Dartmouth Knocks off Stony Brook, 71-59

Wednesday, December 13

Hanover, N.H.

7:00 p.m.

Dartmouth College

Stony Brook

12/13/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

By: Dartmouth

Boxscore

HANOVER, N.H. - After trailing by 13 points in the first half, the Dartmouth women's basketball team (2-5) rallied to defeat America East power Stony Brook (2-6), 71-59. Senior guard Ashley Taylor (Cookeville, Tenn.) set a career-high for the second-consecutive game with 29 points.

The athletic Seawolves came out fast and ready in the opening minutes, building a 19-6 lead at the 14:16 mark before Taylor stopped the bleeding with a lay-up. She was fouled on the play and missed her first free-throw attempt of the night - she was perfect from then on, finishing 14-15 from the line.

The Big Green rallied from that point, going on a 29-8 run to close the half. Dartmouth methodically cut the lead, getting as close as three points, down 23-20 at 8:37 after a lay-up by Koren Schram (Batesville, Ark.). Taylor's big triple at 5:28 gave Dartmouth its first lead of the game, up 27-25.

Dartmouth took a 35-27 lead into the locker room thanks to aggressive defense and a blazing 15-30 shooting percentage (50 percent). Stony Brook scored its last field goal of the half at the 4:12 mark.

The Big Green continued its run in the second half, giving up just four points, all on free-throws, in the first five minutes. Stony Brook did not have a made field goal until 14:47 when Mykeema Ford hit a jumper to end nearly a 10-minute drought, cutting the Dartmouth lead to 43-33.

The Seahawks started to rally from that point, but Dartmouth managed to keep the visitors at bay until Dana Ferraro kicked-off a 10-2 run. By the time Smith hit a lay-up at 3:56, Stony Brook had erased a 15-point deficit to tie the game at 57-57.

Dartmouth Head Coach Chris Wielgus called a time-out for her squad to re-group. Schram continued her late-game dramatics with huge three-pointer, her first of the night, to put the Big Green up for good, 60-57. That bucket started a 14-2 run to close out the game for Dartmouth. The Big Green shot 11-14 from the free-throw line to seal the 71-59 win.

Taylor's 29 points led all scorers while Darcy Rose (Fort Collins, Colo.) shattered her career best with 17 points. The two also combined to go 21-23 from the charity stripe to boost the Big Green, who shot a much-improved 85.2% from the line.

Taylor also added eight rebounds and four assists on the night. She has now moved into 12th place on Dartmouth's career-scoring list with 1,042 points. Tonight, she also became one of just three players in program history to record over 1,000 points and 250 assists.

Dartmouth hauled in 42 rebounds to Stony Brook's 39, with four different players pulling in eight a piece. Senior Fatima Kamara (Carrollton, Texas) tallied eight points, eight rebounds and two steals in a solid outing while junior Kristen Craft (Marshalltown, Iowa) came off the bench to add eight rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Stony Brook had four players in double figures, led by Smith's 14 point, nine rebound effort. Dartmouth held the Seawolves to just 30.8 percent shooting on the night.

The Big Green now hits on the road for a pair of games in Michigan. First up is the University of Michigan on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. followed by Central Michigan on Monday at 7:00 p.m.