The Big Green women's basketball team could not secure a victory this weekend in the Blue Sky Classic, an annual home tournament, losing tough games to Kansas State University and Wagner College. The Big Green bounced back after the tournament, however, beating the College of the Holy Cross on Sunday afternoon with a 59-53 win.
"Big Sky has been a great experience every year," captain Cassie Cooper '11 said. "It's awesome that we get big programs to come play as at home because most of them are hesitant to travel up here."
In the Big Green's (4-9) first game of the tournament, Big 12 team Kansas State (10-3) was able to overpower Dartmouth, 69-48. Although the Big Green finished the first half trailing by only five points, it could not rally after the break.
Kansas State's Brittany Chambers scored six points in 12 minutes in the second half and finished the game with 26 total points and 13 rebounds.
Rookie Nicola Zimmer '14 scored 12 points, and Faziah Steen '13 and Cooper also scored in double-digits. After shooting 40 percent in the first half, the Big Green shot only 25.9 percent from the floor after the break.
"Playing a big role as a freshman has been a learning experience," Zimmer said. "I love the challenge, and I couldn't ask for a better opportunity, but I do have a lot of things I need to get better at."
Dartmouth's second and final game of the tournament was against Wagner (7-5, 0-1 NEC). The Seahawks were victorious over the Big Green, 69-52, and finished the tournament undefeated (2-0) after beating Vermont.
Zimmer, who was named to the all-tournament team, and Sasha Dosenko '12 both scored 14 points in the game versus Wagner.
Dosenko recorded eight blocked shots against Wagner, the third most by a Dartmouth player in a single game. Her 13 blocked shots over the course of the weekend also broke the tournament record for blocks, previously held by Gail Koziara Boudreaux '82.
Dartmouth faced a quick turnaround, taking on Holy Cross (4-10) on Sunday at home. The Big Green rebounded, however, and secured a win over the Crusaders, 66-57.
The first half of the game was sluggish until rookie Janelle Ross '14 put the Big Green on the scoreboard four minutes into the game. After a back-and-forth half, the score was tied at 26 going into the halftime break.
Dartmouth fell behind early in the second half but came back with fervor as Steen scored to tie the game again. Dosenko and Steen maintained the Big Green's momentum throughout the period, and Dartmouth led 48-40 with nine minutes left in the game.
Cooper powered her team with five consecutive points near the end of the night, putting Dartmouth ahead 59-53. The team then held on to secure the win.
"The win over Holy Cross was great for us," Zimmer said. "We finally had a strong second half and finished out a game. We're getting better at moving the ball within our offense, and our team defense is coming together."
The Dartmouth women head to the University of Rhode Island on Tuesday to challenge the Rams (5-8) in what will be their fourth game in seven days.
