Dartmouth Women Home to Host Blue Sky Classic

For the 33rd consecutive season, the Dartmouth women's basketball team welcomes an exciting field for its annual tournament, Dec. 29-30. This year's Blue Sky Classic features Dartmouth, Dayton, Rhode Island and Vermont. This year's tournament will be played in a classic/round-robin tournament with the match-ups predetermined. Dayton and Vermont open play at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 29 before Dartmouth and Rhode Island square-off at 7 p.m. On Wednesday, Rhode Island and Vermont play at 5 before Dartmouth and Dayton tango at 7 p.m.

Dartmouth Complete Game Notes

Games 10 & 11: Dartmouth (3-6) Blue Sky Classic

Game 10: Dartmouth vs. Rhode Island (5-6)
Date: Tuesday, Dec. 29 • 7:00 PM
Location: Leede Arena • Hanover, N.H.
Dartmouth-Rhode Island Series: Rhode Island leads, 6-1
Last Meeting: 12/2/97 • Kingston, R.I.
Result: Dartmouth W, 60-57
Streak: Dartmouth +1
This is URI's third trip to the Blue Sky Classic, going 2-2 with appearances in 1998 and 2000

Game 11: Dartmouth vs. Dayton (10-2)
Date: Wednesday, Dec. 29 • 7:00 PM
Location: Leede Arena • Hanover, N.H.
Dartmouth-Dayton Series: Dartmouth leads, 1-0
Last Meeting: 12/30/06 • Hanover, N.H.
Result: Dartmouth W, 76-71
Streak: Dartmouth +1
Dartmouth beat Dayton in the 2006 Blue Sky Classic consolation, the Flyers went 0-2 at the tourney.

Multimedia (For ALL Games):
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THIS TIME OUT
Games Number 893 & 894. Dartmouth hosts its own Blue Sky Classic, marking the 33rd straight season that it has held a tournament in Hanover. It is the longest running tournament in the women's game.

LAST TIME OUT
Dartmouth split its weekend at the USC Women of Troy Classic in Los Angeles on Dec. 19-20. Dartmouth lost to USC, 78-46, before defeating Delaware State, 49-38.

NEXT TIME OUT
The Big Green heads to New England rival Holy Cross for a 1 p.m. start on Saturday, Jan. 2.

Dartmouth Probable Starters:
*#10    Margaret Smith   G • SR • 6-1 • 4.9 ppg, 5.7 rgg, 70.4 FT Pct.
*#20    Brittney Smith    F • JR • 6-1 • 11.2 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 2.0 bpg
*#21    Meghan McFee    G • JR • 5-10 • 4.1 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 1.4 spg
#25    Faziah Steen      G • FR • 5-8 • 8.3 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 1.3 spg
#34    Sasha Dosenko   F • SO • 6-3 • 7.6 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 1.1 bpg
*Returning starter

QUICK TAKE ON THE BIG GREEN
• Freshman Faziah Steen has played well since earning her first collegiate start at #25 Syracuse. Steen has averaged 7.0 points per game including a 12-point effort against Delaware State.

• Junior Brittney Smith recorded her second double-double in the last three games with a 10-point, 15 rebound effort in the win over Delaware State. Smith stifled the Hornets with her career-high in rebounds and blocks, stuffing six shots.

• Dartmouth smothered Delaware State defensively and held the Hornets to 38 points, a Big Green season-low for points allowed.

• For the first time all season, Dartmouth took fewer free throws than its opponent when it lost at #25 Syracuse on Dec. 13. The Big Green was 5-of-7 from the line, still managing to hit more than the Orange, who went 4-of-11.

• The Big Green ran into a hot-shooting Trojans squad in its loss to USC, giving up 11 threes in the contest. Despite ending up with 16 free throw attempts, Dartmouth struggled to get to the line at key points in the first half, only taking two freebies as officials let the two teams duke it out inside.

• Louise Vanden Bosch made her first career start in the win over Delaware State.

BACK HOME FOR BLUE SKY
Dartmouth is back in the friendly confines of Leede Arena for the first time since Nov. 22 and will get two home games in two days. Such a schedule, coupled with the USC Tournament before Christmas, helps the Big Green prepare for the rigors of its Friday-Saturday Ivy League schedule.
Dartmouth has hosted a tournament for 33 straight years, making this the longest running uninterrupted women's college tournament in the country. Called the Blue Sky Classic for the 13th year, it has been held after the holidays, Dec. 29-30 since 1990. The tournament began during current head coach Chris Wielgus' second season in Hanover, held in January 1978. Traditionally a strong field, this year's tournament features Dartmouth, Vermont, Rhode Island and nationally-ranked Dayton.

TOURNAMENT TRADITION
Dartmouth owns a 32-26 mark in 64 games played at its own tournament, winning 10 of the 32 possible titles. The only other school with more than one tournament crown is Kentucky, who won in 1997 and 2001.
This year's tournament field features three teams who are repeat visitors, with Vermont having competed in six tournaments with a record of 4-8, Rhode Island going 2-2 in two appearances and Dayton at 0-2 after a 2006 visit to Hanover. There are some interesting ties across the board, as Rhode Island coach Cathy Inglese, in her first year at URI, coached at Vermont in the 1990's. Moreover, Inglese played in the tournament in 1980 while at Southern Connecticut, earning all-tournament accolades.

BETTER OFF THE BENCH
Since moving out of the starting lineup for the last three games, senior Betsy Williams has played her best basketball of the season, averaging 11.7 points per game while shooting 52 percent from the floor and 54 percent from three-point range (seven threes). Williams led the team in scoring against both #25 Syracuse (13 points) and USC (12 points).

SCHEDULING UP
Don't let the 3-6 record fool you. Dartmouth is playing the most challenging non-conference schedule in the Ivy League to prepare itself for a run at the Ivy title. The Big Green's strength of schedule ranked as high as eighth in the nation in the Sagarin ratings and 14th in Jerry Palm's. The teams that Dartmouth has lost to have a staggering combined record of 47-15 overall this season.
Dartmouth has played four teams in the RPI top-50 and six in the top 125. In addition to #25 Syracuse, three of the first four opponents on the schedule were receiving top-25 votes and Dayton has ranked as high as 20th and is just the second (AP)/third (Coaches) team out of the top-25 now.

DEFENSIVE EFFORT
Dartmouth turned in some tremendous defensive efforts of late including allowing just 38 points on 27 percent shooting to Delaware State. On Dec. 13, the Green held #25 Syracuse to just 56 points - nearly 23 below their season average of 78.9 per game. The Big Green also forced Syracuse into a season-high 26 turnovers.

COMING INTO HER OWN
Sophomore Sasha Dosenko has made some great strides this season, averaging 7.6 points and 5.8 rebounds. Since joining the starting lineup at Vermont, Dosenko is Dartmouth's second-leading scorer with 9.5 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. The 6-3 Dosenko, who hails from the Ukraine, is finding a place for herself inside after playing sparingly in just 20 games as a rookie.

THE BIG GREEN WANDERERS
Dartmouth finally ends a span of 36 days without a home game. The Big Green opened the season with three-straight at home but has not played in Hanover since Nov. 22. Last season, Dartmouth endured a stretch of 40 days without a game at Leede Arena.

HOLIDAY ROAD
In keeping with its tradition, Dartmouth traveled far from home for its pre-holiday trip with a trip to the University of Southern California. With players hailing from all over the country, the Big Green traditionally uses this time to travel to players' home states. In recent seasons, Dartmouth has brought players home to Arkansas, Texas, Colorado and Michigan.

GETTING TO THE LINE ...
And keeping opponents off it. The Big Green has picked up where it left off last season by getting to the free throw line often and keeping its opponents away from it. In just nine games, Dartmouth has taken 185 free throws to its opponents 117. The Big Green tries to make more free throws than its opponents take and has succeeded in that to date, with 122 made. The Green could stand to improve on its 63.8 percentage but opponents are also only connecting on 63.4 percent. Last season, Dartmouth nearly doubled up its opponents by taking 602 free throws to others 345 on the season.

TOUGH BREAK FOR MEYER
Senior Michelle Meyer was hitting her stride this season after missing all of last with a knee injury but a concussion suffered in practice kept her on the sidelines for the last two games. She is expected to return to the lineup this week. She is the second Dartmouth player whose head has kept her out of the game, as Louise Vanden Bosch missed the first six games of the season due to post-concussion syndrome.

SETTING A NEW HIGH MARK FOR SCORING
At Stony Brook on Dec. 11, Dartmouth scored a season-high 77 points thanks in part to 18 points each from Sasha Dosenko and Faziah Steen and 17 from Brittney Smith. The 77 points scored is the most in any game since the Big Green tallied 79 in a win over New Hampshire on Jan. 10, 2007. Primarily a defensive team, Dartmouth scored 70+ points just three times in 2008-09, twice in overtime and three times in 2007-08, once in overtime. Dartmouth did reach the 70+ point mark eight times in 2006-07.

Schedules