Big Second Half, Stifling Defense Sends Dartmouth Past Delaware, 59-49

Friday, November 28

Newark, Del.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

Delaware

Big Second Half, Stifling Defense Sends Dartmouth Past Delaware, 59-49

11/28/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

By: Dartmouth

Boxscore

NEWARK, Del. ? The Dartmouth women's basketball team used a 26-9 run in the last 12 minutes for a comeback win at the University of Delaware this evening, 59-49.

The Big Green (1-4) did not take a lead until 4:51 left in the game when sophomore Meghan McFee (Manchester, Conn.) hit a pair of free-throws to make it 46-45, Dartmouth. Delaware (2-3) would score just four more points in the game as the Big Green pulled away to take its first win of the season. The Big Green outscored the Blue Hens, 18-4 in the last six minutes, using stifling defense to seal the victory.

Dartmouth had three players in double-figures led by senior guard Koren Schram (Batesville, Ark.) with 17 points, four assists and three steals. Junior Betsy Williams (Norwich, Vt.) added 13 points and senior Darcy Rose (Fort Collins, Colo.) posted 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds. The Big Green shot a solid 51.2 percent for the game, hitting 59 percent of its shots in the second half. Conversely, Delaware's Ariene Jenkins was the only player in double-figures for the Hens with 10 points.

Dartmouth came out uncharacteristically flat in the first half, and Delaware's chaotic defense allowed it to push the tempo early, capitalizing off turnovers for easy buckets. By the end of the half, the Big Green had committed 12 turnovers with 11 Blue Hen points coming off its miscues. The game was without a whistle until 13:35, at which point Dartmouth trailed, 12-8.

From that point, the Blue Hens rattled off a 7-0 run to inflate the lead to 19-8 before Cassie Cooper (Chelsea, Maine) converted in the paint at 11:43 for Dartmouth. Delaware was unfazed by that, however, and outscored the Big Green, 6-2, in the next two minutes for a 25-12 lead, its largest of the half.

Schram got things going for Dartmouth with a big three at 9:11, starting an 8-0 run to cut the Delaware lead to just 25-20. After five scoreless minutes, Vanessa Kabongo got the Hens back on the board at 4:16 and neither team scored again until 1:23 when Williams drilled a three to cut it to 27-23, Hens. Delaware's Meghan McClean answered with a triple of her own and Ariene Jenkins added a offensive putback before Williams nailed another long three at the buzzer to give the Big Green a shot in the arm, down just 32-27 at the half.

The Big Green had a slow start to the second half as well, getting stops defensively but turnovers on the other end gave the ball back to the Blue Hens. The teams traded buckets In the early goings, however, and Dartmouth pulled within three points of Delaware, 36-33, at 6:05 after a three from Schram and a layup by Sasha Dosenko (Kiev, Ukraine) off a feed from Rose. Delaware got its lead back to seven points with a pair of buckets to lead 40-33 at 12:36.

Rose found the basket at 12:20 to cut the lead to 40-35 and begin the 26-9 run on which Dartmouth would end the game. The Big Green allowed the Hens to keep pace for a while, however, as a conventional three-point play by Danielle Parker put them up 45-40 at 6:41. On Dartmouth's next possession, Margaret Smith (Fort Worth, Texas) hauled in an offensive rebound and hit two free-throws to start a 10-0 Big Green run at 6:11. During that span, the Big Green got buckets from five different players including Cooper, Rose, Brittney Smith (Fort Worth, Texas) and McFee, whose free-throws put Dartmouth ahead for good.

Delaware stopped the bleeding with a Jenkins layup at 2:27 to make it 50-47, but the Big Green never looked fazed, responding with a back-breaking play on the next trip down the floor. After taking their time offensively, Brittney Smith fired a perfect pass to a wide open Williams under the basket. She was fouled and converted the free-throw to make it 53-47, Dartmouth at 1:55. The Big Green's defense forced a shot clock violation on Delaware's next possession and put the nail in the coffin with a Schram three to go up 56-47 after she, Williams and Margaret Smith played keepaway at the top of the key for 20 seconds. The Big Green hit late free throws to clinch to 59-49 win.

Offense and defense clicked tonight for Dartmouth, as the 49 points allowed was a season-low, while its 51.2 percent shooting was a season high. The Big Green also controlled the boards, 33-26, bolstered by a big second-half effort from Margaret Smith.

The Big Green is back in action this Wednesday when it takes on Temple on Wednesday, Dec. 3 in Philadelphia.