Offensive Woes Doom Dartmouth Women in Loss at Yale

Friday, February 26

New Haven, Conn.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

Yale

Offensive Woes Doom Dartmouth Women in Loss at Yale

2/26/2010 8:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball

By: Dartmouth

Boxscore

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The two-time defending Ivy Champion Dartmouth women's basketball team looked like anything but that in a 58-42 loss at Yale this evening.

It marked just the second time in program history that Dartmouth has been swept by Yale in the season series, with the last time coming in the 1997-98 season.

Dartmouth (11-14, 5-5 Ivy) played tough defense all game but shot just 27.7 percent from the floor, allowing Yale (12-13 7-4 Ivy) to build an early lead and never look back.

Brittney Smith (Fort Worth, Texas) led all scorers with 15 points and nine rebounds, but could not get the ball enough in the second half to help make up the deficit. Yale's Mady Gobrecht and Yoyo Greenfield had 10 points each for the Bulldogs.

Yale opened on the game on a 7-0 run and never looked back. Brittney Smith finally got Dartmouth on the board at 14:49 but a Haywood Wright three made it 10-2 on the next possession. That started a 14-4 Yale run, as the Bulldogs went ahead 21-6 before Sasha Dosenko (Kiev, Ukraine) hit a layup at 7:13. Yale took full advantage while Dartmouth point guard Faziah Steen (Kalamazoo, Mich.) was on the bench with two fouls during that stretch, as the Big Green struggled to get anything going on offense

The Bulldogs kept their foot on the gas and the lead ballooned to 30-8 with 4:24 to play. The Big Green finally got into double figures with two free throws from Margaret Smith at 3:16 and ultimately ended the half on a 7-2 run, with Yale's last field goal having been at 4:49. The Big Green mustered only 15 points in 20 minutes to trail, 32-15 at halftime, while Yale shot 50 percent from the floor.

The teams traded buckets in the early goings of the second half, though Brittney Smith cut the lead to 14, 34-20, and forced a Yale timeout within the first two minutes. The Bulldogs came out of that on a 7-3 run with a big three from Allie Messimer to negate a Brittney Smith three-point play to go up 41-23 at 15:11.

Dartmouth locked down defensively and kept Yale on a three minute scoring drought, getting stops but only getting four points closer after Smith made it 41-27 at 12:31. The Big Green gave it right back, however, and Yale was ahead 45-29 at 11:33.

Once again there was a scoring drought for both teams, and traded free throws but Yale maintained, up 48-31 at 8:19. Dartmouth went on a modest 4-0 run to cut the lead to 13 with 5:40 to play, but could never get closer than that.

The Bulldogs hit late free throws and Steen scored four of Dartmouth's last six points, but it would not be enough to cut the lead much more, and Yale took the final, 58-42.

Dartmouth will have to regroup before squaring-off against Brown in Providence tomorrow night at 7 p.m.