Dartmouth Survives Stony Brook Comeback to Win 77-72

Friday, December 11

Stony Brook, N.Y.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

Stony Brook

Dartmouth Survives Stony Brook Comeback to Win 77-72

12/11/2009 9:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball

By: Dartmouth

Boxscore

Stony Brook, N.Y. - Three players scored 17+ points to lead the Dartmouth women's basketball team through a Stony Brook comeback effort tonight, en route to an eventual 77-72 victory.

Sophomore Sasha Dosenko (Kiev, Ukraine) and freshman Faziah Steen (Kalamazoo, Mich.) each poured in career-highs of 18 points while Brittney Smith (Fort Worth, Texas) was just shy of a double-double with 17 points and nine rebounds including an inspired late second-half effort before fouling out with 2:24 to play.

The Big Green (2-4) stormed out to an 18-3 lead in the game and eventually led by as many as 19 before taking a 39-27 halftime advantage. Stony Brook (2-7) stormed back in the second half, shooting a sizzling 57.6 percent from the floor to outscore Dartmouth 45-38 in the second. Dartmouth hit the big shots when it needed to down the stretch, including a 4-4 effort from the line by Steen and made a big defensive stand up three with five seconds to play to pull out the win.

Smith had a well-rounded statline that also included four assists, three steals and two blocks to go along with her 17 points and nine boards. Dosenko also added seven boards and three assists while Steen grabbed six boards and two steals.

Dartmouth jumped all over Stony Brook from the opening whistle and though it took the Big Green until 17:53 to score - a Margaret Smith (Fort Worth, Texas) layup - they poured it on from that point. Brittney Smith added another bucket before Stony Brook pulled within one, down 4-3 off a Sam Landers free throw at 17:09.

That would be it for a while for the Seawolves, as Dartmouth rattled off a 14-0 run during the next five minutes. The Big Green forced turnovers on nearly every defensive possession and a Dosenko jumper started the run at 16:50. Michelle Meyer (Covington, Ohio) drained a three at 14:12 to make it 15-3, Dartmouth before Steen and Jalea Moses (Brooklyn, N.Y.) combined for three at the line to build an 18-3 advantage at 12:12.

The Seawolves stopped the bleeding with an Amanda Corona jumper at 11:59 but Dartmouth responded with a 6-0 run capped by an arcing jumper from Betsy Williamd (Norwich, Vt.) to go ahead 24-5 at 10:13. Stony Brook changed things up a little and managed an 8-0 run including back-to-back triples by Corona to cut the lead to 24-13 at 8:18.

Dosenko poured in five points in a 7-0 Big Green run to build the lead back to 31-13 at 5:44. The Seawolves got more offensively down the stretch and despite costly fouls, managed to outscore the Big Green 14-8 I the final five minutes of the half for a 39-27 Dartmouth lead at the break. Stony Brook committed 13 fouls in a half that took nearly 50 minutes while Dartmouth went just 13-of-19 at the line. The Seawoves had two players with three fouls and a third with four by the end of the half.

Stony Brook came out on fire in the second half, opening the first six minutes of the half on a 15-8 run that included nine points from Joia Daniels to slice the lead to just 47-42 at 14:30. Steen gave the Big Green a shot in the arm with a big three to build the lead back to 50-42 but Stony Brook scored six straight to slice it back to just two at 13:50.

Steen kept up her impressive play, converting a conventional three point play and after another Stony Brook jumper, nailed a big three to make it 56-50 at 11:29. Dosenko carried the Big Green through the next two minutes, scoring five straight including a big three to go up 61-52 at 9:24. The Seawolves would not go quietly, however, scoring seven unanswered points to cut it to 61-59 with 7:37 to play.

Brittney Smith put the team on her shoulders during the next five minutes, scoring eight points, two rebounds and an assist to help her team take a 71-67 lead before fouling out with 2:34 to play. Stony Brook kept hanging on but Steen went 4-4 from the line to build a 75-70 lead with 24 seconds to play. The Big Green gave up a jumper on Stony Brook's next possession and eventually made a tremendous defensive stand with 5.6 seconds to play. Meghan McFee (Manchester, Conn.) grabbed one of her seven rebounds on the day and was fouled, hitting two free throws with less than a second to play to ice the 77-72 win.

Dartmouth has a quick turnaround before heading to undefeated #25 Syracuse on Sunday for a 5 p.m. start.