Dartmouth to Host 34th Annual Blue Sky Classic

Dartmouth Complete Game Notes (PDF)

The Dartmouth women's basketball team is back in Hanover to host the 34th annual Blue Sky Classic, the longest running uninterrupted tournament in the women's collegiate game. Ten games into the season, the Big Green has played just twice at Leede Arena but defended its home court both times with wins over Vermont and Northeastern. Dartmouth is back home for the first time since Dec. 1 and welcomes Big 12 foe Kansas State along with Vermont and Wagner to the tournament field. Because Dartmouth and Vermont have already met on the court, the matchups for this year's tournament are predetermined and each of those two teams will face Kansas State and Wagner.

Live stats and live video (subscription required) will be available for all four tournament games. Vermont and Wagner open the tournament with a 5 p.m. tip on Wednesday, Dec. 29, followed by Dartmouth versus Kansas State. Vermont takes on Kansas State in the 5 p.m. game on Thursday, Dec. 30, followed by Dartmouth-Wagner at 8 p.m. (NEW TIME)

GAMES 11 & 12: BLUE SKY CLASSIC at DARTMOUTH

GAME 11: DARTMOUTH (3-7) vs. KANSAS STATE (8-3)
Date: Wednesday, Dec. 29, 2010 • 8:00 PM (NEW TIME)
Location: Leede Arena • Hanover, N.H.
Dartmouth-Kansas State Series: First Meeting

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GAME 12: DARTMOUTH (3-7) vs. WAGNER (5-5)
Date: Thursday, Dec. 30, 2010 • 7:00 PM
Location: Leede Arena • Hanover, N.H.
Dartmouth-Wagner Series: Dartmouth leads, 1-0
Streak: Dartmouth +1
Last Meeting: Dartmouth W, 69-56, 12/30/08, Hanover, N.H.
Of Note: The Big Green and the Seahawks have met just once before, also at the Blue Sky Classic in 2008. Dartmouth defeated Wagner in the consolation game and went on to win the Ivy title that year.

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STARTING FIVE
1. Today's game is number 918 in the 39th season of varsity women's basketball at Dartmouth.

2. Dartmouth returns home for the first time in 28 days, having entered the holiday break on a three game road swing and an unfortunate three game losing streak. After hosting Holy Cross on Jan. 2, Dartmouth will go 32 days before its next home game.

3. The Big Green is hosting its annual post-Christmas tournament for the 34th season and the 14th under the sponsorship of the Blue Sky Restaurant Group. The event is the longest uninterrupted tournament in women's Division I basketball.

4. Sophomore Kelsey Byrd stepped it up in the state of Michigan, scoring nine points at Oakland before bettering that with career highs in points (11), rebounds (5) and minutes (26) at #14 Michigan State. At Oakland, Byrd stroked it from downtown, hitting three triples to account for all nine of her points.

5. Dartmouth struggled in its first game against a ranked opponent, falling at #14 Michigan State in its most recent game. The Big Green played Boston College, who is now ranked, when the Eagles were not in the top-25.

BACK HOME FOR BLUE SKY
Dartmouth is back in the friendly confines of Leede Arena for the first time since a Dec. 1 win over Northeastern and with another game against Holy Cross on Jan. 2, will play three home games in five days.
Dartmouth has hosted a tournament for 34 straight years, making this the longest running uninterrupted women's college tournament in the country. Called the Blue Sky Classic for the 14th year, it has been held after the holidays, Dec. 29-30 since 1990. The tournament began during current head coach Chris Wielgus' second season in Hanover, held in January 1978. Known for getting big name programs to Hanover, this year's tournament features Dartmouth, Kansas State, Vermont and Wagner.

TOURNAMENT TRADITION
Dartmouth owns a 32-28 mark in 66 games played at its own tournament, winning 10 of the 33 possible titles. The only other school with more than one tournament crown is Kentucky, who won in 1997 and 2001. This year's tournament field features two teams who are repeat visitors, with Vermont having competed in seven tournaments with a record of 6-8, including a 2-0 result last season, and Wagner, who visited in 2008 and is 0-2.
For the past two seasons, Dartmouth has played the tournament in a classic format, allowing it to welcome Vermont to the field after having played the Catamounts in a regular season game prior. They will not play each other, as each takes on Kansas State and Wagner.

A BLIZZARD BLUNDERS TRAVEL
The post-Christmas blizzard wreaked havoc on travel for Dartmouth's players and its guests. Just about half of Dartmouth's players and some staff were unable to fly back to campus as planned on Dec. 26. Kansas State also had trouble getting some of its players from their homes to the scheduled rendezvous point in Boston on Dec. 27.

BIG TIME BYRD
Dartmouth's own #33, Kelsey Byrd, did a pretty good impression of the most infamous #33, Larry Bird, against Oakland on Dec. 16, scoring nine points. Dartmouth's Byrd, a 5-10 guard, scored more than 1,000 points in high school without the three-point shot in her arsenal. She spent countless hours in the offseason developing a long-range shot and it paid off when she scored all nine points on three-pointers at Oakland. She bettered that career high with 11 points along with a career-best five rebounds in 26 minutes at #14 Michigan State. Byrd had missed the first seven games of the season recovering from preseason surgery.

SOMETHING'S MISSING HERE
The Big Green certainly missed having two of its five regular starters available for both of its games in Michigan. An injury suffered against Northeastern has kept senior forward Brittney Smith out of the lineup since and freshman point guard Nicola Zimmer missed both games with an injury.

I WON'T BACK DOWN
The date with Big 12 foe Kansas State on Wednesday will mark Dartmouth's fourth game against a BCS (big-six) conference opponent in just the first 11 games of the 2010-11 season. The Big Green has already faced ACC foe Boston College and Big 10 opponents Northwestern and Michigan State. Dartmouth's strength of schedule currently ranks as high as 78th nationally. This type of scheduling is not rare for Dartmouth. On opening day this year, the Big Green's schedule rated sixth nationally. Dartmouth's SOS ranked as high as eighth nationally in 2009-10 and fourth nationally in 2008-09.

A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS
Dartmouth did not shoot the ball well against Oakland — connecting on just 31 percent of attempts — but the Big Green did share the ball well. The team recorded a season-high 15 assists on its 18 field goals. Seven players had at least one assist, five recorded two or more and senior Cassie Cooper led the team with four.

FREE THROW IMPROVEMENT
Dartmouth entered its trip to Michigan shooting just 57.8 percent from the free throw line. The season average is still not great, but has jumped to 61.4 percent after an encouraging performance that week. In two games, the Big Green went 19-22 at the line, including a season-best 90 percent (9-of-10) at #14 Michigan State. Senior forward Cassie Cooper is the exception as the only Dartmouth player shooting better than 80 percent from the line, hitting an impressive 85.2 percent.

HUSTLE STATS
The Big Green's defense made some key plays against Oakland filling up the hustle stats in forcing 16 turnovers, blocking a season-high eight shots and grabbing nine steals.

FAST BREAK BLUES
Perhaps the determining factor in Dartmouth's loss at Oakland was the Grizzlies' ability to capitalize in transition. Oakland scored 26 fast break points in the game including 18 in the first half.

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.

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