Dartmouth Women Storm to 71-56 Win at Bryant

Saturday, January 24

Smithfield, R.I.

1:00 PM

Dartmouth College

Bryant

1/24/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

By: Dartmouth

Boxscore

SMITHFIELD, R.I. ? After trailing by five at halftime, the Dartmouth women's basketball team outscored Bryant by 20 points in the second to take a 71-56 victory on the road today.

Today marked Dartmouth's last non-conference game and the Big Green enter Ivy League play next weekend on a solid note. Dartmouth improved to 6-9, 1-0 Ivy while Bryant dropped to 5-12.

The Big Green got a balanced effort with five players scoring in double-figures for the first time this season, led by a career-high 24 points and nine rebounds by sophomore Brittney Smith (Fort Worth, Texas). Sophomore Meghan McFee (Manchester, Conn.) played a career-high 39 minutes and was the second-leading scorer with 12 points, five rebounds and three steals. Koren Schram (Batesville, Ark.) added 11 points, six rebounds, four steals and three assists, Margaret Smith (Fort Worth, Texas) tallied 10 points and Darcy Rose (Fort Collins) also scored 10 in just 16 minutes.

Rebounding proved critical for Dartmouth in the comeback win. After Bryant held a 27-14 advantage rebounding in the first, the Big Green crashed the boards as a team to command a 28-8 advantage in the second half, good for 42-35 for the game. Cassie Cooper (Chelsea, Maine) was the Big Green's second-leading rebounder with seven and every player that played had at least two.

Dartmouth looked to be in good shape in the early goings, taking a 6-2 lead at the 16:21 mark off a Margaret Smith three-pointer. That would be Dartmouth's lone triple of the half as the Big Green tried to shake off the rust from its 11-day layoff. jumper. Bryant responded with a quick 7-0 run to go up 9-6 before McFee drilled a three at 15:14.

Brittney Smith and Koren Schram (Batesville, Ark.) helped Dartmouth build a 13-9 lead before Bryant pulled back ahead, 15-13. After Brittney Smith tied the game at 15, Bryant rattled off a 9-0 run to build a 24-15 lead until Margaret Smith stopped the bleeding with a pair of free throws at 6:56.

Already down on the scoreboard, Dartmouth was soon fighting an uphill battle as post players Rose and Cooper were both whistled for an uncharacteristic three fouls each in the first 20. The Bulldogs took advantage with a larger lineup, building a 29-21 lead at 2:44. Brittney Smith scored five points in the final minute and the Big Green surrendered two Bulldog free throws to make it 31-26, Bryant, at the half.

Despite committing 13 turnovers Bryant made up for it by commanding the boards, 27-14.

Brittney Smith picked up where she left off in the second, scoring Dartmouth's first three points as the Big Green hunkered down to chip away at the Bulldogs' lead. Bryant reinflated its lead to 37-29 off an O'Keefe jumper at 17:40 before Betsy Williams (Norwich, Vt.) collected her own rebound and scored her first points of the game to put Dartmouth back on the board, 37-31 at 17:09.

Margaret Smith nailed a putback to start a 7-0 Dartmouth run that would give the Big Green its first lead of the game. McFee hit one of two free-throws at 14:43 and Cooper snagged the rebound off the second and coolly hit two freebies to put Dartmouth ahead 38-37 at 14:36.

The teams traded buckets during the next few minutes and the game was tied for the ninth time, 45-45, after a Margaret Smith layup at 9:05. Her sister, Brittney, hit two free throws on the next play to put Dartmouth ahead for good, up 47-45 at 8:21. The Bulldogs would not go quietly, keeping the game close and trailing by just four, down 55-51 at 5:26.

McFee got to the line on the next Dartmouth possession and nailed a pair of free throws to start an 8-0 Big Green run, as she and Brittney Smith built the lead to 63-51 at 3:54. The Big Green's run grew to 12-2 by the two minute mark as the visitors had the game in hand up 67-53. Rose scored twice more to ice the win and Dartmouth walked away with an important non-league victory, 71-56.

The Big Green continues its road swing with its fourth and fifth straight road games in its first Ivy League weekend. Dartmouth travels to Princeton on Friday, Jan. 30 and Penn on Saturday.