Two freshmen led the Big Green's scoring, with Milica Toskovic '15 scoring a career-high 15 points and Kamala Thompson '15 adding 10 of her own. Captain Faziah Steen '13 also made a significant contribution with 14.
Yale junior guard Megan Vasquez led the scoring for the Bulldogs, racking up 23 points.
Sasha Doesnko '12 reached double figures in rebounding for the first time this season with a game-high 12. Tia Dawson '15 who also contributed nine points was close behind with nine rebounds.
The game saw Toskovic face off against her Ivy co-Rookie of the Week award winner, Yale freshman Sarah Halejian. In what now appears to be a pattern for the Big Green, the women came out onto the court smart and energetic, playing a strong first half led by Toskovic's shooting success.
Steen said that the team expected a solid Yale defense and in preparation worked on movement to prevent an offensive stalemate.
"We knew they were an aggressive defensive team and that they would deny on the wings and stay tight on the ball," she said. "So we worked on being able to get open and get the offense moving."
Toskovic scored all of her 15 points in the first half, shooting 3-4 from outside the arc. Joined by Dosenko, Toskovic carved through the Bulldogs in the paint.
Nicola Zimmer '14 also provided some impetus for the team, successfully needling through the Yale defense to the hoop twice on two attempts.
Steen said that Dartmouth successfully anticipated the Yale offense.
"We did a good job guarding Yale based on their tendencies," she said.
The back-and-forth play prevented either team from taking a definitive lead. The half featured five ties and for the first seven minutes, neither team took control by more than three points.
Down by one point with less than four minutes in the first half, Dosenko dropped in a lay-up soon accompanied by a three-pointer from Steen to take a four-point lead. Yale responded with a bucket of its own, but Dartmouth's six-for-six performance in free throws led them to a two-point halftime lead.
While Dartmouth came out strong in the first half, Yale matched its lead in the second. The Bulldogs held the Big Green to a mere five points in the first 11 minutes of the half and went on a 17-1 run to create a 16-point lead by 15:20.
Steen said that Yale's surge in performance had much to do with a lack of transition defense by the Big Green.
"We weren't able to stop them in transition," she said. "They were able to push the ball up the court quickly and we didn't get to the shooters fast enough, which led to a lot of free shots."
Dartmouth's shooting percentage plummeted from 44.1 percent in the first half to only 30 percent in the second half.
Steen chalked up the percentage drop to ineffective shooting.
"We just took a lot of quick shots that weren't falling," she said.
Behind by 13 points at 12:44 in the half, Dosenko sank two free throws to spark a 7-0 run for Dartmouth that was highlighted by five points from Dawson. With only nine minutes left and down 67-51, however, this effort proved to be too little, too late. Yale soon answered with a three-point shot from Michelle Cashen to promptly end the Big Green's scoring streak.
Yale never allowed Dartmouth to come within 13 points of the lead and sealed the game by going 9 for 11 in free throws.
Dartmouth will take on both Columbia University and Cornell University this coming weekend.
Steen said that in preparation for the games, the Big Green will work on moving the ball effectively on offense, transition work and breaking a zone defense.
"I think we'll be successful this weekend," she said.
