Women's Hoops Closes Non-Conference Slate at Rhode Island

Dartmouth Complete Game Notes (PDF)

Fresh off a big win over Holy Cross, the Dartmouth women's basketball team closes out its non-conference schedule at A-10 foe Rhode Island on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in Kingston. The win over the Crusaders snapped a five-game losing streak and the Big Green looks to put together a two game winning streak tonight to end non-league play on an upswing. Dartmouth will not play again for 11 days, but returns to the court with a bang when it heads to Ivy rival Harvard on Saturday, Jan. 15.

GAME 14: DARTMOUTH (4-9, 0-0 Ivy) at Rhode Island (5-8, 0-0 Atlantic 10)
Date: Tuesday, Jan. 4 • 7:00 PM
Location: Ryan Center • Kingston, R.I.
Dartmouth-Rhode Island Series: Rhode Island leads, 7-1
Streak: Rhode Island +1
Last Meeting: URI, 58-57, 12/29/09, Hanover, N.H.
Of Note: Dartmouth and Rhode Island met last season in the Blue Sky Classic after having not played each other since 1997, Dartmouth's only win of the series. Last time, the Rams held on for a one-point lead with a defensive stand when Dartmouth had the final possession of the game.

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STARTING FIVE
1. Today's game is number 921 in the 39th season of varsity women's basketball at Dartmouth.

2. Last time out, Dartmouth snapped a five-game losing streak with a 66-57 win over Holy Cross. The game was the last one at Leede Arena for the Green until Feb. 4 when it hosts Penn.

3. With its win over Holy Cross, the Big Green improved to 3-0 this season when allowing less than 59 points by its opponent. Dartmouth also moved to 3-0 when outrebounding its opponent after holding a 49-40 advantage, including 18 offensive rebounds leading to 15 second chance points.

4. Against Holy Cross, Dartmouth had two players record a double-double as Cassie Cooper tallied 11 points and 12 rebounds and Sasha Dosenko added 14 points and 12 rebounds. It marked the first time since March 7, 2009 that multiple players contributed a double-double and it also marked the first time Cooper achieved that mark in her career.

5. After having started the previous eight games, senior Louise Vanden Bosch came off the bench against Holy Cross and responded well, adding seven points and a career-high seven rebounds in 22 minutes of work.

SPREADING THE WEALTH
Clearly a balanced offense is the key to success for Dartmouth, which had four players score in double figures for just the second time this season in its win over Holy Cross. Faziah Steen led all scorers with 15 points, all in the second half, followed by Sasha Dosenko with 14, Janelle Ross with 12 and Cassie Cooper with 11. Dartmouth also had four players reach double-figures in the win over Vermont, when three of those four were also involved. It was the first time reaching double-digits for Ross.
Dartmouth also had 15 assists on the day and five different players had at least two assists.

BIG SECOND HALF
After being tied 26-26 at halftime against Holy Cross on Jan. 2, two of Dartmouth's starters who struggled in the first 20 stepped it up in the second half. Senior Cassie Cooper battled to finish with 11 points and 12 rebounds after having just two points and one rebound in the first half. Sophomore Faziah Steen was a scoreless 0-6 in the first half, but shot 5-8 in the second en route to 15 points along with five rebounds, four steals and three assists.

ANOTHER ROOKIE COMES THROUGH
Having only been active for five previous games, freshman forward Janelle Ross earned her first career start against Holy Cross and responded with flying colors, tallying a career-high 12 points along with seven rebounds, one block and one assist. The 6-1 Ross shot 4-of-6 from the field and 4-4 from the free-throw line.

LONG DECEMBER
It was indeed a long December for Dartmouth, which opened the month with a win over Northeastern on Dec. 1 before losing its next five. The Big Green has been without the services of Brittney Smith in all five of those losses. Yet like the song says, there's reason to believe maybe this year, 2011, will be better than the last. Dartmouth's perennially tough non-conference schedule and complicated offense often result in a slow start to the season but the Big Green is known for turning it around. The 2007-08 Ivy Champions went 3-11 in non-league play before going 11-3 in conference and tying for the crown. In 2008-09, Dartmouth was 5-9 before going a near-perfect 13-1 in Ivy play, winning 11 straight and 16 of its last 18 games.

ALL TOURNAMENT TALENT, PART 2
Playing in its second tournament of the 2010-11 season, Dartmouth again had a player named to an all-tournament team. Rookie guard Nicola Zimmer earned Blue Sky Classic all-tournament honors after averaging 13 points per game on 44 percent shooting. She became the first Dartmouth freshman to earn all-tournament honors at the Big Green's own tournament since Jen Stamp '96 did so in 1992.
Earlier this season, senior Brittney Smith was named to the TD Bank Classic at Vermont all-tournament team after averaging 10 points, eight rebounds and two blocks.

NOT IN MY HOUSE
Junior Sasha Dosenko doubled her season total for blocked shots (now at 24) in the span of just two games and leads the Ivy League. Despite her 6-3 height, Dosenko is not known as a shot blocker and entered the Blue Sky Classic with just 10 blocks on the season. She broke out with five blocks against Kansas State on Dec. 29 and then amassed eight against Wagner on Dec. 30. Her 13 blocks broke Gail Koziara's '82 previous tournament record of 10 and her eight blocks in a game were also a tournament record. Dartmouth's overall single-game record for blocked shots is 11, held by Elise Morrison '07 and Ilsa Webeck '95. Dosenko's eight blocks rank in a tie for fourth all-time in a single game.

HERE, LET ME HELP
Senior forward Cassie Cooper has always been known as one of the Big Green's best passers, with great court vision and an unselfish attitude. Currently, the 6-2 Cooper leads the team in assists with 30 and she dished out a career-high five assists against both Kansas State on Dec. 29 and Wagner on Dec. 30.

SECOND HALF SLUMPS
In its last two games, Dartmouth has performed well in the first half only to see a second half drop-off allow its opponent to build a big lead. Against Kansas State on Dec. 29, Dartmouth trailed its Big 12 opponent by just five at halftime, but a series of runs throughout the second let the Wildcats build a 21-point margin of victory. Even more disappointing, the Big Green held a five-point lead over Wagner at the half after leading by as many as 11 points. The Seahawks rattled off a 14-0 run and held the Green scoreless for nearly seven minutes en route to their 17-point win.

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 marked 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.

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.

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