Men's basketball
The Big Green fell in two difficult home games this weekend, losing to Brown University on Friday night and Yale University on Saturday night.
In the Brown game, the Big Green turned the ball over 20 times and only made five three-pointers yet remained close throughout and led for much of the second half. However, the team’s defense, which was phenomenal for almost the entire game, faltered down the stretch as Brown overcame a seven-point deficit with 3:15 to play to win 60-58. Guilien Smith ’19 barely missed what would have been the game-winning 3-pointer, after Dartmouth gained possession of the ball with eight seconds left and down by two.
Against Yale, the offense was more effective, but the defense struggled mightly to contain the Bulldogs’ high-powered offensive attack. Yale shot 53.8 percent for the field en route to 89 points, while the Big Green offense couldn’t keep pace. The team only made five three-pointers against Yale, making for a disappointing weekend overall in terms of long-range shooting.
With the losses, the team falls to 1-3 in conference play. Next up is a homestand against Cornell University and Columbia University, providing a great chance for the team to climb back into Ivy League contention.
Women's basketball
In its first weekend of back-to-back games of Ivy League play, the Dartmouth women’s basketball team (8-9, 1-3 Ivy) took on Brown University (9-11, 1-3 Ivy) and Yale University (13-6, 3-1 Ivy) on the road. The Big Green picked up its first win of conference play on Friday night in Providence, beating Brown by a score of 81-61. Saturday, the Green and White traveled to New Haven, where they fell to the Bulldogs 49-64.
After a slow first quarter against Brown, in which the Bears outscored the Big Green 15-11, Dartmouth eclipsed 20 points in each remaining quarter. The Big Green’s forwards proved to be its biggest weapons on Friday. Anna Luce ’21 led the team in scoring with 22 points, a career high for the second-year. Following her were Paula Lenart ’20 and Isalys Quinones ’19, who put up 14 and 13 points, respectively. The Big Green hauled in five more rebounds than the Bears and limited them to just a 19 percent 3-point field goal percentage, 12 percentage points lower than their average. These successes, combined with an impressive fourth quarter in which Dartmouth outscored Brown 24-7, were the keys to the team’s first win of Ivy play.
But Dartmouth was unable to carry the momentum from its strong finish on Friday into Saturday’s game against Yale, as the Bulldogs outscored the Big Green by ten points in the first quarter. The Big Green struggled on the boards throughout the game, with Yale grabbing 18 more rebounds than Dartmouth. Cy Lippold ’19 led Dartmouth’s offensive effort with 14 points, and first-year Georgia Alexander ’22 scored some of her first points in the green and white, tallying seven by the end of the game. Next weekend, the Big Green travels to New York to face Columbia University and Cornell University.
Men's hockey
The men’s hockey team allowed three third-period goals in a 4-1 loss to rival No. 19 Harvard University on Friday night. The Big Green dominated the first period, outshooting the Crimson 14-3. The Big Green got on the board first with a goal from Connor Yau ’19 in the twelfth minute of the game. Harvard responded at the beginning of the second period with a goal of its own.
The Big Green missed an opportunity when it failed to score on a five-minute power play in the middle of the second period. The team’s penalty kill held the nation’s top power play scoreless on three power plays and entered the third period tied at one. The Crimson scored the go-ahead goal in the third minute of the period and never looked back.
Another goal was added six minutes later, and an empty-net goal put the game out of reach. After falling to No. 10 Clarkson University on Jan. 26, Friday’s loss to Harvard marked the first time since December that the Big Green lost consecutive games. The Big Green (8-11-2, 7-6-1 ECAC), who have only lost three straight games once this season, will look to get back in the win column with two home games against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Union College next weekend, followed by two games on the road the weekend after.
Women's hockey
The women’s hockey team picked up a win this weekend for the first time since Nov. 30, slapping Brown in a 5-2 win on Friday. The Big Green did not waste any time getting on the scoreboard, looking to captain Christina Rombaut ’20 to get things started just 25 seconds into the first period. For the first time all season, the goals kept pouring in all night long. Dartmouth dropped a pair in the first, again in the second and then a fifth in the third.
“Lines were starting to click and we were getting chemistry,” said Tess Bracken ’19. “It was great.”
But all good things must come to an end, and the win streak was halted after just one game in a 0-2 shutout to Yale University. It was not for a lack of opportunities, however. The Big Green outshot Yale, 32-30, including a couple of excellent one-timers from Bracken on a power play in the third, but the Yale goalie was having a career night. Dartmouth looks to pick up another victory against Union College next weekend.
Skiing
The men’s and women’s ski teams journeyed to the other side of the Connecticut River this weekend for the University of Vermont Carnival, where, after two days of close competition, the Catamounts came out just 20 points ahead of the Big Green to win the event.
On the first day, Drew Duffy ’21 won the first run of the giant slalom with a time of 1:01.81 and then in the second run barely finished in the lead by a margin of 0.09 seconds. In the women’s 5k freestyle, Big Green skiers finished second through sixth place, led by Emily Hyde ’19 (15:15.1) and Molly Gellert ’22 (15:18.2). Although Vermont’s Evelina Sutro won the race, the combined Big Green effort helped them win the event overall with 132 points. The Big Green finished the day with 469 points, second to Vermont’s 510.
Although the Big Green was able to close some of the gap with Vermont on the second day, they fell just short in the end. Tanguy Nef ’20 dominated the men’s slalom with a combined time of 1:46.70 over two runs to win the gold. Alexa Dlouhy ’19 did the same in the women’s slalom with a combined time of 1:56.29, followed right behind by Stephanie Currie ’20 (1:57.59). But the strong Big Green effort on the slaloms was not enough to overcome Vermont’s times on the trails, as the Catamount men took the top six spots on the men’s 20k.
The Big Green are set to host Winter Carnival next weekend at the Dartmouth Skiway and Oak Hill Cross Country Ski Center.
Tennis
After the men’s tennis team played the University of Louisville to a 2-2 tie, the Cardinals grabbed two more singles matches to nip the Big Green 4-2 at home. Dartmouth got off to a good start by snagging the doubles point, and No. 27 Charlie Broom downed his mark at No. 1. But Louisville got the better of Casey Ross ’21 at No. 5 and Dan Martin ’21 at No. 2 to pull itself even. Peter Conklin ’21 and Sid Chari ’22 both fell in the second set to give the visitors the win.
The women’s tennis team split its weekend matches, losing 4-3 to Boston University on Friday and winning 4-2 against St. John’s University on Saturday. The Big Green went up 2-0 against the Terriers after winning the doubles point and getting a win from Chuyang Guan ’20 at No. 5. BU answered with a point at No. 1, and although Nicole Conard ’22 won her match at No. 3, BU won the next three singles matches in three sets to clinch. After St. John’s got the doubles point the next day, Catherine Cable ’20 won 6-1, 6-0, Guan won 6-0, 7-5 and Dartmouth — assisted by a St. John’s forfeit at No. 6 — went on to win the match 5-2.
Track and field
The women’s track and field team had a strong weekend, finishing second at the New England Indoor Championship meet in Boston, MA. Cha’Mia Rothwell ’20 finished second in the 60m hurdles final with a time of 8.50 after taking third in the semifinals. The 4x800m relay team took second with a time of 9:10.77, while the 4x400m team likewise finished in the second spot with a time of 3:48.85. Folasade Akinfe ’20, Kathryn Laskoski ’21and Nicole Deblasio ’19 finished sixth in the triple jump, 400m and 200m, respectively.
The men’s team likewise competed in the New England Indoor Championship, finishing in seventh place overall. Donovan Spearman ’21 boosted the team with a time of 21.76 in the 200m, but he fell just four-hundredths of a second behind the lead racer to take second place. Meanwhile, the 4x800 relay team finished third with a time of 7:39.49, while the 4x400 team finished fifth with a time of 3:17.98. In the 60m hurdles, Shawn Ohazuruike ’20 placed fifth with a time of 8.22.
The men’s and women’s team will hit the road again next weekend to compete in the Fastrack Invitational in Staten Island, NY.
Squash
Returning to Ivy League play after three non-conference games, No. 5 men’s squash was blanked this weekend by No. 3 University of Pennsylvania and No. 8 Princeton University. It was the first time the team has lost to a lower ranked team this season. Facing the Quakers, Reg Anderson ’21 and Jack Bell ’22 won their matches in four games, while Tucker Martino ’22 won his in five. But Penn nicked Dartmouth in the remaining six matches and took a 6-3 win. Princeton, coming into Sunday at 4-6, looked stronger than its No. 8 ranking in an 8-1 victory. Anderson, Martino and Bell fell in four games and Carson Spahr ’19 lost in a competitive five-game match. Sam Epley ’19 was the only Dartmouth player to get a win.
No. 10 women’s squash moved to 4-5 with a loss to No. 5 Penn on Saturday. Julia Potter ’20 and Emma Roberts ’19 swept their opponents and each stand at 7-2 on the season. Darden Gildea ’22 also won in four games, but it was not enough to take down the Quakers, who overcame the Big Green 6-3.
Swimming and diving
After securing victories during last week’s Tate Ramsden Invitational, the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams took on Columbia University in their final dual meets of the season.
The women’s team was defeated in its meet on Saturday, 174-125. Sarah Minnigh ’22 won big in the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:26.43, finishing a full 12 seconds ahead of her competition, while Sarah Finlay ’20 came in fifth in that race. Minnigh also won the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:03.07, while Ashley Post ’22 (5:05.89) and Molly Brickman ’19 (5:10.00) came in at second and fourth, respectively. In the 100-yard breastroke, Mackenzie Stumpf ’21 took first with a time of 1:04.90, followed by Maggie Deppe-Walker ’21 in fourth and Kenna Van Steyn ’21 in fifth with times of 1:07.51 and 1:08.84. Meanwhile, on the 3-meter diving board, Isabella Lichen ’22 and Maggie Pionzio ’20 took second and third, and then Pionzio secured a victory on the 1-meter board later in the meet.
The men’s team fared worse, dropping their match 182-115. But Justin Sodokoff ’21 managed to set a pool record on the 1-meter diving board with a score of 357.82, a record that had been in place since 2007. In the 500-yard freestyle, Connor LaMastra ’21 came in first (4:31.86), followed by Joe Moll ’22 ain second (4:35.87). Moll also came in first in the 200-yard freestyle (1:41.26) and finished second in the 200-yard IM (1:53.58). The team also came in second (1:26.22) and third (1:28.02) in the 200-yard freestyle relay.
The men’s team, now 2-7 on the season, next play in the Ivy League tournament in Providence, RI starting on Feb. 27, while the 5-5 women’s team also have the Ivy League tournament next, which starts on Feb. 20 in Princeton, NJ.
