Vermont Outlasts Dartmouth in Triple-Overtime Barnburner, 82-77

Sunday, November 23

Burlington, Vt.

1:00 PM

Dartmouth College

Vermont

Vermont Outlasts Dartmouth in Triple-Overtime Barnburner, 82-77

11/23/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

By: Dartmouth

Boxscore

Burlington, Vt. ? It was a thrilling 55 minutes at Vermont's Patrick Gymnasium before the Catamounts finally dispatched the Dartmouth women's basketball team, 82-77, in triple overtime.

Dartmouth (0-4) played its fourth overtime period in the last two days ? 100 minutes of basketball this weekend ? after falling to Michigan State in overtime yesterday in the TD Banknorth Classic at Vermont. Today's contest marked the first triple-overtime game in Dartmouth women's basketball history.

The game was a spirited battle between old friends Dartmouth head coach Chris Wielgus and Vermont head coach Sharon Dawley, who served as an assistant for the Big Green under Wielgus for 10 years.

It would be hard to choose a star of the game for Dartmouth, who got gritty performances from all its players including double-doubles for senior Darcy Rose (Fort Collins, Colo.) and Brittney Smith (Fort Worth, Texas). Rose posted 15 points, 16 rebounds while Smith added 22 points, 10 boards. Margaret Smith (Fort Worth, Texas) hauled in 11 rebounds while Betsy Williams (Norwich, Vt.) poured in 17 points and Koren Schram (Batesville, Ark.) added 11 points, five boards.

Vermont (2-1) had three players in double-figures led by May Kotsopolous' 24 points and Amy Rosenkrantz's 12 point, 11 rebound double-double.

America East favorites Vermont struck first in the third overtime period and never relinquished the lead, though Dartmouth cut it to three points, down 80-77 with 32 seconds left off a three-pointer by Williams. Kotsopoulos hit a pair of free throws late to secure the 82-77 win for the Catamounts.

The game was filled with heroic shots and big defensive stops all around. Arguably Dartmouth's biggest shot of the game was sophomore Brittney Smith's game-tying layup with two seconds left in regulation to tie it at 59-59.

Just as it was yesterday in the overtime loss to Michigan State, it was defense and rebounding that carried the Big Green through the first half, down just 24-21 at the break.. For the second-straight game, Dartmouth kept its opponent off the scoreboard until five minutes into the contest, but built just a 3-0 lead itself before Vermont lit its side of the board with a Courtnay Pilyapaitis three.

Vermont built its largest lead of the game to seven points with just under two minutes remaining as Dartmouth weathering the storm with leading scorer Schram on the bench in foul trouble. Schram was held to just one shot and two points in the half but came back in late to help Dartmouth close the half on a 4-0 run including two made free-throws.

Margaret Smith hit the first two buckets of the second half for Dartmouth with well-timed jumpers to pull her team within one, down 26-25 at 17:51. The teams traded buckets until a Pilyapaitis three gave her team a 38-32 lead at 12:25. The Big Green scored seven-straight with three from Williams and four from Brittney Smith to take a 39-38 lead at 10:16.

The Catamounts were in the bonus from the 9:36 mark on but Dartmouth committed just one more foul in the period to limit Vermont to just a one-and-one. Vermont kicked it into high gear and went on a 14-7 run during the next five minutes for its largest lead of the game, up 53-45 at 5:26. Dartmouth methodically chipped away at the Vermont lead, getting stops while going on a 6-0 run to cut it to two points.

The dramatic finish started off with a strong drive to the basket by Schram to make it 57-55, Vermont with 1:38 on the clock. After an Amy Rosenkrantz foul, Brittney Smith toed the line and made two free-throws to tie the game. Rosenkrantz got it done on the other end with an off-balance shot before Brittney Smith answered to tie the game with two seconds left, 59-59.

The Big Green took a quick 63-59 lead in the first overtime and looked poised for the win but the Cats pulled within one, down 63-62, at 1:53. Rose extended Dartmouth's lead to three points with just 17 seconds left and Vermont had the final shot. Tonya Young came through for the Cats with a huge three with nine ticks on the clock to tie it at 65-65 and Dartmouth could not get a shot off, sending the game to OT two.

In the second overtime it was Vermont's turn to get the early lead, going up 68-65 by the 3:18 mark. Schram came up big with a four-point play after a dagger of a three-pointer to give the Big Green a 69-68 lead seconds later. Kotsopoulos answered with a three of her own before Williams scored four-straight to put Dartmouth up, 73-71, at 1:22. The teams traded defensive stops before Vermont got another last-second shot, this time from Sy Janousek, to tie it at 73-73.

The Cats got the lead in triple overtime and never looked back en route to the final 82-77.

The Big Green controlled the boards, 56-45, and Vermont shot 36.8 percent for the game while Dartmouth hit 32.9 percent.

Dartmouth hits the road again next week when it travels to Delaware for a Friday night matchup at 7:00 p.m. on Nov. 28.