Dartmouth women's basketball enters the second round of competition for the Ivy League title this weekend with a perfect 7-0 record against League squads. On Friday, the Big Green travels to New York to take on the Big Red of Cornell and will then face the Columbia Lions at the Levien Gymnasium on Saturday night. Dartmouth looks to extend its winning streaks against Cornell and Columbia to seven.
Because of Dartmouth's seemingly smooth road to its 14th Ivy League title, the Big Green has been the envy of fellow league squads. A preseason poll favorite, Dartmouth was able to meet the expectation with a flawless record against League opponents.
"We expect two tough road games, so we have to come out ready to go from the get-go," Jeannie Cullen '06 said. "Plus, the teams will want to get revenge for their first losses to us."
"Being undefeated in the conference makes it harder for us. Everyone either wants to knock us off, or spoil our season," Sydney Scott '08 added. "Cornell and Columbia play good denial defense and they play hard the entire 40 minutes of regulation."
The Cornell Big Red is currently ranked eighth-place in the League with a 0-8 record. While the Big Red hasn't won against any league squads, Cornell lost their last two games by less than four points. Furthermore, the Big Red dropped their latest match to the Penn Quakers, last year's League champions, in a slim 51-50 decision. However, Dartmouth has won 19 of the last 21 encounters with the Big Red and defeated Cornell 90-57 at their most recent confrontation on Jan. 29th.
"Cornell is a young but really scrappy team, but they are capable of knocking off any team," Cullen said.
Cornell and Dartmouth are two of only seven Division I schools without seniors on their rosters.
The Big Green boasts seven freshmen and sophomore women on its 11-player roster compared to the Big Red's nine-underclassmen roster, which includes six first-year players.
While Cornell players suffer from inexperience playing at the college-level, they have potential to become threats to Dartmouth in the future. Big Red freshman Lindsay Krasna had been awarded her seventh Rookie of the Week Honor earlier this week and had been consistent in her performance. But Dartmouth's star center Elise Morrison '07 set the most current record of Rookie honors last season with ten.
The Columbia Lions, ranked fifth in the League after a weekend split, hold a 4-4 record in Ivy play.
The Big Green leads the all-time series record 36-6 and posted the most recent victory over the Lions on Jan. 28th 59-49. With seven seniors on the team, Columbia is one of the most experienced teams in the league. As a result, the drive to win this year is great for the Lions.
"Columbia is a senior-dominated team, so they will want to win on their home court," Cullen said.
In preparation for this weekend's games, the team looked to strengthen both defense and offense. "We have really been working on staying tight with our game and limiting turnovers," said Scott. "We are giving a lot of ball pressure on defense and staying fluid in our offense."
"We have also been working on transitional offense and defense because we felt we didn't attack these areas well this past weekend," Cullen added. "We also really want to pressure the ball defensively."
Dartmouth currently has the best field goal percentage (42.6 percent) and the best 3-point percentage (41.4 percent) in the league. The College also boasts the most top players in the league.
Powerhouse Morrison is currently second in the league in rebounds, averaging nine per game. Morrison also ranked second in blocked shots with a 1.86 average per game. She was also a two-time Ivy League Player of the Week this season.
Ashley Taylor '07 is fourth in the league for scoring, averaging 14.1 points per game. She is also fourth in free throw percentages (85.3 percent) and fifth in field goal percentage (46.2 percent). Taylor was named Player of the Week once this season.
Angela Soriaga '06 is one of the most versatile players in the league. She is second in the league for assists, averaging 4.86 per game. One of the best three-point shooters in the League, Soriaga is second in three-point percentage (50 percent) and also ranked second in the most three-pointers made category with 17.
Cullen was the Big Green's top scorer in nine matches this year, scoring in double figures for Dartmouth in fourteen games. She is top-10 in League history with most three-pointers in a career and top-five in most three-pointers in a season last year.
There will be no surprises if the Big Green sweeps this weekend's dual contests against Cornell and Columbia. As the most threatening squad in the league, Dartmouth looks to set an undefeated record in Ivy play this year and advance to the NCAA tournament in March.
