Women's Hoops Hosts Northeastern Before Exam Break

Dartmouth Complete Game Notes (PDF)

Fresh off back-to-back wins last week the Dartmouth women's basketball team looks to make it three in a row when it hosts Northeastern on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at Leede Arena. The Big Green will be playing its seventh game in the first 20 days of the season and will enter reading period and final exams for the fall term on Thursday. Dartmouth does not play again until a Dec. 12 trip to perennial mid-major power Hartford.

GAME 7: DARTMOUTH (2-4) vs. NORTHEASTERN (2-3)
Date: Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2010 • 7:00 PM
Location: Hanover, N.H. • Leede Arena
Dartmouth-Northeastern Series: Dartmouth leads, 6-5
Streak: Northeastern +1
Last Meeting: Northeastern W, 57-50, 11/29/07, Hanover
Of Note: Dartmouth and Northeastern restart a home-and-home series after also competing in both the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons and prior to that in the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons. The first meeting came in 1983, a 78-63 victory for Dartmouth in Hanover. The Huskies won the most recent contest in 2007.

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PROBABLE STARTERS

#	Player	Pos	Cl	Ht	GP-S	PPG	RPG	MPG	Misc
4	Louise Vanden Bosch	G	SR	5-10	6-2	5.7	2.0	25.0	53.8 3-FG Pct
10	Nicola Zimmer	G	FR	5-9	6-6	7.7	5.7	37.2	2.0 APG
20	Brittney Smith	F	SR	6-1	6-6	13.2	9.5	34.7	2.9 SPG
24	Cassie Cooper	F	SR	6-2	6-6	8.7	4.7	31.0	88.2 FT Pct
25	Faziah Steen	G	SO	5-8	6-6	10.2	2.7	29.2	37.0 3-FG Pct

STARTING FIVE
1. Tonight's game is number 914 since the first varsity season in the 38th season of varsity women's basketball at Dartmouth.

2. Dartmouth has won its last two contests including an overtime marathon at Bryant on Sunday, Nov. 28. The Big Green triumphed, 75-72, in a game that was filled with whistles and included 51 fouls. It took two hours and 15 minutes to play 45 minutes of basketball.

3. Following tonight's game, Dartmouth will not play for the next 11 days as the team enters its break for reading period final exams. Because of the long break, the Big Green had to cram seven games into the first 20 days of the season.

4. Senior Cassie Cooper set career-highs in five statistical categories during the win at Bryant including: 15 points, eight rebounds, three steals, two blocks and 38 minutes. Not a natural shot blocker, Cooper finally broke through with two blocks after having posted one 15 times.

5. Free throw shooting continues to be a sore subject for the Big Green, which is hitting just 62.4 percent at the line. However, Dartmouth got the job done in overtime against Bryant, connecting on 11-of-14 in the extra five minutes including a 5-of-6 effort from Brittney Smith.

HIT THE BOOKS
The Dartmouth coaches are more likely to enjoy the upcoming 11-day break than the players. The student-athletes start reading period on Thursday and final exams this weekend, which results in an abbreviated practice schedule for a few days. The team won't play again until a trip to Hartford on Dec. 12.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Senior Brittney Smith picked up Ivy League Player of the Week honors on Nov. 29. It marked her fifth time receiving that honor and her 12th Ivy weekly award. Recording her 26th and 27th career double-doubles, she averaged 20.5 points, 12.5 rebounds, 4.5 steals and 2.5 assists in wins over Vermont and Bryant. Smith shot a staggering 60 percent from the floor and only committed two turnovers while playing 34.5 minutes per game.

WORTH THE WAIT
Senior Louise Vanden Bosch has started the last two games for Dartmouth, just the second and third starts of her career. She has looked solid since, averaging 9.5 points, three rebounds and three assists in the last two games. Against Vermont on Nov. 24, Vanden Bosch scored 11 points and played a then career-high 33 minutes. In the next game, the senior added eight points, four rebounds and three assists, playing 44 of a possible 45 minutes to top Bryant in overtime.

AT LEAST SOMEONE TAKES CHARITY
It's no secret that the free throw line has been unkind to Dartmouth as the Big Green is shooting just 62.4 percent, making 73-of-117 attempts. Fortunately its opponents are also connecting on a woeful 63.6 percent from the charity stripe. Senior forward Cassie Cooper is the exception as the only Dartmouth player shooting better than 80 percent from the line, hitting an impressive 88.2 percent (15-of-17). Brittney Smith has taken 37 free throws, nearly twice the next player on the team, but is connecting on just 51.4 percent.

OVER THE HUMP IN OVERTIME
Overtime has not been too kind to Dartmouth in recent years and the 75-72 win over Bryant on Nov. 28 was the first overtime win in more than a year. Dartmouth lost both of its overtime games last season and had a three-game losing streak in extra time dating back to a Feb. 28, 2009 loss at Cornell that was the lone Ivy loss in a 13-1 Ivy Championship season. During that year the Big Green was 1-3 in extra time, defeating Princeton, 71-67 on Jan. 30, 2009 but losing to Michigan State in one OT and Vermont in triple OT. The Bryant win was the first overtime victory since that win over Princeton.

HOME SWEET HOME
Dartmouth opened the 24th season at Leede Arena with a victory over Vermont on Nov. 24. Since opening the doors in 1987, the Dartmouth women are 14-10 in home-openers and 180-92 overall at home. The Big Green went 9-3 including a perfect 7-0 in Ivy play at Leede in 2008-09. Including earlier games not played at Leede, Dartmouth is 24-13 all-time in home-openers.

SHARING THE WEALTH
With 15 assists on 25 field goals in the Nov. 24 win over Vermont, the Big Green assisted on 60 percent of its made shots. Of the seven players who logged double-digit minutes, six had at least one assist and four players dished out three assists including starting forwards Cassie Cooper and Brittney Smith.

BIG BUCKETS FROM DOWNTOWN
Dartmouth had its best shooting night of the season in its 66-51 win over Vermont (11/24), shooting 43.1 percent from the field. The Big Green actually shot even better from three point range, connecting on 50 percent of its three-point attempts, going 7-of-14 with four different players nailing treys.

GIVE ME ANOTHER CHANCE
Dartmouth scored 20 second chance points thanks to 17 offensive rebounds against Vermont. That number, 20 points, is the highest by the Big Green or any of its opponents to date this season.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TALENT
Senior Brittney Smith was named to the TD Bank Classic All-Tournament team after averaging 10 points and eight rebounds per game. Smith held her own against Boston College's 6-6 and 6-4 starting posts, tallying 13 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two blocks. While she had just seven points and seven boards against Marist, Smith dished out four assists and blocked two shots.

BIG BENCH PRODUCTION
Coach Wielgus used her bench depth against both Boston College and Marist, resulting in 17 and 18 points by the bench in each game, respectively. Sasha Dosenko averaged 9.5 points and six rebounds averaging 19 minutes against the two opponents and Louise Vanden Bosch scored six points in each game. All 11 players played against BC and eight scored at least three points. Dosenko tallied 12 points and six rebounds in an efficient 22 minutes against Marist.

1-800 CONTACTS
In the first five minutes against Marist on Nov. 20, sophomore shooting guard Faziah Steen lost and tore a contact lens. Without a spare lens on hand, she played the rest of the game without it, finishing with seven points, five rebounds and two steals in 26 minutes of work. Back in her natural position after playing point guard last year, Steen is shooting 40.5 percent from the floor and 42.1 percent from three point range including eight three-pointers.

A RARE FEAT
With her start at Northwestern on Nov. 12, freshman Nicola Zimmer became the first freshman to start her first collegiate game since Sydney Scott '08 did so in 2004. Zimmer is the first point guard to do so since Angie Soriaga, who started all 112 career games, did so in 2002.

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