Dartmouth Falls to Nationally Ranked Dayton in Blue Sky Classic Finale

Wednesday, December 30

Hanover, N.H.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

DAYTON

Dartmouth Falls to Nationally Ranked Dayton in Blue Sky Classic Finale

12/30/2009 9:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball

By: Dartmouth

Boxscore

HANOVER, N.H. - The Dartmouth women's basketball team dug in defensively, but fell to Dayton, which ranked #27 in both polls this week, 57-36 in the Blue Sky Classic. Dayton has ranked as high as 20th in the polls this month.

The Big Green (3-8) struggled to get the ball inside against the Flyers' (11-3) much larger lineup, stifling Brittney Smith (Fort Worth, Texas) to just four points. Smith did pull down 10 rebounds and four blocks, while her sister, Margaret Smith (Fort Worth, Texas) had six points and six rebounds. Brittney Smith earned a spot on the all-tournament team.

Freshman Faziah Steen (Kalamazoo, Mich.) tallied eight points, three assists and two steals in a hard-fought 31 minutes.

Justine Raterman, another all-tournament selection, had 17 points and 11 boards to lead Dayton.

Dartmouth shot just 24 percent for the night and committed 24 costly turnovers. Defensively, the Big Green held the Flyers potent offense, but was unable to convert on turnovers or missed shots by Dayton. Dayton also used its height advantage to take a 44-32 lead on the boards.

Despite shooting just 23.8 percent and turning the ball over 14 times in the first half, Dartmouth battled defensively and held the Flyers to just 25 points for a 25-17 deficit at the break.

It was a defensive struggle from the opening tip with neither team scoring until the 16:22 mark when Dayton's Kristin Daugherty made it 2-0. It was more than a minute before Casey Nance made it 3-0 but senior Michelle Meyer (Covington, Ohio) knotted it at 3-3 on the next possession. The Flyers built the lead to 7-3 at 11:21 but Brittney Smith answered right back with a score inside to make it 7-5.

Dayton went on a 6-2 run to go up 13-7 at 7:17 after a Justine Raterman bucket. The Big Green cut it to 15-10 after a conventional three-point play by Jalea Moses (Brooklyn, N.Y) at 6:33, but Dayton answered right back with a three pointer on the next possession. The score stayed at 18-10 for a full three minutes before Dayton got it to 21-10 after a Des'arae Chambers triple at 3:08. Dayton would extend the leas to 23-10 a minute later.

The Big Green dug in down the stretch to outscore the Flyers, 7-2, starting with two free throws from Louise Vanden Bosch (Kettering, Ohio). Dartmouth turned Dayton over on its last possession and Steen worked the clock before draining a three at the buzzer to make it 25-17 at the half.

Dayton opened the second half on a 7-0 run to go up 32-17 by the 17:03 mark. Margaret Smith (Fort Worth, Texas) hit one of two from the line before Steen scored on a fastbreak to make it 32-21 at 16:01. The teams traded buckets before Chambers put Dayton up 40-26 at 12:38.

Sasha Dosenko (Kiev, Urkaine) pulled the Big Green within 12, down 40-28, at 12:22, but Dartmouth would struggle beyond to put points on the board down the stretch. Neither team scored for the next three minutes before Kendel Ross broke the drought for Dayton in a sloppy half for both teams.

Dartmouth was in the bonus with seven Dayton fouls by the 9:05 mark, but the Flyers committed just three more in the half, keeping the Big Green off the line. A Margaret Smith jumper answered Ross' bucket to keep it at a 12-point deficit, 42-30 at 8:21, but the Flyers responded with a quick 5-0 run that broke the Big Green's back.

Dartmouth got within 15 points again, down 49-34 off a Dosenko jumper at 4:02, but was outscored 8-2 in the final stanza, unable to combat a strong inside presence for the Flyers.

The Big Green has a quick turnaround before another non-conference tilt at Holy Cross this Saturday, Jan. 2 at 1 p.m.

Vermont finished the Blue Sky Classic as the only team with a 2-0 record, led by MVP Tonya Young and all-tournament selection May Kotsopoulos.

Blue Sky Classic All-Tournament:

Lindsay Harris, Rhode Island
Justine Raterman, Dayton
Kristin Daugherty, Dayton
Brittney Smith, Dartmouth
May Kotsopoulos, Vermont
Tonya Young, Vermont (MVP)