Behind every winning team are loyal fans. Dartmouth women's basketball team rallied back from a nine-point deficit halfway through the first half to win the title-deciding game against Princeton on Saturday night 78-63. The Tigers could not silence 1,405 screaming Dartmouth fans and they returned home to Princeton, N.J., winless.
After this weekend's sweep of Penn (15-12, 8-6 Ivy) and Princeton (13-14, 5-9 Ivy), the Big Green captured a share of the 2005 Ivy League title, crushing the Quakers 64-49 the night before defeating the Tigers. It is the first time since the 1989-90 season that Dartmouth won all four games against Penn and Princeton in a single season.
The Big Green enhances its overall record to 16-9 and 12-1 against League rivals and remains first in the Ancient Eight, one game ahead of the Harvard Crimson (19-7, 11-2 Ivy).
On Friday night, the Lady Green easily defeated a declining Penn squad 64-49. Dartmouth successfully held off the Quakers' offense and left Penn scoreless for 10 minutes. The Green went on to edge the Quakers 31-15 at halftime and limited Penn to a grim 17.2 shooting percent from the field with no luck from behind the arc.
However, in the beginning of the second half, the Quakers went on a 9-3 run to trail 34-24. Elise Morrison '07 responded with five points to stretch the lead. While Penn came within 10 points of Dartmouth's lead at two instances in the second half and managed a desperate 10-1 run in the last minutes of the game, the Big Green walked away with its 11th League win of the season.
Morrison recorded her ninth double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Ashley Taylor had 14 points in the win and Jeannie Cullen added 12 more to round out double-figure scoring.
The Big Green had a consistent shooting percentage against Penn, completing 42.9 percent from the field in both halves.
The win over Penn carried the Big Green into its last home game of the season. The Tigers, despite an unimpressive league record, came out ready to play while Dartmouth remained stunned in the opening minutes of the match.
Princeton held a 27-16 advantage during the three-minute Big Green shortage midway through the first half. However, four free-throws from Angela Soriaga '06 and a Morrison jumper later, the Big Green lagged behind by only five points.
With a minute of play left in the first half, Krista Perry '06 hit an unblemished mid-range jumper to tie the game at 33. Princeton's Becky Brown made a basket but Angela Soriaga '06 nailed a shot at the last second to tie the game at 35 at halftime. The crowd was ecstatic.
Upon her return from the locker room, Taylor was greeted with "the happy birthday" song by spectators, friends and family. She turned 20 years old on the winning night.
The Tigers' hot-shooting cooled in the second half while the Big Green's flame intensified. Dartmouth opened the second half with a 9-0 drive and went on a 12-2 run five minutes later, capped by a triple from Taylor.
After Princeton's Brown completed a jumper, the Big Green embarked on a 10-point spurt and took a 23-point lead. The Tigers couldn't get within 13 points of Dartmouth's lead for the rest of the game.
The game ended early for some spectators. When Dartmouth was up by 20 points with eight minutes left in the game, a group of Dartmouth students started to chant, "We want Harvard."
Morrison led Dartmouth's scoring efforts with 22 points. Soriaga scored 17 points and handed out a season-high 11 assists. Taylor added 14 points to the win for the second consecutive night. The Big Green's fantastic four--Cullen, Morrison, Soriaga and Taylor-- owned 62 points and 18 boards in the 78-63 triumph over Princeton.
Dartmouth connected on 53.3 percent of field goals in the second half en route to a 44.4 percent finish. The Big Green was flawless from the free-throw line in the first half, making all 11 attempts.
"It feels great to win," Chris Wielgus, Dartmouth's winningest coach in program history, said of the game. "It was a team effort."
The win over Princeton gave Dartmouth at least a share of the Ivy title. No women's team in Ivy program history with 12 wins has ever lost a title. The Big Green's last ivy title came in the 1999-2000 season with then-senior Courtney Banghart's team. Banghart is now a Lady Green assistant coach.
On Tuesday, the Big Green will battle the Crimson to be the sole owner of the 2005 Ivy League title. Dartmouth and Harvard are the only two contenders left in the race for an NCAA bid. While the Crimson is still a game behind the Big Green after the same weekend sweep, a Harvard win on Tuesday could push the season a game longer.
However, Harvard's win is unlikely to happen against a confident Dartmouth squad.
"Next," Wielgus said, "we expect to win against Harvard on Tuesday."
