Dartmouth Women Hit the Road to Columbia, Cornell

Complete Dartmouth Game Notes (PDF)

The Dartmouth women's basketball team kicks off a four-game road swing with the annual trek to Columbia and Cornell, in search of its first Ivy weekend sweep of the season.

GAMES 22 & 23: DARTMOUTH (9-12, 4-3 Ivy) at COLUMBIA & CORNELL

GAME 22: DARTMOUTH (9-12, 4-3 Ivy) at COLUMBIA (14-8, 5-3 Ivy)
Date: Friday, Feb. 19, 2010 • 7 PM
Location: Levien Gym • New York, N.Y.
Dartmouth-Columbia Series: Dartmouth leads, 44-8
Last Meeting: 1/30/10 • Hanover, N.H.
Result: Columbia W, 72-59
Streak: Columbia +1
Dartmouth enjoyed an 11-game winning streak against Columbia from 2002-07 before the Lions won, 58-55, in 2008. Earlier this season, the Lions won in Hanover for the first time since 2002

GAME 23: DARTMOUTH (9-12, 4-3 Ivy) at CORNELL (6-15, 1-7 Ivy)
Date: Saturday, Feb. 20, 2010 • 7 PM
Location: Newman Arena • Ithaca, N.Y.
Dartmouth-Cornell Series: Dartmouth leads, 51-11
Last Meeting: 1/29/10 • Hanover, N.H.
Result: Dartmouth W, 55-53
Streak: Dartmouth +1
The Big Red was the only Ivy team to defeat Dartmouth last season - in Ithaca - and the Big Green is 14-3 against Cornell since 2002, including an 11-game winning streak from 2002-07.

MULTIMEDIA
Dartmouth Radio (WUVR 1490 AM) (Both Games)

Columbia Livestats
Columbia Live Video ($) (NOTE: Video will play as part of your Dartmouth Big Green Insider subscription)

Cornell Livestats
Cornell Live Video ($)

THIS TIME OUT
Games Number 905 & 906. After yet another disappointing Ivy weekend split, Dartmouth starts the second go around of Ivy play with what is arguably the most challenging road trip in college athletics. The Big Green is seeking its first road sweep of Columbia and Cornell since the 2007 season. Even in winning the last two Ivy titles, the grueling trip that puts the visitor at its second opponent's city well-past midnight, has been the chink in Dartmouth's armor, going 1-3.

DARTMOUTH PROBABLE STARTERS
*#10    Margaret Smith   G • SR • 6-1 • 6.0 ppg, 5.6 rgg, 80.0 FT Pct.
*#20    Brittney Smith    F • JR • 6-1 • 12.4 ppg, 10.6 rpg, 2.0 bpg
#25    Faziah Steen      G • FR • 5-8 • 8.7 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 2.1 spg
#32    Betsy Williams   G • SR • 6-0 • 7.5 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 1.2 apg
#34    Sasha Dosenko   F • SO • 6-3 • 7.2 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 1.1 bpg
*Returning starter

QUICK TAKE ON THE BIG GREEN

• According to the Sagarin RPI ratings, Dartmouth has played a whopping seven teams in the RPI top-50, more than twice the next closest Ivy school at three.

• Brittney Smith recorded her ninth double-double of the season against Yale, her sixth in the last seven games and moved her streak of 10+ rebounding games to eight against the Bulldogs as well.

• Not known for her scoring prowess, Margaret Smith has scored at least eight points, averaging 8.0 points in Ivy play. She has also converted a league-best 88.9 percent from the free throw line in Ivy play (24-of-27).

• Seven of Dartmouth's wins have come when either holding a lead at the half or tied, standing at 7-0 with a halftime advantage. Just twice, against Cornell and Brown, has Dartmouth overcome a halftime deficit.

• Dartmouth committed a season-low of 12 turnovers in consecutive games against New Hampshire and Cornell.

BRITTNEY HITS 1,000
Junior forward Brittney Smith became the 15th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point mark during the Feb. 13, 2010 game against Yale. Smith did so during a flurry in which she single-handedly tied the game by scoring seven points in less than three minutes. Of the 15 players to reach the milestone, Smith did so the seventh-fastest, taking just 81 games. Smith is the fourth player since 2005 to reach the mark, the eighth to do so prior to her senior year and just the first post player since Katharine Hanks '03 did so in 2001.

NOT THE ONLY MILESTONE
Smith also reached the 700-rebound plateau against Yale, making her just the sixth player in program history to have recorded 1,000 points and 700 rebounds. She has also passed 125 career assists, 125 career steals and ranks sixth all-time with 112 blocks.

PINK IS THE NEW GREEN
Against Yale on Feb. 13, Dartmouth hosted its annual WBCA Pink Zone breast cancer awareness game, with over 1,000 fans donning pink in attendance. The Women's Basketball Coaches Association has sponsored the Pink Zone (formerly Think Pink) for the last three years, with upwards of 1,500 schools participating the last two years.
Dartmouth will take part in two more Pink Zone games this weekend, at both Columbia and Cornell.

IN THE CLASSROOM AND ON THE COURT
Senior guard Betsy Williams has earned a spot on the CoSIDA Academic All-District I second team. Williams was chosen based on her prowess both in the classroom and on the basketball court. For women's basketball, 10 student-athletes were voted to the two all-district teams out of a pool of nearly 40 nominees. A psychology major with a French minor, Williams maintains an impressive 3.71 grade point average and studied abroad in France during the spring of her sophomore year.

NOT MUCH TIME IN OVERTIME
In program history, Dartmouth has only played to overtime 14 times against Ivy opponents, with two of those coming last season — a win at Princeton and loss at Cornell. That team (2008-09) played a program-high four overtime games. This season, on Feb. 13, the Big Green played just its third ever double-overtime Ivy game, a 70-66 loss to Yale. It was the first double-overtime Ivy game since a March 2, 1996 win over Brown (61-52) and Dartmouth's first double-overtime loss.

HOME COOKING ISN'T ALWAYS BEST
After going a perfect 7-0 in Ivy play at home last year, Dartmouth is just 3-2 against Ivy foes at Leede Arena this year. Those games have been well-attended, however, with an average of 932 fans at Ivy games including a season high of 1,619 for the win over Harvard and 1,013 for the Pink Zone game against Yale.

STUCK ON 17
Senior Betsy Williams scored a season and career high 17 points in the win over Brown, marking the fourth time in her career that she has hit that number exactly. The last time she had reached 17 was in triple overtime at Vermont on Nov. 23, 2008.

NEW YEAR, BIG NUMBERS
Junior forward Brittney Smith had a particularly strong January and overall, is averaging 13.9 points and 11.5 rebounds in 2010. Smith has pulled in 10+ rebounds in Dartmouth's last eight games, and recorded double-doubles in six of the last seven contests.

BIG SISTER GETS IT DONE TOO
Brittney's older sister, Margaret Smith, is getting the job done in Ivy play as well, having the best conference season of her career. Smith currently averages 8.0 points and 6.3 rebounds per game and is shooting 89 percent from the free throw line (24-of-27).

STEEN HOLDING STEADY
Freshman Faziah Steen has really upped her numbers since the start of Ivy League play, averaging 10.7 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.7 steals per game. She has also reached double-figures in scoring in the four of the last five gamess. Not a point guard by trade, Steen is running the point often for the Big Green this season.

KEEPING IT CLEAN
Dartmouth currently ranks second in the nation in fewest personal fouls committed per game, with an average of just 12.9, but has been first for much of the season. Undefeated UConn ranks first with 12.8 per game. A big part of the Big Green's disciplined defense is not giving up points when the clock is stopped. Dartmouth was whistled for a season-low five fouls against Boston College and had only 10 in the win over Harvard on Jan. 16.

GLASS CLEANERS
Dartmouth has outrebounded seven of its last eight opponents, and every Ivy opponent thus far. The Big Green has a rebounding margin of +6.7 in Ivy play. Dartmouth outrebounded Penn by 17 on Feb. 5.

MINUTE WOMEN
In Ivy play, four Dartmouth starters rank in the top 10 for minutes played, led by Brittney Smith with a league-high 38.4 minutes per game. Betsy Williams is third at 36.6 with Faziah Steen (33.7) and Margaret Smith (32.4) seventh and ninth.

Schedules