The men's squad (6-14, 4-2 Ivy) is coming off of its first doubleheader sweep of the season, edging out league rivals Brown and Yale last week at Leede Arena.
After losing its Ivy opener to Harvard early last month, the Big Green has since gone 4-1 in league play, leaping to third place in the Ivy standings.
Dartmouth's victory against the Bulldogs last Saturday marked the first time in four years that the Big Green has won three straight league matchups. Though all three games were decided by three points or less, the men's team has remained poised under pressure in the home stretch, pulling out close yet crucial wins each time.
After starting the Ivy season at home with its best record since the 1998-1999 season, the Big Green men will now begin a two-week roadtrip that first pits Dartmouth against Columbia and defending Ivy champion Cornell.
The following week, the men's squad will head to Princeton and the University of Pennsylvania for a doubleheader rematch against the two teams. Dartmouth fell to the Tigers and defeated the Quakers on Jan. 30 and 31.
During its current mid-season surge, the Big Green has been able to come up big on both ends of the court.
On the road this weekend, Dartmouth will look to maintain its tight perimeter defense and remain consistent in attacking the basket.
With a balanced offensive attack and strong bench support, the Big Green will try to exploit opponents' double-coverage of Ivy League scoring leader Alex Barnett '09 with more ball movement and smoother transition in the fast-break.
Barnett, who was recently voted Ivy League Player of the Week, reached several milestones last week, posting his 100th career block and 100th career steal, and becoming only the 13th player in Dartmouth men's basketball to score over 1200 career points.
The women's team (10-9, 5-0 Ivy) has also been successful in conference play.
Coming off its doubleheader sweep of Brown and Yale last weekend, the Big Green heads into weekend action on a seven-game winning streak.
Dartmouth currently stands alone atop the Ivy standings, and is the only undefeated team in League play.
Brittney Smith '10 said that trying to maintain the team's perfect in-conference record has further motivated the players to continue to win.
"We welcome the challenge because we have an extra incentive to continue our undefeated season," she said.
The Big Green will put that perfect season on the line this weekend, playing at home for the first time in 40 days against Columbia and Cornell. Dartmouth leads both the Lions and Big Red in all-time series wins, 42-7 and 49-10, respectively.
In the upcoming league matchups, Dartmouth will look to continue its defensive dominance, singling out the opponent's top scorers and smoothing offensive spurts with collective team effort.
"Our coaches do a great job scouting, and then as a team we have an attitude that the whole team is defending the ball," Darcy Rose '09 said.
Though the Big Green has limited Ivy foes to just 46.0 points per game and a .324 field goal percentage, Dartmouth will further look to avoid giving away easy second-chance opportunities.
"We had a few defensive lapses, as well as turnovers at key moments that allowed Yale to come back," Rose said. "We need to make sure that we keep up the defensive integrity and don't allow offensive rebounds."
Smith echoed a similar sentiment.
"Our team needs to work on boxing out our opponents to keep them from getting multiple shots," she said. "That's what allowed Yale to get back into the game."
The men will square off against Columbia and Cornell on Friday and Saturday on the road, while the women will host the visiting Lions and Big Red at Leede Arena. All games are set to begin at 7 p.m.
