In the 16-event dual meet, hosted by Northeastern in Boston, Mass., the Big Green rolled over Rhode Island, failing to win just one event en route to a 234-66 victory.
The Huskies presented more of a challenge, with Dartmouth and Northeastern each taking first place in eight events.
However, the Big Green's superior depth allowed it to secure the win over the Huskies, 171-129, bringing the squad's record to 9-3 (3-3 Ivy).
Now sporting a 9-3 record after the weekend's two wins, the Dartmouth women are in contention for "most successful women's winter sports team," Christine Kerr '14 said.
With a preseason goal of winning all of its non-conference meets, the Big Green had high expectations heading into Saturday's dual meet.
"This was one of the big meets for the girls who aren't competing at Ivy Championships," co-captain Galen Barry '12 said. "We were really looking to them to swim well, and they definitely did. A bunch of girls stepped up big time."
The key to the Big Green's success was the depth the team displayed throughout the meet. In the first event, the 200-yard medley relay, Northeastern took first, but the Big Green took second, third and fourth.
In the first individual event of the meet, the 1,000-yard freestyle, Danielle Kerr '14 took first place with a time of 10:19.83. She was closely followed by Kiki Hocheder '14, who swam her season best with a time of 10:20.29. Hocheder also took first place in the 500-yard freestyle, with another season-best time of 5:03.02, rounding out her strong performance for the day.
Dartmouth opened up a lead in the freestyle events, taking the top spot in all six races as Northeastern struggled to keep pace.
"The key for us was what we could do in our stronger events," Dartmouth coach Jim Wilson said. "We won the 50 [-yard freestyle], the 100, the 200, the 500, the 1,000 and the 400-yard relay."
In several of those events, Dartmouth also took second and third place, earning crucial points for the Big Green.
Van Metre won the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 24.93 seconds, with Sasha Alcon '15 finishing a fraction behind in third place at 25.09 and Teva Levens '14 taking fourth at 25.32.
The Big Green divers also stepped up on Saturday, with Erica Serpico '12 winning both the 1-meter and 3-meter events.
Dartmouth had strong performances behind Serpico as well, with Katy Feng '14, Kendall MacRae '15 and Madi McClenney '13 finishing in the top five against Northeastern in both of the diving events.
Heading into the meet, the Big Green knew that the Huskies were going to be a challenging team to beat.
"The senior class at Northeastern had never lost in their home pool, so we definitely wanted to beat them," Barry said. "We were just looking to keep swimming fast even though we're tired."
The biggest point swings during the meet came from the ability of Dartmouth to post strong times behind the leader in almost every event, ensuring that the squad earned points even when it did not touch the wall first.
"[Northeastern's] lack of depth cost them the meet," Wilson said. "171-129 doesn't sound very close, but you have to look at it from the standpoint that they won as many events as we did."
While both URI and Northeastern are non-Ivy League teams, the Big Green women enjoy racing against their regional opponents.
"Swimming non-league meets gives us different types of competition," Barry said. "We see the girls around the Ivy League a lot, but we don't always see the same out-of-league teams. It's fun to go to other schools, and it's just another opportunity to step up and swim fast."
The Big Green jumped back in the pool on Sunday, as the men's and women's teams both traveled to Storrs, Conn. to face the University of Connecticut.
The Big Green men lost to the Huskies by a score of 172-128, while the women lost 158-142.
Both the men's and the women's teams will be back in the pool on Feb. 11 to take on Columbia University in New York City in the Big Green's final competition before the Ivy Championships Feb. 23-25.
