The Dartmouth women put last weekend's heartbreakers behind them to finish out their home season in rare form this weekend and improve their record to 15-12 (9-4 Ivy).
On Friday against Columbia, Sydney Scott '08 couldn't have asked for a better birthday present. With her extended family present, and on the day she turned 21, Scott put up 20 points and grabbed 17 rebounds to lead the Big Green women to a 59-40 victory.
"I was just at the right place at the right time tonight," Scott said after the game that was attended by her parents, siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins.
"I think we're all going to Murphy's now," Scott said of her postgame plans. With another competition the next day, other 21st birthday festivities would have to wait.
"[Scott] came out and played hear heart out," Darcy Rose '09 said. Rose grabbed 11 rebounds for the night and came up strong on defense.
Columbia was playing without their 6'3" freshman center Chelsea Frazier, who scored 15 points the last time Dartmouth and Columbia met. Britney Carfora led Columbia (8-10, 4-10 Ivy) in scoring with 12 points. Without Frazier Columbia had trouble penetrating on offense, and was forced to attempt 14 three-pointers in the second half, making only one. Dartmouth took only three shots from beyond the arc in the second half.
After an uneventful first half that saw the teams trading misses, Dartmouth came out in the second half and began to slowly extend its 24-19 lead. With 13:21 to go, Koren Schram '09 came down funny on her right ankle and did not get back up on her own. She left the game, returning to the bench later with her ankle wrapped in ice. Coach Chris Wielgus said Saturday that the injury is not serious.
Dartmouth closed out the game on a 13-4 run to take the decision.
Although Dartmouth's losses last weekend to Penn and Princeton all but eliminated them from contention for the Ivy League championship, which Harvard clinched Friday, they had plenty to play for as Cornell (12-15, 8-6 Ivy) traveled to Hanover Saturday night.
With a 62-51 win over Cornell, Dartmouth took second place in the Ivy League outright, and probably earned a WNIT tournament bid. The WNIT, which expanded its field to 40 teams this season, now guarantees a bid to the runner-up of each of the nation's 31 athletic conferences.
The game for second place was also the final home game for Ashley Taylor '07 and Fatima Kamara '07. Both celebrated senior night in the same way that Sydney Scott '08 celebrated her birthday -- by scoring. Taylor had 25 points and Kamara scored 10. The two left the court at Leede Arena together for the last time with 26 seconds to go as they were subbed out to a thunderous ovation.
"I really can't ask for anything more," Kamara said of her final home game.
Dartmouth was playing without the injured Koren Schram, leaving a void on both ends of the court that was tough to fill.
"People really stepped up," Taylor said. "Having Koren hurt was a big thing, but people really took over for her"
Coach Wielgus was also impressed with her team's performance. "I can't tell you how proud I am of these kids. We changed up our defense without Koren, I was very pleased with the effort from everyone. You can't walk away from this game with any energy."
Dartmouth came out flat in the first half, and the team found itself in a seven-point hole as the first half was winding down. Sloppy play plagued the Big Green early. The shots weren't falling, and travels and bad fouls caused Dartmouth to give up the ball multiple times. Cornell carried a 27-23 lead into the locker room at halftime.
"We knew that what we were lacking in the first half was defense," said Taylor, who had two fouls and three turnovers in the first half.
The Big Green made the necessary adjustments and came out strong in the second half, chipping away at Cornell's lead until Scott sparked a 10-0 3:15 run, to put Dartmouth ahead by eight. The Big Green didn't look back and powered ahead to the win that secured post-season play.
"Who would have expected this after going 0-5 and 1-2 in the Ivy, that we would be going to the postseason?" Wielgus said. She has coached Dartmouth to three consecutive postseason appearances after NCAA bids in the last two years.
Dartmouth finishes out the regular season Tuesday night at Harvard. Although the game will not change the standings, Wielgus was adamant that her team would be leaving nothing on the court.
"We're beating Harvard," she said. "Don't think that's not our main goal."
