In a weekend whose buzz mostly centered around ex-Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher's appearance at the Dartmouth women's basketball game, the Big Green women hoopsters deserve credit for absolutely clobbering both of its Ivy opponents. On Friday night, the Big Green dismantled the visiting Penn Quakers by a score of 70-43 and then bested the Princeton Lady Tigers 75-46 on Saturday.
The wins moved Dartmouth to second place in the Ivy League, one game behind Harvard, which sits in first place with a record of 6-1 in Ivy league play this year.
The Big Green (11-10, 5-2 Ivy) led from the opening tip to final buzzer against the Lady Quakers (8-11, 3-3 Ivy) at Leede Arena on Friday night. Ashley Taylor '07 paced the Big Green in scoring with 22 points. Also chipping in with 14 points for Dartmouth was Koren Schram '09.
The story of the game for Dartmouth was on the defensive side of the ball. After letting up 25 points to Penn in the first half, the Big Green clamped down and held the Quakers to just 26.9 percent shooting in the second half, including just one-of-eight from behind the three-point line.
However, the entire game was not quite clear sailing for the Big Green. To start the game, Dartmouth held just a two-point lead with eight and a half minutes into the first half.
From then on, however, the Big Green would go on a 19-8 run, which included two three-pointers from Schram which increased Dartmouth's lead to a 13 point margin of 34-21 with four minutes to play in the first half. By halftime, the score was 37-25.
The second half saw Dartmouth come out slowly again, but the team eventually scored in a flurry to put the game out of reach. The Big Green did not score from the floor until two and a half minutes had gone by in the second frame. But when a Sydney Scott '08 jumper found the bottom of the net, the offensive production opened up.
From that point on, Dartmouth went on a 16-0 run. The Big Green's lead reached as many as 29 points, when Taylor drained a three to make the score 60-31 with nine minutes to go in the contest. The Big Green would finish the game shooting 55.1 percent, including nine-of-16 from behind the arc.
On Saturday night, Dartmouth looked to extend its three game winning streak against the visiting Princeton Lady Tigers. The game was much the same as Friday night's contest, in which the Big Green struggled early but took control with a 17-5 run to close out the first half, which included a buzzer-beating three pointer by Schram.
"When we start slowly in the first five minutes or so, we have the confidnce that the next 15 will go our way," Kristen Craft '08 said.
For the first eight minutes of the second half, the Big Green and the Lady Tigers swapped baskets, but the Big Green's lead never dipped under double-digits. With 12 minutes left, Taylor, whose 19 points all came in the second half, made a lay-up that catalyzed a 16-5 Dartmouth run which increased the lead to 65-38.
"It's pretty great [to play with Taylor," Craft said. "I've learned so much about the game from her. It's fun playing with her, and everyone on the team learns a lot from her."
The Big Green's biggest lead of the night would be 30 points with a 72-42 advantage. Dartmouth shot an outstanding 62.5 percent in the second half, which helped make the final score 75-46.
The play of Taylor in both games was both remarkable and routine. The senior has had a career where she has consistently made big plays and filled up the stat sheet.
Earlier this year, Taylor broke the all-time Dartmouth women's basketball record for career free throws made. Before the season started, she was 15th all-time in career scoring and sixth in three point shots made. Taylor also knows how to share the rock, as she was 10th all-time in assists before the season started. She also broke the 1,000th point barrier earlier this season.
In attendance for the Princeton game was former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher. The younger Cowher, who had nine points on four-of-11 shooting for the Tigers, started the game and played 32 minutes.
The Big Green will defend a four-game winning streak at home next weekend as it plays Yale on Friday, Feb. 16 and Brown on Saturday, Feb. 17. Both game are scheduled for 7 p.m. If Dartmouth continues to dominate league play, a Tuesday, March 6 rematch at Harvard may have an NCAA Tournament bid on the line.
"We don't want to look ahead, and we put ourselves in a big hole after the first two weekends of the season," Craft said. "There is no question that every single game for the rest of the year is a must win."
