Ashley Taylor '07 led the Dartmouth women's basketball team to a 68-44 victory over the Holy Cross Crusaders Thursday night with a career-high 30 points. The Big Green finished out its non-conference schedule and improved its record to 6-9 (0-1 Ivy).
Taylor's impressive performance marked her third consecutive game with more than 20 points. Darcy Rose '09 and Koren Schram '09 both joined her in double figures.
Taylor dominated on both ends of the court, grabbing five rebounds and making four steals, a team high.
Brittany Keil had her first double-double of the season for Holy Cross, scoring 12 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. She was the only Crusader in double digits.
Dartmouth opened the game on an 11-0 run on the strength of consecutive three-pointers from Schram and Taylor. Holy Cross responded with a 15-2 run, capitalizing on several missed lay-ups by the Big Green, who shot a disappointing 34 percent from the field in the first half. Dartmouth had great success setting up scores by driving and moving the ball into the post, but was unable to convert the opportunities for scores.
"Their team was a lot bigger than our team, it was hard for our post players and our guards to get a clear view to the basket. That affected our inside game. Coach [Chris Wielgus] was very happy that we were being strong and going inside," said Schram about the team's difficulty scoring from the paint in the first half.
The shooting woes extended to both teams. The Dartmouth defense forced the Crusaders to take a number of bad shots, preventing quality looks and making the shot clock a factor.
The teams exchanged misses for most of the first half before Taylor took control of the game, scoring seven in a row to lead her team into halftime.
"We've been working on our defense in practice a lot. [It] was set up to stop the drive penetration, so we didn't spread our defense out. As soon as the ball went in at a certain spot in the paint we would double the post. Penetration has been a problem in the past and we did a good job sticking to the game plan," Schram said.
As a result of the increased aggressiveness on defense, the Big Green found itself in foul trouble as the first half wound down, entering a penalty situation with more than seven minutes remaining.
"We were anxious to prove that we could play defense the way [Wielgus] wanted us to," Schram said. "Some could argue that they weren't even fouls.
Dartmouth opened the second half in the same impressive fashion in which it opened the game. Early on, Taylor intercepted a pass at half court and took it in for an easy lay-up. On the next possession she drove to the hoop and completed a three-point play. Taylor's strong shooting from the perimeter was supplemented by an increased presence under the hoop as she battled for rebounds and forayed down the baseline.
Much of Dartmouth's success came off of turnovers and fast break opportunities.
The Big Green employed overhand passes down the sideline to set up easy scores on several occasions, garnering eight points on the fast break, and many more when they used the fast break to set up perimeter shots. Holy Cross's transition game was not a factor.
The Big Green enjoyed a 12-point lead early in the second half, but allowed Holy Cross back into the game with a 10-0 run, including three consecutive triples.
Dartmouth's problems continued in the second half when it found two of its top rebounders, Sydney Scott '08 and Fatima Kamara '07 in foul trouble.
Holy Cross pulled within three with a jumper at 13:00 to make the score 40-37, but that was as close as the game would get from that point on.
Taylor answered with a pair of free throws and then beat three Crusaders defenders with some jaw-dropping ball-handling, taking the ball coast to coast for an easy two. Holy Cross didn't score another field goal until there were 11 seconds remaining in the game. Schram and Rose led the Big Green as the clock wound down. Taylor left the game with two minutes remaining to a warm ovation from the crowd of 925.
Dartmouth will continue its Ivy League schedule next weekend making a road trip south to play Brown on Friday, Jan. 26, and Yale on Jan. 27.
