. In this particular game, Grubbs was held to only six points while Braddock had a game high with 24 points. Dartmouth's tenacious defense will make it very difficult for Yale's two stars to have a standout game.
Since the 1983-84 season, Dartmouth has swept the Yale-Brown weekend at home nine times and split five times. Last year's sweep by the Big Green was just their second since the 1989-90 season. Brown was the team to defeat Dartmouth during each split.
Although Brown is 6-10 thus far this season, they have played against some very challenging opponents. The Bears are 2-0 in Ivy competition, with both victories coming over the Bulldogs.
The Bears scoring leader is Vita Redding, who averages 17.1 points. Redding, known for her stoic courtside disposition is supported by senior Liz Turner, who is averaging 13.6 points and junior guard Julie Amato with 8.9.
