Cornell (10-14, 6-6 Ivy) ended the chance for a perfect Ivy League season for Dartmouth (15-10, 10-1 Ivy), although the Big Green's subsequent win allowed the team to maintain sole posession of first place in the Ivy League.
The loss to Cornell comes after Dartmouth easily defeated the Big Red at Leede Arena, 55-36, earlier this season. Co-captain Koren Schram '09 said that the team always plays better at home.
The Dartmouth women are 6-3 in Leede Arena this year, and 9-7 on the road.
Dartmouth struggled in the first half, making only 25 percent of its shots, compared to Cornell's 37.5 percent. Cornell's first-half run gave the team its largest lead of the game, 10 points, with 00:57 on the clock. The Big Red led 30-22 at the end of the half. It was the first time the Big Green had been behind at halftime since its game against Princeton in January.
A usually strong Dartmouth defense faltered on Friday, as four Cornell players scored in double-digits.
"Cornell played really hard, and we knew everyone was going to play hard against us," co-captain Darcy Rose '09 said." Our defense is our constant thing for us, so we had to make sure the defense was better."
In the second half, Dartmouth picked up its game and outscored the Big Red 35-27.
Brittney Smith '11 netted 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Rose produced her first of her two straight double-doubles on the weekend with 15 points and 15 rebounds for the game.
The second-half improvement was enough to tie the game at 57 points, although Cornell pulled through in overtime and held the Big Green to just four points in the extra period, all of which came at the free-throw line.
According to Schram, Dartmouth's difficulty in scoring could be attributed to Cornell's zone defense.
"We had a lot of trouble playing against their zone, and they scouted us after we played Princeton," Schram said. "We didn't do a good job adapting our offense to their defense. I think everything piled up, and I think we felt out of place as far as our offense goes."
Saturday's game at Columbia (13-13, 6-6 Ivy) saw a similar pattern in the Big Green's opening period of play, as the women suffered in the first half, trailing 31-19 at the break.
A 29.2 field-goal percentage in the opening half contributed to a shaky start for the Big Green.
In the second half, Dartmouth surged ahead to make up for its first-half deficit, outscoring Columbia 44-30.
Dartmouth's cumulative free-throw percentage of 83.3 percent helped secure the victory with 20 points from the charity stripe, as Columbia committed 22 personal fouls, allowing the Big Green to capitalize off of 24 free throw attempts.
Rose again contributed heavily to the Big Green's total with 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Schram added another 17 points, and Smith scored 16.
The team's second-half shooting percentage nearly doubled to 52.2 percent in an effort that compensated for a poor start.
"We were a little lethargic on how we were playing, but in the second half we came out with a lot more energy, and we got a lot more hustle," Schram said.
Head coach Chris Wielgus said solid defense late in the game cemented the win over the Lions.
"[In the second half,] we did a better job defensively, and defending the dribble penetration," she said. "We did to them what they did us in the first half. I think they knew I wasn't pleased. I was very specific on what each one of them had to do in the second half, and they responded well to it."
After a tough weekend with mixed results, the women now know what to focus on for next weekend, Rose said.
"I think we need to make sure we're ready for every game and know that everyone is coming out to get us," she said.
Wieglus said it would also be important to not depend completely on the team's high-quality defense.
"We're known for our defense, and we cant assume that every game is going to be a good defensive game, and we need a balanced attack," Wieglus said, adding that she expects Friday's game to be extremely physical.
Up next for the Big Green women will be two home games this weekend at Leede Arena, beginning with Friday's game against Yale, followed by a visit from Brown on Saturday. The team's regular season will wrap up with Senior Night on Tuesday at Leede Arena against Harvard.
