Dartmouth Heads to Hartford for Sunday Matinee

Dartmouth Complete Game Notes (PDF)

Coming off an 11-day exam break, the Dartmouth women's basketball team looks for its fourth-straight win when it travels to perennial America East power Hartford for a 2 p.m. tip this Sunday. Prior to the exam break, the Big Green played seven games in the first 20 days of the season and won the last four straight.

Sunday's game starts a three game road swing for Dartmouth, which will head to the home state of sophomore Faziah Steen (Kalamazoo, Mich.) for games against Oakland and Michigan State next week.

GAME 8: DARTMOUTH (3-4) at HARTFORD (1-8)
Date: Sunday, Dec. 12, 2010 • 2:00 PM
Location: West Hartford, Conn. • Chase Arena
Dartmouth-Hartford Series: Hartford leads, 8-6
Streak: Hartford +5
Last Meeting: Hartford W, 70-41 • 11/22/09, Hanover, N.H.
Of Note: Hartford has had the Big Green's number in the last five meetings in the series including a win early last season when the Hawks were receiving top-25 votes. The teams first met in 1993 and held an annual series from 2000-04, in which Dartmouth went 4-2. The Big Green's last victory came on Dec. 4, 2002, 86-72.

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STARTING FIVE
1. Today's game is number 915 in the 38th season of varsity women's basketball at Dartmouth.

2. The Big Green is back on the court after an 11-day layoff for reading period and final exams. Because of the long break, Dartmouth had to cram seven games into the first 20 days of the season.

3. Dartmouth has won three straight contests with wins over Vermont, Bryant and Northeastern. Last time out the Big Green took a 60-54 win over Northeastern in a game it led by as many as 15 points. Dartmouth shot a season-high 46 percent in the win while also holding the Huskies to just 32.8 percent shooting, the low mark for a Big Green opponent this season.

4. The bench came up big in Dartmouth's win over Northeastern, as the two players that came in — Sasha Dosenko and Meghan McFee — scored 13 and 10 points, respectively and combined for seven rebounds.

5. Senior Brittney Smith recorded her third straight double-double in the third-straight win for the Big Green. The forward now has four this season and 28 for her career.

BACK ON THE COURT
Dartmouth is playing for the first time since Dec. 1, having taken an 11-day break for reading period and final exams. Because of the academic schedule, the Big Green had to cram seven games into the first 20 days of the season. Though historically the first game back after exams has been a challenge, the Big Green has gone 3-2 in the last five seasons in its first game back. Dartmouth has won in the last two years, both over another America East opponent, Stony Brook.

OFFENSE - DEFENSE, THE NUMBERS DON'T LIE
Dartmouth's numbers in wins versus losses are pretty clear cut this season. If the Big Green scores more than 60 points, it is 3-1 and is 2-0 when shooting better than 40 percent from the floor. If Dartmouth allows fewer than 60 points, it is a victory and the team is 3-0 when allowing the opponent to shoot worse than 39.9 percent. These numbers were particularly apparent in the 60-54 win over Northeastern on Dec. 1. The Big Green shot a season-best 46 percent from the floor while allowing just 32.9 percent shooting from the Huskies.

BENCH COMING UP BIG
The Big Green has not shown great depth this season, with just seven players seeing action on average. However, the bench was the difference-maker in the win over Northeastern. Senior Meghan McFee scored 10 points and added three rebounds, one assist and one steal in 21 minutes of action. Junior Sasha Dosenko scored a season-high 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting and grabbed four rebounds in 22 minutes.

COOPER THRIVES AGAINST THE BULLDOGS
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. Ironically, Cooper's previous career highs in points, rebounds and minutes played had all come against Bryant in the 2009-10 opener before her season-ending injury. The 6-2 forward might not like to play Bryant again, however, as she was fouled hard all day in the 2010 meeting, a 75-72 win, resulting in a 9-of-10 effort at the free-throw line.

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 moved into the starting lineup in the win over Vermont on Nov. 24 and has been there since. Prior to this season, the guard had started just one other game in her career. Dartmouth has gone 3-0 with Vanden Bosch in the starting five and she has averaged 9.3 points and 4.0 rebounds, shooting 52.6 percent from the field. 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. She also tallied nine points and had five rebounds against Northeastern.

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 59.4 percent, making 82-of-138 attempts. Fortunately its opponents are also connecting on a woeful 63.9 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 4.2 percent (16-of-19). Brittney Smith has taken 40 free throws, nearly twice the next player on the team, but is connecting on just 50 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. A win over Northeastern on Dec. 1 made the Big Green 2-0 at home this year. Since opening the doors in 1987, the Dartmouth women are 14-10 in home-openers and 181-92 overall at home. 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.

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.

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