Seniors Lead Dartmouth Past Columbia, 63-61, in Ivy Thriller

Saturday, February 28

New York, N.Y.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

Columbia

Seniors Lead Dartmouth Past Columbia, 63-61, in Ivy Thriller

2/28/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

By: Dartmouth

Boxscore

NEW YORK ? Senior co-captains Darcy Rose (Fort Collins, Colo.) and Koren Schram (Batesville, Ark.) each poured in 17 points to lead the Dartmouth women's basketball team to a 63-61 victory at Columbia tonight.

It was a tale of two halves as Dartmouth (15-10, 10-1 Ivy) came back from a 12-point halftime deficit to take the critical Ivy win over Columbia (13-13, 6-6 Ivy) and remain in first place. Dartmouth trailed, 31-19, at halftime but outscored Columbia, 44-30 in the second half to take the win. Rose converted 9-of-10 free throws down the stretch to ice the win for the Big Green - only one of which came off an intentional foul.

Rose finished with her second-straight double-double on 17 points and 10 rebounds while Schram added 17 points, 15 in the second half. She scored eight points in the first four minutes of the second half to slice the Columbia lead to just two points. Brittney Smith (Fort Worth, Texas) continued her solid play with 16 points, six rebounds and three steals.

Dartmouth opened the game firing on all cylinders and took a 5-4 lead at the 16:40 mark after pushing the ball inside to Rose and Smith. The sophomores led the Big Green on an 8-0 run with a three-point play from Smith, a bucket from Cassie Cooper (Chelsea, Maine) and a big three from Meghan McFee (Manchester, Conn.) to go up, 13-4, at 12:03.

The Lions regrouped at the next media timeout and came out with a vengeance. Danielle Browne came off the bench to score eight points in an 18-0 run that gave Columbia a 22-13 lead at 6:24 off a Sara Yee triple. Cooper finally got Dartmouth back on the board with 6:00 to play but the Lions answered back with another three to make it 25-15 at 5:30.

Columbia's lead grew to 12 off a Browne layup at 2:02 and stayed that way through halftime, holding a 31-19 advantage at the break. It marked the second-straight night that Dartmouth found itself in the unfamiliar position of trailing at halftime after allowing 48 percent shooting and getting outrebounded, 19-14.

It was gut check time as the buzzer sounded to open the second half. Dartmouth could not afford to take another Ivy loss and the opening minutes proved a harbinger of things to come. Margaret Smith (Fort Worth, Texas) opened the half with a gutsy three-ball for her only field goal of the night. The Big Green forced a pair of Lions' turnovers and moved the ball smoothly before Schram nailed back-to-back daggers from three, slicing the lead to 31-28 at just 17:41.

Katrina Cragg provided Columbia's first bucket of the half at 16:23 but Schram answered right back with a jumper to cut it back to three. Columbia managed a modest 4-0 run to bring the lead back to seven before Betsy Williams (Norwich, Vt.) and Rose hit a pair to cut it back to three. The teams continued to trade buckets and Dartmouth remained within three, down 44-41, at 10:58 after a blazing triple by Schram.

Still, Dartmouth struggled to get over the hump and a Kathleen Barry three put Columbia back up, 49-43, at 7:57. Rose and McFee hit three free-throws on the next two trips down the court to cut the lead to three before Judie Lomax scored for the Lions to bring it back to five. Brittney Smith answered with a layup and a pair of free throws to pull the Big Green within one, down 51-50, at 5:39.

Things were tight down the stretch and Dartmouth finally took its first lead of the half off a pair of free throws by Rose at 4:37 to make it 52-51. On the next four possessions each team scored, with Brittney Smith giving the Big Green the lead back each time. After Browne put Columbia up by one, Rose got herself to the line for the first of four-straight trips in the final two minutes. She put the Big Green up, 58-57, before Yee regained the lead for Columbia, 59-58, on the next play.

Rose snagged an offense rebound on the next possession and was fouled going back up with 1:03 to play. After 13 ties and lead changes in the final five minutes, the senior arranged for the final lead change of the game, hitting two from the line to put Dartmouth up, 60-59. After snagging a rebound and getting fouled, Rose had icewater in her veins again, putting the Big Green up, 62-59, with 33 seconds to play.

Dartmouth's defense forced the Lions late into the shotclock on the next possession and after 21 seconds, the Big Green let Yee have a way to the basket to avoid fouling or giving up a three. She pulled her team within one, 62-61, with eight seconds to play. Schram inbounded the ball against full court pressure, getting it to Rose who was quickly fouled - the first time Columbia did so intentionally. She hit the first for her ninth in a row but slipped up on the second, putting the Big Green ahead by two, 63-61, with seven to play.

The Lions tried to get a long pass into Lauren Dwyer, but Brittney Smith snagged the ball mid-air to ice the win.

Dartmouth is back in action at home this coming weekend, hosting Yale on Friday night at 7 p.m.

More details will be posted as soon as they become available.