Big Green Falls to Hot Shooting St. Joseph's at TD Bank Classic

Friday, November 18

Burlington, Vt.

5:00 PM

Dartmouth College

St. Joseph's

Big Green Falls to Hot Shooting St. Joseph's at TD Bank Classic

11/18/2011 8:01:00 PM | Women's Basketball

By: Dartmouth

BURLINGTON, Vt. - The Dartmouth women's basketball team forced double-digit turnovers for the second consecutive game and posted 11 steals, but couldn't stop hot shooting St. Joseph's falling, 85-48, in the opening game of the TD Bank Classic hosted by Vermont on Friday (Nov. 18).

St. Joseph (2-1) shot 48.6 percent (34-of-70) from the floor for the game, shooting better than 45 percent in each half while making seven three pointers in the contest, including four in the first half.

Dartmouth (0-2) had two players in double figures with junior captain Faziah Steen (Detroit, Mich.) leading the way with a team-best 12 points. Freshman Milica Toskovic (Santa Monica, Calif.) added 10 points for her first career game in double figures. Janelle Ross (Inglewood, Calif.) and Eve Zelinger (Palo Alto, Calif.) each pulled down four rebounds.

Despite struggling from the floor in the first half, Dartmouth relied on its defense to force the Hawks into 12 second-half turnovers. The Big Green recorded nine steals while upping its shooting percentage to 44 percent (11-of-25) in the second frame.

After making several halftime adjustments, the Big Green offense was led by freshmen Toskovic and Tia Dawson (Cedar Rapids, Iowa). The pair combined for the Big Green's first nine points of the second half while forcing the Hawks into turnovers on their first two possessions. Dawson, who had seven of her career-best nine points in the second half, became a threat on the inside and provided a nice post presence for the Big Green.

Freshman Nicole Beresford (Marshfield, Mass.), making her collegiate debut, added six second-half points, but Dartmouth couldn't figure out away to clamp down on the St. Joseph shooters who continued to make shots en route to the win.

For the second consecutive game, Dartmouth struggled to find any offense in the first half, which allowed the Hawks to jump out to a 28-6 lead. The tandem of Toskovic and Ross helped the Big Green dig into the large St. Joseph's lead and got it down to 16 points shortly after the 12 minute media timeout. Toskovic nailed Dartmouth's first triple of the season at the 8:59 mark and Ross followed by completing a three-point play to put the score at 30-14,

The Hawks used transition defense and several timely layups to extend its lead back into the 20s and took a 45-22 lead into halftime. Ross was a pleasant surprise off the bench with a team-best seven points and three rebounds in the first half.

Dartmouth concludes TD Bank Classic action against Colgate on Saturday (Nov. 19) at 5 p.m.

Big Green Sidelines
-Nicole Beresford made her collegiate debut in tonight's contest.
- Sophomore guard Nicola Zimmer made her season debut. Zimmer started 13 games last season before being sidelined with injury.
- Faziah Steen led the Big Green in scoring for the second consecutive game. Dating back to last season, Steen has been Dartmouth's leading scorer in seven of Dartmouth's last 11 games.
-Milica Toskovic and Tia Dawson made their second consecutive starts in tonight's contest.