The women’s basketball team had a tough weekend on the road with two losses at Yale University and Brown University.
The Big Green (3-17, 0-6 Ivy) ultimately fell to the Bulldogs (10-10, 4-2 Ivy) on Friday 86-52 after a difficult second half.
“We came out with a good start but could have been more consistent with defense,” guard Nicola Zimmer ’14 said. “We need to work on being more patient on offense and getting more high percentage shots.”
Dartmouth scored the first basket of the game, but the Bulldogs took the lead with a strong 17-5 run over the next nine minutes. Zimmer and guard Kaitana Martinez ’16 reduced the split to 17-11 with back-to-back layups, but that was the closest the Big Green would get. Thanks to 57 percent shooting in the first half, the Bulldogs went into the break with a double-digit lead, 38-22.
In the second half, Yale kept up its persistent offense, making 50 percent of its shots from the field compared to 36 percent for the Big Green.
Yale effectively drew fouls, and Dartmouth struggled to keep the Bulldogs out of the lane, resulting many free throws for Yale, Zimmer said.
Guard Katie Vareika ’17 added six points to the Big Green’s tally late in the game with a pair of three pointers in the last three minutes, but it was too little, too late. Fanni Szabo ’17 led Dartmouth’s offense with 21 points, including 7-of-16 from the floor and four three-pointers. Szabo also led the team with five steals. Zimmer contributed nine points, and forward Lakin Roland ’16 got eight points and eight rebounds.
“We had a little trouble shooting, but Szabo had a great game,” Zimmer said. “She was a consistent offensive force for us, whether she was shooting three pointers or taking the ball to the rim.”
Overall, the Big Green shot 33 percent from the field while Yale shot 54 percent overall. The Big Green did shoot 78 percent from behind the arc, making seven of nine attempts. The Bulldogs outrebounded Dartmouth by a small margin with the total coming to 36-32.
“We’ve been working on rebounds in practice — it’s a constant conversation on the team,” Zimmer said. “We’ve put a lot of focus on that, and it’s paid off.”
Brown (8-12, 2-4 Ivy) pulled away in the second half on Saturday to end up with a 71-55 victory.
Dartmouth did have the advantage on the glass, out-rebounding Brown 31-23.
The first half of Saturday’s game presented a challenge for the Big Green as four players picked up two fouls each in the first period.
Fouls forced Szabo out of the game with under six minutes remaining in the first half after she had scored eight points.
Szabo scored on the first offensive possession for Dartmouth, but the Bears quickly tied the Big Green 20 seconds later and never relinquished the lead for the game’s remainder.
Dartmouth went into the second half trailing Brown by five points, but Brown increased its lead by shooting 54 percent from the floor. Eleven of Brown’s players contributed to the offense with guard Sophia Bikofsky in the lead, contributing 14 points overall.
Zimmer led Dartmouth’s offense against Brown, racking up 12 points and shooting a perfect 8-of-8 from the line. Roland also put up 10 points and five rebounds for the Big Green.
The Big Green will return home next weekend to host Cornell University on Friday and Columbia University on Saturday.
