Women's Basketball Slips Past Princeton, 43-42, to Stay Unbeaten in Ivy Play

Saturday, February 21

Hanover, N.H.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

Princeton

Women's Basketball Slips Past Princeton, 43-42, to Stay Unbeaten in Ivy Play

2/21/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

By: Dartmouth

Boxscore

HANOVER, N.H. -- In one of the most dramatic games of the season, the Dartmouth women's basketball team used its defense on the final possession to clinch its 11th consecutive victory with a 43-42 win over Princeton tonight.

Dartmouth? improved to 14-9, 9-0 Ivy while Princeton dropped to 9-14, 4-5 Ivy. It was yet another heartbreaking loss for the Tigers, who drop to 1-9 in games decided by 10 points or less. The Big Green maintained a two-game lead in the Ivy race, with Harvard in second at 7-2.

Neither team would give an inch in the hotly contested defensive battle and though Dartmouth led by 13 points early in the second, it all came down to the final plays. Margaret Smith's (Fort Worth, Texas) driving layup to make it 43-42, Dartmouth, with 1:41 on the clock proved the game-winner followed by a series of tense moments down the stretch.

The teams exchanged missed shots on the next two possessions before Koren Schram (Batesville, Ark.) picked off a pass with 34 seconds on the clock and it looked as though Dartmouth was set to increase its lead. A costly turnover 10 seconds later gave the ball back to Princeton, however, and Whitney Downs drove the lane for a layup with 15 ticks on the clock but she missed and Dartmouth recovered the rebound. On the ensuing inbound play, Brittney Smith (Fort Worth, Texas) was fouled but missed the front end of a one-and-one, giving the Tigers yet another chance to take the lead. Jessica Berry drove the full length of the court and pulled up for a jumper that missed front iron. Neither team could corrale the rebound before time expired, giving Dartmouth the critical win.

The Big Green's defense once again kept its opponent under 45 points for the seventh-straight game. Its offense struggled throughout the night though Brittney Smith reached double-figures with a team-high 10 points and five rebounds. Schram added eight points, six rebounds and three assists while Darcy Rose (Fort Collins, Colo.) crashed the boards for nine rebounds.

In the opening minutes Dartmouth got the ball inside to Brittney Smith for easy buckets before Schram broke a 6-6 tie with a big three-pointer to make it 9-6 at 12:38. The Big Green buckled down defensively but could not convert on the other end and nearly three minutes later Addie Micir broke the ice with a three to tie it for Prinecton at 9:50. The Smith sisters spurred an 11-0 Dartmouth run that included five points from Margaret and four from Brittney to take a 20-9 lead with just 3:29 to play in the half.

The Big Green would not increase its lead any further and the Tigers finished the first half on a 4-0 run to make it 20-13, Dartmouth at the half. It was the seventh-straight game that Dartmouth held its opponent below 20 points in the first half.

Dartmouth came out of the gates hard and fast in the second, capitalizing on a zone defense with back-to-back threes from Meghan McFee (Manchester, Conn.) and Schram to build its largest lead of the game, up 26-13 at 18:23. Princeton answered with a 5-0 run capped by a Julia Berger jumper to cut the lead back to single digits but Rose hit a jumper at 16:03 to make it 28-18 again for dartmouth.

The Tigers then rattled off a 7-2 run capped by a Micir triple to make it 30-27 before Dartmouth coach Chris Wielgus called timeout. McFee drove the lane on the next possession to put Dartmouth back up by five but Princeton answered with five-straight to tie it at 32-32 with 9:54 on the clock.

Each possession in the final 10 minuets was a battle, with both teams buckling down defensively. The teams each traded a pair of free throws with Betsy Williams (Norwich, Vt.) hitting two for Dartmouth and Krystal Hill converting for Princeton to make it 34-34 at 8:48. Hill's free-throws started a 6-0 run capped by an Allgood jumper that gave the Tigers their largest lead of the game, up 38-34 at 6:30. Schram answered with a bold jumper before fellow senior Rose tied it up at 38-38 with 5:38 to go. The Tigers had an answer for everything and Dartmouth was willing to give up some points inside to avoid the three, which Allgood capitalized on with another bucket at 5:10 to regain the 40-38 lead for Princeton.

Cassie Cooper (Chelsea, Maine) hit a huge shot to tie it before Allgood scored what would end up as Princeton's final points of the game with two free-throws at 3:13 to make it 42-40. Rose it one of two from the line on Dartmouth's next trip down the court before Smith's eventual game-winning layup made it 43-42 at 1:41.

Princeton finished the game with a 36-35 advantage on the boards, outdoing Dartmouth's normally potent rebounding game. Neither team shot the ball well, with Dartmouth hitting just 35 percent and Princeton converting 32.6 percent from the field.

The Big Green takes its 11-game winning streak on the road and will look to extend seven-game road winning-streak next weekend when it heads to Cornell on Friday, Feb. 27 and Columbia on Saturday. Both games tip at 7 p.m.