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The Dartmouth
July 25, 2025 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth

Women’s basketball swept on the road by Princeton, Penn

The women’s basketball team had a tough road trip last weekend, suffering a 71-53 loss at the University of Pennsylvania on Friday and a 76-53 defeat at the hands of Princeton University on Saturday.

Friday’s game slipped through Dartmouth’s (3-14, 0-3 Ivy) fingers early when the Quakers (12-5, 2-1 Ivy) jumped to a quick lead with a 15-0 run just five minutes into a game. Although guard Nicola Zimmer ’14 stopped the run with her second three of the period, Penn still came away from the half with a 15-point lead.

Zimmer and forward Lakin Roland ’16 led the offense, both finishing in the double digits with 10 points. As a whole, the offense shot 38 percent from the field and made eight three-pointers in the game while only getting to the line once.

Penn dominated on both ends, shooting 42 percent from the field with nine steals and 13 forced turnovers.

During the first half, Penn’s defense stifled the Big Green, holding them to only 26.7 percent shooting from the field.

“Penn played a zone that we struggled with,” guard Katie Vareika ’17 said .

The team is accustomed to playing man-to-man defense, which made the Quaker’s zone scheme hard to adjust to, she said.

The Quakers continued to lead throughout the second, with Penn outscoring the Big Green 37-34 in the final frame. The second half was more competitive, however, as Dartmouth out-rebounded the Quakers 17-15.

Freshman center Sydney Stipanovich finished with a double-double -— 12 points and 12 rebounds -— for Penn and senior guard Alyssa Baron led the Quaker offense with 20 points.

Vareika said the Big Green executed its offense well in the last few minutes of the game but found its rhythm too late to make an impact.

“We were looking good toward the end, but it was just too late in the game to make a run that would have changed the outcome,” Vareika said.

Saturday’s game at Princeton (11-6, 2-1 Ivy) went in a different direction, as the game was within three points at halftime but then slipped away from the Big Green.

Milica Toskovic ’15 scored the first points of the game on a layup in the paint at the 18:38 mark.

“We came out a lot stronger in the first half and executed our offense well and took better shots,” Vareika said.

Vareika was one of three Dartmouth players to score in the double-digits, contributing 10 points from the bench and going four-for-four from the free-throw line. Roland led all Dartmouth scorers with 12 points and five rebounds, and Zimmer was close behind with 11 points, also shooting a perfect four-for-four on free throws.

The defense, however, fell apart in the second half. Princeton shot 72 percent from the floor and out rebounded Dartmouth 21-9.

“Even though the defense crumbled in the second half, we’re definitely getting better and improving our defense and working better as a team,” Vareika said.

The team’s improvement is a result of practice, increased cohesion and sharper focus on defense above all else, Vareika said.

“The big takeaway from this weekend is that we need to put two halves together and play with a lot of enthusiasm and energy with defensive focus and make high percentage shots,” she said.

Dartmouth continues its road swing next weekend, playing at Yale University and Brown University.