Brittney Smith Named Ivy Player of the Year; Schram and Rose Tabbed All-Ivy

Princeton, N.J. -- After leading Dartmouth to its 17th Ivy Championship and NCAA Tournament, sophomore Brittney Smith (Fort Worth, Texas) has been named the Ivy League Player of the Year while Koren Schram (Batesville, Ark.) repeated as a first team All-Ivy selection and Darcy Rose (Fort Collins, Colo.) was named to the second team.

Schram and Smith are the ninth set of first team All-Ivy teammates in Dartmouth history and the first since Jeannie Cullen '06 and Angie Soriaga '06 were both named in 2006. Prior to that it had not happened since 1988. They are the 23rd set in Ivy history.

Brittney Smith, who was the unanimous Ivy Rookie of the Year last season, is Dartmouth's 11th Ivy Player of the Year honoree. She was also one of two unanimous selections to the first team All-Ivy. The 6-1 forward was a force inside throughout the season, averaging 14.1 points, 8.2 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.4 blocks per game overall. In conference play she upped her numbers to 15.1 points and 8.4 rebounds per game while contributing to the Big Green's dominant defense, allowing just 47.1 points per game.

A three-time Ivy Player of the Week, Smith saved some of her best work for the most pivotal game of the season. She dominated in Dartmouth's regular season finale against Harvard, posting 19 points and nine rebounds to secure the outright title and NCAA bid for the Big Green (18-10, 13-1 Ivy). It was also a head-to-head battle with the only other unanimous pick, Harvard's Emily Tay, that may have decided the player of the year result as Tay was limited to just seven points.

Smith is the seventh sophomore to be named Ivy Player of the Year and first since 2002. Three of the others also came from Dartmouth (Liz Walter '89, 1987; Ann Deacon '83, 1981; Gail Kozaiara '82, 1980).

The person most responsible for limiting Tay was Dartmouth's other first team All-Ivy honoree, Koren Schram, a senior guard who is making her second-straight appearance on the first team. She is Dartmouth's first two-time first team honoree since Katharine Hanks '03 was named to the team in three-straight seasons. As a senior, Schram was the vital cog in Dartmouth's offense, averaging 12.1 points and 4.4 rebounds per game along with 2.4 assists and 62 made threes. She was also the centerpiece of the Big Green's epic defense, ranking second in the league in steals per game with 2.4. Schram went out with a bang in her final home game tallying 18 points, including her 1,000th career point, along with three steals.

This season, Schram did it all for the Big Green, from running the point to shutting down the opponent's top scorers as one of the Ivy's top defenders. She scored in double figures 20 times, bringing her career total to 56. She was named to the TD Banknorth and Blue Sky Classic All-Tournament teams and is a top-10 finalist for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. Schram is one of the Big Green's best three-point shooters of all time, currently standing in third place with 196 made threes. She was named honorable mention All-Ivy as a sophomore.

Dartmouth's final All-Ivy honoree is Darcy Rose, a senior forward who earned second team honors for the first time in her career. Rose truly saved the best for last, having her finest season in a Dartmouth uniform as a senior. She averaged 9.1 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, which she upped to an impressive 9.8 points and 7.9 rebounds per game in conference play. Rose was unstoppable down the stretch, willing the Big Green to the third Ivy title of her career.

Prior to this season, Rose had tallied just one career double-double but posted seven as a senior with four coming in the last five games of the season. She battled to a 17-point, 10 rebound double-double in the dramatic comeback win at Columbia and added 13 points and 10 rebounds to ice the title over Harvard.

The Big Green's all-time All-Ivy total is now 98, well above any other team in the league. Dartmouth has also had 36 first team All-Ivy selections ahead of Harvard's 30.

Dartmouth has accepted the Ivy's automatic bid to the 2009 NCAA Tournament and will learn its first round opponent on Monday, March 16 at 7 p.m. during the national selection show.

Player of the Year
Brittney Smith, Dartmouth (So., F, Fort Worth, Texas)

First Team All-Ivy
Judie Lomax, Columbia (So., F, Washington, D.C.)
*Brittney Smith, Dartmouth (So., F, Fort Worth, Texas)
Koren Schram, Dartmouth (Sr., Batesville, Ark.)
*Emily Tay, Harvard (Sr., G, Los Angeles, Calif.)
Carrie Biemer, Penn (Sr., F, Haddonfield, N.J.)

Second Team All-Ivy
Lauren Benson, Cornell (Jr., G, Downers Grove, Ill.)
Darcy Rose, Dartmouth (Sr., F, Fort Collins, Colo.)
Emma Markley, Harvard (So., F, Yorktown Heights, N.Y.)
Addie Micir, Princeton (So., G/F, Newtown, Pa.)
Melisa Colborne, Yale (Jr., F/G, Calgary, Alb.)

Honorable Mention All-Ivy
Danielle Browne, Columbia (Jr., G, Mount Vernon, N.Y.)
Shannan Scarselletta, Cornell (Sr., F, Buffalo, N.Y.)
Brogan Berry, Harvard (Fr., G, Beavercreek, Ohio)

All-Rookie Team
*Allison Abt, Cornell (Fr., F, Darnestown, Md.)
*Brogan Berry, Harvard (Fr., G, Beavercreek, Ohio)
*Devona Allgood, Princeton (Fr., C, Huntersville, N.C.)
*Lauren Edwards, Princeton (Fr., G, Los Angeles, Calif.)
Michelle Cashen, Yale (Fr., F, Belle Harbor, N.Y.)

Rookie of the Year
*Brogan Berry, Harvard (Fr., G, Beavercreek, Ohio)

Defensive Player of the Year
Sara Yee, Columbia (Jr., G, Walnut, Calif.)

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