Women's Basketball Scares Rutgers, but Falls 63-58 in NCAA Tournament

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Dartmouth College

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Women's Basketball Scares Rutgers, but Falls 63-58 in NCAA Tournament

3/18/2006 7:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball

By: Dartmouth

March 19, 2006

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Trenton, N.J. -- When Dartmouth played Rutgers in the 1999 NCAA tournament the Big Green quickly fell behind 12-0 and the rest of the game was relatively forgettable.

The start in the opening round of the 2006 tournament was eerily similar.

What happened next definitely was not.

Trailing 13-0 less than five minutes into the contest and by a 26-10 count with six minutes remaining in the half, the Big Green battled back to within three points with 13.7 seconds remaining and was on shot away from forcing overtime before dropping a hard-fought 63-58 decision at Sovereign Bank Arena.

Although Dartmouth won the respect of the partisan Rutgers crowd and legendary coach C. Vivian Stringer, to come so close to the brass ring and miss it stung.

"To be honest with you, I'm disappointed that we lost," said Dartmouth coach Chris Wielgus. "We didn't come here to play close. We came to win. That's what we talked about. That's what we tried to do.

"If we came here to play close," Wielgus said in the postgame press conference with a glance at several of her seniors, "we'd be all smiles and happy. These kids have been crying."

Angie Soriaga, who hit a buzzer-beater from near midcourt to make it 32-25 at the half, led the Big Green with 23 points including 6-of-10 shooting from 3-point range. Ashley Taylor came off the bench to score 13 points and grab seven rebounds for Dartmouth, which finishes the year 23-7.

Rutgers got 21 points from national player-of-the-year candidate Cappie Pondexter and 19 from Matee Ajavon while improving to 26-4.

Down 57-46 with under 5 minutes to play, Dartmouth went on a 12-4 run that featured a trio of 3-pointers by Soriaga and another by senior classmate Jeannie Cullen, who tied the Dartmouth and Ivy League record for career triples with 273.

Soriaga's final triple, which made her the 31st player in NCAA Tournament first-round action to hit six in a game and broke the arena record, pulled Dartmouth to within 61-58 with 46 seconds left and set up the end-game dramatics.

After Ajavon missed the front end of a 1-and-1 for Rutgers, Taylor's open 3 to tie the game was just off the mark. Soriaga got the rebound only to be called for an offensive foul on a charge between the arc and half court with 13 seconds remaining that had Dartmouth fans and more than a few others howling when it was replayed on the screen above half court.

A foul and two Pondexter free throws later Dartmouth's third near-miss in the NCAA Tournament was all but assured.

"We were expecting to come in here and get the upset," said Soriaga. "Our gamplan worked. We were able to stay with them and it got tighter and tighter toward the end of the game. Some things just don't work out."

Freshman Darcy Rose added seven points and four rebounds for Dartmouth which got six points and seven rebounds from guard Fatima Kamara, whose fearless drives into the paint provided the Big Green's first points more than 5 minutes into the game.

"I'm not surprised," Stringer said after the close call. "... Hats off to them. ... I'm sure they'll be back. They've got a lot of seniors but the tradition will continue."