March Madness has hit Hanover - or at least it seems like it has.
The women's basketball team used the energy of two large, rowdy crowds to win a pair of huge games in Leede Arena this weekend, squeaking by Yale University 62-61 Friday and then running away from Brown University 67-49 Saturday.
The victories raised Dartmouth's record to 15-10 overall and 10-3 in the Ivy League. More importantly, the wins catapulted the Big Green into a first-place tie with defending Ivy champ Brown and keep their hopes for an NCAA tournament bid alive.
The Ivy League season ends tomorrow when Dartmouth travels to Harvard University and Brown hosts Yale. If both first-place teams win, a one-game playoff at a neutral site will be held to determine who receives the invitation to the Big Dance. If one team should falter, the other wins outright.
"It's not over, but [the players] have to enjoy this right now," Coach Chris Wielgus said.
The fans certainly did. The Big Green faithful were out in force over the weekend, and their enthusiasm helped propel the team to victory.
"The cheering adds to our momentum," Brandi Jones '95 said. "I've been here for three years and have never seen crowds like this. This is what women's basketball and sports in general are all about."
Dartmouth edges Yale, 62-61
Every minute of Friday night's game was just as close as the final score.
"We knew going into the game that it would be a dogfight," Wielgus said, "and it was."
The Big Green overcame a five-point halftime deficit to beat the Elis, 62-61, and eliminate them from the Ivy title chase.
Ilsa Webeck '94 started the comeback by scoring Dartmouth's first six points of the half, but it was Kira Lawrence '96 who sparked the Big Green charge. Her baseline jumper with five seconds left on the shot clock tied the game at 41 with 14:33 to play.
Sally Annis '97 hit a three-pointer on the right side with only three seconds left on the shot clock to extend the Dartmouth lead to 44-41 with 13:32 remaining.
Two Yale free throws cut the Dartmouth advantage to one, but another Lawrence baseline jumper pushed the lead back up to three. A Yale three-pointer with 11:48 left tied the game at 46.
Dartmouth then went on a 9-0 run to open up a 55-46 lead with 6:51 left. Steals by Betsy Gilmore '94, Jen Stamp '96 and Lawrence sparked the run from the defensive end, and two lay-ups by Stamp keyed the offense.
But Yale was not going to go down easily. The Elis fought back and cut the Big Green lead down to two, bringing the score to 60-58 with 1:08 to play. The Big Green came up empty on their next possession, leaving Yale with the ball and a chance to tie the game with 31 seconds left.
Tenacious man-to-man defense forced the Elis to burn two timeouts and take a bad shot with 10 seconds remaining.
But Dartmouth could not come up with the rebound, and a jump ball gave possession back to Yale with nine seconds left.
Yale's ensuing inbounds play gave Karen Adelman, only a 30 percent shooter, a good look at the basket, but her shot from the foul line bounced off the front rim. Webeck grabbed the rebound and was fouled with four seconds left on the clock.
Webeck calmly converted both ends of the one-and-one to give Dartmouth a 62-58 lead, and as it turned out, the Big Green needed both of those shots. With one second left, Adelman connected on a 25-footer to provide the final 62-61 score.
"Players work for a lifetime to be in a game like this," Wielgus said. "Every shot you take on the playground when you're young is to prepare for this."
Annis led all scorers with 17 points, and Webeck added 13. Gilmore had only three points, but had eight steals and a season-high 11 assists.
Lawrence came off the bench to score 14 points, 10 of which came in the second half, and frustrated Yale's All-Ivy forward Mary Kalich with physical defense.
Dartmouth tops Brown, 67-49
Emotions were running high on Saturday night. Not only was Dartmouth preparing to face Brown in a game that would have serious implications on the Ivy title race, but it was also senior night in Leede Arena.
The Big Green honored Gilmore, their outstanding point guard, in a pregame ceremony. The undisputed leader of the young squad, Gilmore leads Dartmouth in steals, assists and minutes played.
Gilmore did not disappoint the 1,200 enthusiastic fans who came to the game, as she scored 13 points on a series of drives that lead Dartmouth to the 67-49 win. Gilmore also recorded three steals to break her single-season record of 112.
Perhaps because of all the emotion, the Big Green played a little flat in the first six minutes. Dartmouth's first three possessions resulted in three turnovers and no points, and Brown shot out to a 15-4 lead with 14:20 left in the half.
The Big Green closed the gap with several drives from Gilmore and Laurie Stucker '95, and with the help of the officials. Brown committed its seventh team foul with 12:30 left in the half, and Dartmouth converted its free throws to get back into the game.
"We noticed the refs were calling lots of fouls on drives," Wielgus said. "We're also quicker in the one, two and three spot, so we decided to take it to the hole and get [Brown] in foul trouble."
Brown held a slim 30-27 halftime lead, despite shooting 50 percent (13 for 26) in the first half.
"They came out smoking," Wielgus said. "Brown was very well-prepared. We tried all our defenses and they found the holes."
It was a different story in the second half, however. Dartmouth turned up the defensive intensity and held the Bears to only 19 second-half points on 23 percent shooting (seven for 30).
Brown's star center Martina Jerant was no factor, scoring only four points in the final 20 minutes, thanks to foul trouble and tough defense from Webeck and Stucker.
The Big Green finally evened the score when Gilmore fed a cutting Annis for a lay-up with 13:11 left in the game. Dartmouth took its first lead on the next possession as Stucker scored inside to make it 41-39 with 12:30 to play.
Dartmouth never looked back from there. A 19-4 run over the last 7:45 buried the Bears.
Annis again led all scorers with 16 points. Webeck recorded another double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds and Stucker also scored 12.
"Laurie came off the bench to have the game of her life," Wielgus said. "We knew we had depth, and we used it."
