They may be a mere shadow of last year's conference championship team and they may not have ever had a chance of contending with Penn for this year's Ivy League title, but the women's basketball team cannot be criticized for want of determination or will.
After starting the season 1-11, Dartmouth made a dramatic turnaround, winning 11 of its last 14 games, including two wins this weekend against Cornell and Columbia, to improve its record to 12-14 overall and 8-5 in the Ivies, which is good enough for a second place tie with Harvard.
Cornell
Katharine Hanks '03 led the Big Green with 13 points and a career-high 15 rebounds in Dartmouth's razor-thin 51-50 victory over Cornell Friday night. The Big Green started the game painfully slowly, falling behind 14-4 in the first 10 minutes of the game. By halftime, things had gotten worse as Dartmouth went to the locker room having scored a season-low 13 points to Cornell's 25.
In the second half, the Big Red increased their lead to 14 points before they lost their composure and started chucking up bricks. Cornell's 25 percent shooting from the field after the break gave Dartmouth a chance to sneak back into the game, and with less than a minute to play, the Big Green was down 50-47. On the next play, Jamie Librizzi '04 connected from three-point range to tie the game with 48 seconds on the clock.
Samantha Berdinka '01 had the opportunity to give Dartmouth the lead when she was fouled while driving the lane with eight seconds remaining. After missing the first free throw shot, she sank the second. Cornell had a chance to win the game, but Katie Romey missed a last-second shot.
Hanks' third consecutive double-double gave her 801 points and 405 rebounds during her career, which makes her one of only four Dartmouth women's basketball players to reach the 800-point, 400-rebound plateau by sophomore year in the history of the program. The others were Gail Koziara '82, Jayne Daigle '86 and Ann Deacon '83, who also happen to be Dartmouth's top three all-time scorers.
Cornell (14-12, 8-6 Ivy) was led by Breean Walas, who scored 11 points and added four assists on the night. Lynell Davis contributed 10 rebounds and six points in the losing effort.
Including her game-clinching free throw, Berdinka had 10 points, despite shooting 1-for-8 from the field.
Columbia
The Big Green rebounded nicely from Friday night's first half slumber by scoring a season-high 43 first-half points against Columbia before cruising to a 78-64 victory.
The game started out close, with Dartmouth leading 16-14, but a 15-0 run helped the Big Green build a 43-24 lead at the end of the half.
In the second half, Columbia fought back to within eight points, 67-59, with 3:34 remaining in the game. Dartmouth ended the Lions' chances for good, however, with an 11-5 run to finish the game.
The Big Green's success was due in large part to an 83 percent free throw percentage in the game. The 35 made free throws (out of 42 attempts) tied a team record dating back to 1986.
Hanks had another big game, scoring 23 points and bringing down 13 rebounds to secure the 20th double-double of her career. She also nailed 15 free throws in 17 attempts and had a career-high four blocked shots. Keri Downs '03 also had 23 points in the win, including 15 in the first half. Sherryta Freeman '01 contributed 12 points and Stephanie Kinnear '01 had a season-high nine assists.
Columbia, which finishes the season 9-18 (6-8 Ivy), was led by Shawnee Pickney, who had a career-high 27 points and 12 rebounds in her final collegiate basketball game.
The final game for the Big Green was originally scheduled for tonight at Harvard, but due to inclement weather, it has been moved to tomorrow at 7 p.m. Dartmouth will try to avenge its earlier loss to the Crimson. The winner will finish the year in sole possession of second place in the Ivy League.
