Faziah Steen '13 scored her 1,000th point in the Big Green's win over Columbia, making her the 16th 1,000-point scorer in Dartmouth basketball history. Having played in 82 career games, Steen is one of just three players to achieve the milestone in less than 100 games. The night also served as a warm goodbye to Sasha Dosenko '12, who after 102 career games has finally played her last home game. Dosenko is the team's lone senior and has led the Big Green to 40 wins in her four years at Dartmouth. She is the only current member of the team to win an Ivy League Championship during the 2008-09 season.
In a great effort on both ends of the floor against Cornell, Dartmouth was able to snap its 13-game home losing streak that dated back to last season. In the back-and-forth contest, Dosenko led the Big Green with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Steen and guard Nicola Zimmer '14 added 11 and 10 points, respectively. Dartmouth used its energy and physical presence to out-rebound Cornell 47-36 and score 13 second-chance points. The win boosted Dartmouth's remarkable overall record against Cornell to 54-13. Dartmouth has now defeated the Big Red 10 consecutive times in Leede Arena.
Cornell began the game strong with a 10-4 streak, but buckets from Dosenko and Eve Zelinger '14 kept the Big Green close. Dartmouth went on an important run midway through the game when Dawson grabbed Steen's missed shot from the elbow. Dawson dished the ball to Dosenko who laid the ball in to put the Big Green up 42-40. Dartmouth then extended its lead to 50-42 over the next two minutes and capitalized on free throws, going 5-for-6, down the stretch to seal the victory.
Steen said the most exciting part about the weekend was earning the much-wanted victories.
"The Cornell game was a close one throughout, and they are a very well-disciplined team who beat us about a month ago at their gym by a really close margin," Steen said. "So it was good to snatch the win from them the second time around."
On Saturday against Columbia, Dartmouth had five players score in double-figures for the first time this season. The team's 87 points were the most scored by the Big Green all year. Steen led the women with 18 points, while Milica Toskovic '15 dropped 17 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in her second career double-double. Tia Dawson '15 also picked up her second consecutive double-double, tallying 11 points and 11 boards.
In addition, Zelinger provided a huge effort from the bench, contributing a career-high 16 points as well as five rebounds and three assists. Zimmer scored 17 points and dished seven assists in the triumph.
After a pregame ceremony that honored the accomplishments of Dosenko, Dartmouth got to a fast start with the help of Toskovic and Zimmer. After Steen missed a three-pointer on the first posession, Zimmer rebounded and got the ball to Toskovic. This time, the three sunk home to get the Big Green off to a lead it would not lose the entire game. Dartmouth then expanded its lead to 14-6 with additional three-pointers by Toskovic and Zimmer.
The Big Green found its groove and jumped out to a 28-12 lead thanks to a run that consisted of seven unanswered points. Columbia could not match Dartmouth's fast transitions offensively and collapsing defense on the other end.
The Big Green connected for 30 of its 64 shots from the field (46.7 percent) and had a 43-19 lead at halftime. On the defensive end, Dartmouth caused 24 Columbia turnovers, leading to 30 Big Green points. Dartmouth restricted Columbia's scorers, holding them to just 23.1 percent shooting in the first half. Midway through the second half, Dartmouth took a 42-point lead over the Lions. With the win, the Big Green completed its season sweep of Columbia and the second such sweep in three years.
Steen said that the team wanted to make the night special for Dosenko.
"Tonight's game was big just because it was Sasha's senior night and we really wanted to get the win for her," Steen said. "We've never been up on an opponent like that so early in a game or beat a team by so much this year, so we were really able to relax and run through our offensive sets and make sure everyone was getting touches."
Steen said that overall the team performed well this weekend.
"We really came together as a single unit and shared the basketball all weekend," she said. "We worked the ball inside-out both games, and even though we didn't convert on a lot of our easy looks around the basket, particularly against Cornell, it was still a great effort on both ends of the floor."
Dosenko said that playing both teams earlier in the season helped Dartmouth prepare for its weekend games.
"We knew that Columbia was going to press us and that Cornell was going to zone us," Dosenko said. "So last week in practice we worked a lot on breaking the press and playing against a zone. I think that prepared us well for these two games."
The Big Green will play its last game of the season on Tuesday at Harvard University at 7 p.m.
Steen said she thinks there are aspects of its game that the team can improve before the next contest.
"We played well this weekend, but we need to work on mastering our zone defenses," Steen said. "We had some defensive lapses with our rotation, particularly in the Columbia game."
Dosenko said the Big Green must concentrate at practice to beat the Crimson, which is No. 2 in the Ivy League.
"We must stay focused and just keep working on our defense and offense," Dosenko said.
