Women's Hoops Hosts St. John's in Home Opener

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The Dartmouth women's basketball team (0-1) is back at Leede Arena this Tuesday night to host Big East foe St. John's in the Big Green's home opener. St. John's (1-0) comes to town off a win over Northeastern this past Friday night.

THIS TIME OUT: Game Number 855. The Big Green takes on St. John's tonight in its home-opener. The Red Storm got the better of Dartmouth last year in Queens so the Big Green looks to return the favor tonight

LAST TIME OUT: Dartmouth dropped its first game of the season on the road at Hartford this past Saturday. The game started out fairly balanced before turnovers and poor shooting plagued the Green down the stretch.

NEXT TIME OUT: The Big Green travels north to Burlington, Vt. to take part in the TD Banknorth Classic at Vermont. Dartmouth's first-round opponent is Michigan State, followed by Quinnipiac or Vermont in the second round.

DARTMOUTH PROBABLE STARTERS:

F #10 Margaret Smith, JR, 6-1
F #20 Brittney Smith, SO, 6-1
C #25 Darcy Rose, SR, 6-2
G #32 Betsy Williams, JR, 6-0
G #33 Koren Schram, SR, 5-7

QUICK HITS
? Dartmouth hosts St. John's in its home-opener tonight, beginning the 22nd season of play at Leede Arena. Since opening the doors in 1987, the Big Green is 12-9 in opening games at Leede and an impressive 165-81 overall at home.

? The Big Green is 23-12 all-time in home-openers, dating back to the 1973-74 season.

? Dartmouth nearly had three double-digit scorers against Hartford, but a lack of balance and costly turnovers, 27 total, produced just 40 points as a team.
? St. John's defeated the Big Green handily last season, 74-31, in Queens. The game was smack in the middle of a tough start to the season for Dartmouth, who eventually turned things around to win a share of its 16th Ivy title.

? The Big Green returns 10 letterwinners and three starters from the 2007-08 squad, though at least five players on the team have significant starting experience.

? Dartmouth rookies Sasha Dosenko and Bethany Morrison both saw their first collegiate action on Saturday against the Hawks.

IT'S ALL GREEK TO ME
During tonight's game, Dartmouth is hosting a campus Greek Night challenge. The fraternity or sorority that has the most members in attendance receive a $500 gift towards something for its house.

TOUGH OPENERS
Including this season's loss at Hartford, Dartmouth has not won a season opener since the 2005-06 campaign, when it downed Quinnipiac, 90-42. That also marked Dartmouth's last win in a home-opener. The Bobcats, who are much improved including a 25-win season last year, are actually a potential opponent for the Big Green at the Vermont tournament this coming weekend.

BIG EAST BLUES
Since 2000, Dartmouth is just 1-10 against Big East teams with the lone victory coming against Providence in the 2003-04 home-opener. Several of the meetings between the Big Green and the Big East have been real heartbreakers for Dartmouth including last season's 64-61 loss to Marquette on a half-court buzzer-beater. In the 2006 NCAA Tournament, Rutgers barely escaped an upset with a 63-58 win over the Big Green in the first round.

STOP THAT THIEF!
That's what Dartmouth's opponents have been saying for the past two years when senior Koren Schram is on the ball. Schram, who usually marks the opponent's top guard, recently topped the 100-steal mark after two takeaways against Hartford.

SWEET SIXTEEN
In 2007-08, Dartmouth picked up its 16th Ivy League Championship and the 11th under current head coach Chris Wielgus. It was also the third title in the last four years. The Big Green shared the title with Cornell and Harvard. Harvard ranks second on the championship list with 11 titles to its credit.

POSTSEASON PLAYERS
The Big Green has made four-straight postseason appearances dating back to 2005, with two NCAA Tournaments and two WNIT bids. Dartmouth is the first school in Ivy women's basketball history to accomplish the feat of four-straight postseason appearances. Graduated seniors Kristen Craft '08 and Sydney Scott '08 became the first players in the Ancient Eight to play in four-straight postseasons. With three postseasons of their own, current seniors Darcy Rose and Koren Schram will try to match them this year.

PRESEASON POLLING
The Big Green was predicted to take second in a very tight Ivy League preseason media poll. Dartmouth was picked just 11 points shy of first-place pick Harvard and received four first-place votes.

FROM ALL OVER THE LAND
The 13 players on the Big Green squad this season come from nine different states and two countries. A national program, the Big Green has played in 29 different states since 1994, including this season.

Schedules