Dartmouth women's basketball extended its winning streak to six games with a 67-59 win over Yale and a 75-53 romp over Brown this weekend. In addition to its six-game tear, Dartmouth has won 11 of their last 13 games.
The Big Green (13-10, 5-2 Ivy) women kicked off the second half of their Ivy League schedule against Yale (11-13, 4-6 Ivy). The Bulldogs are one of two in-conference teams to have defeated Dartmouth in the first half of the season, as Yale defeated the Big Green 63-56 after Dartmouth gave up a late lead on Saturday, Jan. 27.
On Friday, however, the women were able to hold on to their lead, thanks in large part to Ashley Taylor '07, who went 12-12 from the free throw line in the final minutes to close out the game.
Taylor led the team in scoring with a game-high 24 points, 20 of which came in the second half. Joining her in double digits for the Big Green was Sydney Scott '08, who also pulled down 10 rebounds.
Freshman forward Melissa Colborne led the Bulldogs in scoring with 17 points. Before the game, coach Chris Wielgus emphasized the importance of containing Colborne's strong drive, and Dartmouth was largely able to do so, forcing her and the other Bulldogs to score the majority of their points on short jumpers instead of lay ups.
Yale's 6'3" center Erica Davis also put up 16 points and had six rebounds.
"We knew that they were going to go inside to Davis, and we knew that we were going to try to stop that," Wielgus said. "And then we were able to shut down the shooters."
Dartmouth's defense was effective containing Davis, who averages 16.5 points per game, but has scored fewer than 20 only once since the last time she faced Dartmouth, when she had just 10. Dartmouth's defense was also effective in containing junior guard Stephanie Marciano, who scored 22 points in the last meeting but had just 10 on Friday.
Dartmouth was able to take a 27-20 lead late in the first half, powered largely by buckets off turnovers forced by Fatima Kamara '07. Kamara had three first-half steals as the Big Green brought full-court pressure that had the Bulldogs playing on their heels.
"We knew if they set it up on offense, Erica [Davis] could score inside, so we extended the court on [Yale] and pressured them. That was our game plan," Taylor said.
Kamara also performed well offensively in the first half, showing her strength against Yale's strong post defense with a spectacular lay up before falling to the floor with 11:02 remaining in the half. Dartmouth carried a 27-23 lead into the locker room at the halftime buzzer.
Both teams traded baskets for the majority of the second half. Yale often pulled close but missed a number of key foul shots that could have changed the tenor of the game. Yale shot only 37 percent from the free throw line in the second half. Dartmouth took the lead that it would not relinquish on a lay up by Sydney Scott with 2:18 remaining. Down the stretch, the Bulldogs sent the Big Green to the free throw line seven times, and it was a perfect 14-14, icing the victory.
"Between [Taylor] and Fatima [Kamara], they just led the way for this very young team," Wielgus said of the performance of her seniors late in the game.
Young players led Dartmouth to victory Saturday night, with Koren Schram '09 contributing 21 points in Dartmouth's 75-53 rout of Brown (4-20, 2-8 Ivy) at Leede Arena.
"I just took the shots that were open. It was just one of those nights. The shots went in, and I just kept shooting," Schram said of her seven for 12 performance, including four for eight outside the three-point line.
Also shooting well was Darcy Rose '09 who notched 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Dartmouth had the height advantage over Brown all game and was able to hold their tallest player, 6'3" freshman Lindsay Walls, scoreless.
"We were on the low block and we moved them up to the medium block so we could spin off their players," Wielgus said. "That made a big difference." Dartmouth scored 18 of its points in the paint.
Defensively, the Big Green forced 20 Brown turnovers while committing only eight themselves. Dartmouth was able to convert 22 points off of the Bears' miscues.
Winning 26-19 going into half time, Dartmouth burst out of the locker room with a 19-9 run in which six different players scored points. The Big Green finished the night with four players with ten or more points.
"The games that we have four or five people at least above nine [points], we win," said Schram, who finished with 22.
For Brown, freshman Shae Fitzpatrick and senior Lena McAfee both finished the night with 12. McAfee is the only non-freshman in Brown's starting lineup.
Harvard also won both of their games this weekend against the same opponents as Dartmouth, and remains in first place in the Ivy League. Both teams take on Princeton and the University of Pennsylvania on the road next weekend.
Dartmouth heads to Princeton on Friday night and to Penn on Saturday night. Both games tip off at 7:00 p.m.
