During the 2001-02 season, Dartmouth's home weekend against Yale and Brown represented the progress made during a period of tremendous growth on the Big Green women's basketball team.
The March 1 game against Brown saw Dartmouth use a 17-4 run at the beginning of the second half to dispatch the Bears by a 70-52 final score. The March 2 matchup against the Elis saw Dartmouth employ tremendous composure in battling back from an 18-point deficit in the second half to down Yale, 69-67.
This season, however, the Big Green's Yale-Brown homestand represents an opportunity for Dartmouth (7-10, 1-3 Ivy League) to make up lost ground in the Ivy title hunt in front of a large Winter Carnival crowd in Leede Arena.
For the Big Green, senior co-captain Kat Hanks '03 looks to continue the dominant play that has marked the majority of her career. The 6'2" Michigan native is third in the Ivy League in both scoring (18.5 PPG) and rebounding (9.1 RPG), and ranks fourth in shot-blocking (1.24 BPG). Coming off the most dominant rebounding performance of her Dartmouth career, an 18-rebound effort against Penn last Saturday evening, Hanks figures to play a major role in Dartmouth's success this weekend, leading a Dartmouth squad that has out-rebounded its last two opponent.
Rebounding, however, is a strong suit for the Bulldogs, who lead the Ancient Eight in rebounding with an average of 4.2 rebounds per game. Sophomore forward Lindsay Page leads the Yale rebounding effort with 5.7 RPG to go with her team-high 11.8 points per game. Junior forward Christina Phillips is a close second in both categories, averaging 10.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per contest. The Elis' massive rebounding effort has not yielded results in the win-loss column, however, as Yale is 4-13 (1-3 Ivy) going into Friday's game.
The Bears, on the other hand, have won seven straight games, doubled their win total from last season and currently stand at 10-7 (4-0 Ivy).
Junior forward Nyema Mitchell leads the way for the Bears, scoring 14.9 points and pulling down 8.5 rebounds per contest. The secret to the Bears' success, however, is their defense, as Brown leads the league in steals (10.47 per game), is tied for second in blocked shots (3.71), and has held opponents to League-lowest 38.6 percent shooting from the floor.
Dartmouth's answer to the Brown defense will likely involve lots of ball movement.
The Big Green leads the Ivy League in assists with 15.88 assists per game and tallied 22 assists on 25 baskets in last Saturday's 74-52 win over Princeton.
Rookie point guard Angela Soriaga '06 leads Dartmouth with an average of 4.59 assists per game, the third best average in the League and tops among Ivy rookies. Soriaga is also second in the League with a 1.24 assist-to-turnover ratio, leading Dartmouth to the second best turnover margin in the Ivy League (+0.06).
Soriaga and classmate Jean Cullen '06 are also third and fourth in scoring among the League's rookies, averaging 9.9 points each per contest. Cullen also leads Ivy freshmen in three-point percentage (36 percent) and three-pointers made (32). Dartmouth has gotten a lift from its rookies all season long, and the freshmen look to continue to shine during their first Winter Carnival at Dartmouth.
Yale and Brown will undoubtedly bring their best efforts to Leede Arena, with memories of last season's visit to Hanover fresh in the minds of players on both teams. However, with rebounding, ball movement and aggressive defense, Dartmouth head coach Chris Wielgus looks to have "One Team to Rule Them All."
