The Dartmouth women's basketball team cruises South for an Ivy League showdown against two of the upper echelon Ancient Eight teams this weekend. The Big Green (14-7 overall, 7-2 Ivy) will play the first-place Tigers (13-8, 8-1) on Friday, and fifth-place University of Pennsylvania (8-13, 4-5) on Saturday.
"I am very excited to be in contention for an Ivy League title," Dartmouth Head Coach Chris Wielgus said. "This is something our players have worked very hard for. Princeton and Penn are very competitive teams."
The Big Green suffered an upset loss last weekend against the underdog Columbia Lions and had to give up the first place tie with the Tigers.
"I have enormous confidence in this team and really can't wait for the games to begin. It should be a fun weekend," she added.
But the players said that they are more focused after the loss and are ready for the biggest weekend of the season.
"After our loss to Columbia, we're getting more focused and back in sync. We'll be ready," junior guard Courtney Banghart '00 said.
Banghart leads the Green with 15.0 points and 2.4 steals per game this season. The junior guard has been the Ivy League Player-of-the-Week three time this year and has been the top scorer for the Big Green in 12 out of 21 games.
"They are huge must-win games," Banghart said. "Our backs are against the walls, so there's nothing left to do but come out punching."
Sophomore Jackie Lippe added, "The games this weekend will be a true test to our ability to bounce back after a loss to Columbia. We bounced back at the beginning of the year after [a loss to] Harvard and now we have to do that again."
Lippe has 9.4 points and 3.9 rebounds per game.
"We need to come out strong and leave our hearts on the floor," Lippe said. "We have the talent and the ability to beat these teams. Now we just need to go ahead and do it."
The Dartmouth women are 12-2 in their last 14 games, and they are 6-4 away from Leede Arena this season. The Big Green have outscored their opponents 1484-1355 this season.
"We're in a 'do or die' situation," forward Erin Rewalt '99. "We're out to win an Ivy title and we must sweep this weekend."
"Our performance will have nothing to do with Princeton or Penn. Basically we know that we have the best team in the league and we're focused on what we need to do as a team," she said.
The senior forward leads the team with 7.0 rebounds per game, while averaging 9.8 points per game.
"We know we can win the games, we just have to regain our rhythm," Katie O'Connor '99 said. "We are really focused and know that we have to win these games."
"As a senior, four years of hard work are riding on this weekend," O'Connor said. "I know we can win it if we just concentrate on us and play our game." The senior center has 8.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per game.
"This weekend is not a choice. We have to take both ... and I predict we will," sophomore Samantha Berdinka '01 said.
The players showed confidence they would win the Ivy League championship. They could knot themselves with the Tigers if they can once again defeat Princeton on Friday.
"I think the games this weekend are going to be tough," Sherryta Freeman '01 said. "We are playing on the road against two good teams. And we are out to prove to ourselves that we can win the Ivy Championship."
"We're the best team in the league and have no intention of giving our championship to anyone," Rewalt said. "If we play hard and play as a team, we will finish this year with a ring - which is exactly what we're expecting."
"Everyone has to respect their roles knowing that they are all equally important for the success of this team," Berdinka said. "We all have faith in each other. No one is getting in our way this time."
Senior point guard Nicci Rinaldi '99 has more free throws made than any other guard in Dartmouth history, despite missing two crucial ones last weekend. Rinaldi also leads in the assist department with 3.0 per game.
Rinaldi is currently ranked 10th in overall career points with 908. Rewalt is 15th on the list with 836 career points and Banghart is 16th with 834 career points.
"We are very confident," Freeman said. "It [the Ivy title] is so much within our reach. Chris [Wielgus] said that there are going to be some obstacles in our way and good teams are able to make it through them.
"Losing our starting guard, Nicci, losing a tough one to Harvard, then losing to Columbia on the road are all things that we have had to deal with," Freeman said. "But we are confident that we are still capable of winning the Championship. It's our goal and we are going to fight for it."
Third-place Brown University and fourth-place Harvard University separate the Green and the Quakers with 6-4 and 5-4 Ivy records, respectively. After this weekend, the Big Green will have three games remaining on the schedule as they will host Yale and Brown, and visit the Harvard Crimson.
