Cooper Wills Dartmouth to 66-57 Win over Holy Cross

Sunday, January 2

Hanover, N.H.

2:00 PM

Dartmouth College

HOLY CROSS

Shorthanded Big Green Falters at Oakland, 65-52

Cooper Wills Dartmouth to 66-57 Win over Holy Cross

1/2/2011 4:08:00 PM | Women's Basketball

By: Dartmouth

Boxscore

HANOVER, N.H. - Senior Cassie Cooper (Chelsea, Maine) had a big second half to lead four players in double figures as the Dartmouth women's basketball team used a team effort for a 66-57 win over Holy Cross.

Hampered by foul trouble, Cooper had just two points and one rebound in the first half, but the captain exploded to finish with 11 points and 12 rebounds for Dartmouth (4-9). Junior Sasha Dosenko (Kiev, Ukraine) joined her with a double-double on 14 points and 12 rebounds while Faziah Steen led all scorers with 15 points - all in the second half - and four steals. Rookie Janelle Ross (Inglewood, Calif.), making her first collegiate start, finished with 12 points and seven boards.

Whitney Fremeau led Holy Cross (4-10) with 15 points but the Crusaders struggled to just 29.7 percent shooting for the game. Dartmouth shot 39 percent overall and held a 49-40 rebounding advantage.

It was slow goings early on for both teams as Holy Cross' pressure defense kept it in the game and Dartmouth's turnovers proved costly. The Big Green did not get on the board until Ross scored inside to make it 4-2 at 16:23. After trailing 6-2, Dartmouth's posts continued to do work as Cooper and Dosenko led the Green on a 6-0 run for an 8-6 lead at 13:15. Crusader Alex Smith made it 9-8 with a three at 12:59 before Louise Vanden Bosch (Kettering, Ohio) hit one of two at the line to tie it up.

The teams continued to battle back and forth, with Holy Cross gaining a 14-11 advantage before Dartmouth went on a 7-2 run capped by a Vanden Bosch putback for an 18-16 lead at 8:05. The Big Green was in the bonus by the 8:58 mark in the first half, but only got to the line once more in the next five minutes. Instead Dartmouth was whistled for six straight fouls to help keep the Crusaders afloat. Vanden Bosch made another heady play for a layup to put Dartmouth up 24-20 before Kaitlin Cole converted a three-point play to make it a 24-23 game at 3:15. Both teams went cold before settling for a 26-26 halftime score.

It was more back-and-forth basketball to start the second half, with the teams trading buckets and Ross providing Dartmouth's first six points on the period. The Big Green finally broke through from downtown when a three from Steen led to a 37-34 lead at 16:25.

Dartmouth went stone cold after that three but Holy Cross was not much sharper, only getting six points in the next five minutes for a 40-37 lead at 11:34. The Big Green broke out of its slump with a bang, however, as Steen nailed a huge three at 11:22 to tie the game, starting an 11-0 run during the next 1:21. Dosenko followed her with a three on the next possession and Steen hit another 30 seconds later. She kept spurring the Green with a steal and fastbreak layup for a 48-40 lead at 9:01, forcing a Holy Cross timeout.

The Crusaders stopped the bleeding with two free throws from Meredith Ward but Vanden Bosch put the lead right back up to eight with a nice back door layup. Dartmouth kept right on pushing and ultimately extended it to a 17-4 run for a 54-44 lead after a pair of Cooper free throws at 5:35. Holy Cross had some momentum of its own, however, using full court pressure to go on a 9-0 run capped by a layup by Kelly Hamner made it 54-53 at 4:05.

Cooper continued her big second half, scoring five straight points including a conventional three-point play to give Dartmouth a 59-53 lead at 3:28. Dartmouth extended the run to 10-0 with a bucket by Dosenko and a big jumper by Steen for a 63-53 lead at 2:05. Holy Cross' Fremeau got her team back on the board on the next play for a 63-55 score. The Crusaders had to foul Dartmouth, however, and the Big Green wasn't perfect, but hit just enough at the line to seal a 66-57 win.

Dartmouth has a quick turnaround before heading to Rhode Island for its fourth game in seven days, taking on the Rams on Tuesday at 7 p.m.