Completed Event: Women's Basketball at Brown on February 13, 2026 , Loss , 51, to, 58
Final
Women's Basketball
at Brown
51
58
Winning Tradition
9/19/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dartmouth Women's Basketball - A Winning Tradition
| Dartmouth Family | In the NCAA's | Ivy Awards | 25 Year Team |
Fifteen Ivy League Championships since 1980. Six appearances in the NCAA Tournament including the only at-large appearance in conference history. A Wade Trophy finalist. Nine Ivy League Players of the Year and ten Ivy League Rookies of the Year since 1980.
When discussion gets around to the Dartmouth women's basketball program, the list of accomplishments goes on and on. In its three decades of existence, the Big Green women have established a tradition of excellence and consistency unmatched in the Ivy League.
The women's basketball program joined the varsity ranks for the 1973-74 season, after one year as a club sport. After a 6-1 record during that season, Dartmouth had a pair of lean years before Chris Wielgus took over prior to the 1976-77 season.
Wielgus' arrival on campus coincided with Dartmouth's participation in the Ivy League tournament, and it was not long before the Big Green established a level of dominance unmatched in the League's history. In 1980, Dartmouth — behind Gail Koziara '82, who was named Ivy League Player of the Year for the first of three times in her career — went 6-1 in Ivy play during the regular season before clinching its first Ivy title in the now-defunct postseason tournament. It was the first of four consecutive championships.
The highlight of the streak came in 1982-83, when the Big Green capped off an 11-1 conference mark by making an appearance in the NCAA tournament. It remains the only at-large bid received to March Madness by an Ivy team.
After a two-year hiatus, Dartmouth came back with a vengeance in 1985-86 to tie Harvard for the Ivy crown with a 9-3 record — the first of five consecutive titles. Jayne Daigle '86, who along with Koziara and Ann Deacon '83 was a four-time first team All-Ivy selection, led Dartmouth to the 1986 crown by averaging 17.4 points and 8.8 rebounds in her final campaign. It was also the first Ivy championship for head coach Jacqueline Hullah, who took over prior to the 1984-85 season.
After that, the vaunted Class of 1990 arrived on campus and kept the streak alive. That class - with help their first two years from two-time Ivy Player of the Year Liz Walter '89 - amassed a stunning 49-7 record against Ivy competition. Their senior year is undoubtedly one of the greatest in the program's illustrious history — 23 wins (a school record), including a staggering 20 in a row. Most impressively, they came within a game of being the first team in Ivy history to complete the double round-robin regular season with an unblemished record, but fell to Harvard in the season finale. That 1989-90 unit remains a group that many feel was snubbed by the NCAA tournament committee (the Ivy League would not receive an automatic bid to the women's tournament until 1994).
The 1990s saw the Big Green remain one of the most consistent programs in the League. In 1993-94, Wielgus returned to Hanover, and her magic touch was immediate as Dartmouth shocked many in the conference by tying Brown for the Ivy title. With an NCAA tournament bid on the line, the Big Green and Bears met at Harvard in what was the first one-game playoff in Ivy League women's basketball history. Brown took the bid, 72-62, in overtime.
No playoff game was necessary in 1994-95, but it was close. The final game of the season pitted 11-2 Dartmouth against 11-2 Harvard, again in Cambridge. In front of an Ivy League record crowd of 2,231 fans, the Big Green exorcised the ghosts of a year previous with a resounding 72-48 win. Nine days later, the Big Green was again at the top of its game, this time against heavily-favored Virginia in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Dartmouth gave the Cavaliers all they could handle before falling, 71-68.
It was another exciting Ivy League race in the 1998-99 season when Dartmouth tied Princeton for the Ivy League title and the two teams met in a playoff game at Yale. Sherryta Freeman came off the bench to score 15 points and lead the Big Green to a 66-49 win over the Tigers. Dartmouth fell to Rutgers, 84-70, in the NCAA tournament that year, but would nearly make history the next year.
In the 2000 NCAA tournament, the Big Green trailed by one point with just about two minutes remaining before losing, 70-66, to defending national champion Purdue.
After a five-year hiatus, Dartmouth once again returned to the top of the Ivy League during the 2004-05 season. Wielgus guided a young squad with no seniors to a 12-2 mark in the Ivy League and a first place tie with Harvard. Once again, a playoff was necessary to determine which team would receive the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. In a game held at Brown, point guard Angie Soriaga had 22 points, including 16 in the first half, to lead the Big Green to a 75-61 victory over Crimson. Despite playing with pneumonia, Dartmouth center Elise Morrison had 18 points and ten boards.
In the 2005 NCAA tournament in Storrs, Conn., the Big Green had the unenviable task of facing defending national champion Connecticut on its home floor and the veteran Huskies downed the inexperienced Big Green, 95-47.
The 2005-06 squad returned all five starters from the previous season's championship team and was a unanimous selection to repeat as Ivy Champs. Three games into the season, All-Ivy candidate Morrison was lost for the remainder of the year with a foot injury. The Big Green rallied to overcome adversity, receiving First Team All-Ivy performances from seniors Soriaga and Angie Cullen and an Honorable Mention All-Ivy season by Ashley Taylor. As usual, the Big Green's road to the NCAA Tournament was no easy one - this time the squad would finish at 12-2, in a three-way tie with Brown and Princeton for the Ivy Title. After a coin-toss, Princeton received a bye to the title game while Dartmouth took care of business on the court, knocking off Brown, 73-62 on the strength of 18 points from Taylor. The Big Green punched its ticket to the Big Dance with a 63-48 win over Princeton in the Ivy final.
Once again, Dartmouth played David and Goliath with a big-time NCAA Tournament opponent, taking on third-seeded Rutgers in the Scarlet Knights' backyard at Trenton, N.J. The Big Green valiantly came back from an 11-point deficit late in the game, but eventually fell 63-58 to the Big East Champions. The 2005-06 squad finished the season at 23-7, tying a school record for wins.
Since round-robin play began in the Ivy League in 1982-83, Dartmouth has finished fourth or better every year but two. Every class but one from 1980-2006 has graduated with at least one Ivy League championship ring. The bar is set high in the Dartmouth College women's basketball program — and if history is any indication, with good reason.
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's BasketballWomen's Basketball Postgame vs. Penn - 2.28.26
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Women's Basketball Postgame vs. Princeton - 2.27.26
Saturday, February 28
Women's Basketball at Penn Postgame 1-19-26
Monday, January 19
Women's Basketball at Princeton Postgame 1-17-26
Sunday, January 18
