37th Annual Blue Sky Classic Set For Sunday and Monday

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DARTMOUTH
(1-8, 0-0 Ivy

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LA SALLE
(4-6, 0-0 A-10)

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BINGHAMTON
(1-10, 0-0 AE)

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UMASS
(2-8, 0-0 A-10)

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Live Stats: Dartmouthsports.com | Live Video (Dartmouth/La Salle): Ivy League Digital Network ($$$) | Koclanes Weekly Radio Interview : WTSL-WTSV

Date: Dec. 29, 2013 | Times: 5-7 PM | Venue: Leede Arena (2,100) | Location: Hanover, N.H.

Blue Sky Classic Schedule

Sunday, Dec. 29

5 pm - Binghamton vs. Massachusetts
7 pm - La Salle vs. Dartmouth

QUICK NOTES

•The Big Green enter the Blue Sky Classic on an eight-game losing streak, but have shown signs of improvement over the last three games. In their previous two games in Chicago against DePaul and Loyola, the Green and White gained a lead in the second half of both games.

•Against DePaul, Dartmouth finished with four players in double figures with freshman Fanni Szabo leading the team with 18 points. Classmate Katie Vareika finished with 17 points off the bench, scoring 15 of her 17 points in the second half. The Green took a 65-64 lead with 10:16 remaining in the contest, but the Blue Demons regained the lead for good with 8:45 left.

• In the Loyola contest, a sloppy first-half by squads forced Dartmouth to rectify a 10-point deficit at the half. Szabo led the Big Green with 19 points and hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 51 with 1:28 remaining, but Loyola nailed a game-winning trey on the next possession. Sophomore Lakin Roland finished with a double-double of 10 points and 12 rebounds - her first of the season.

• Dartmouth will host two teams from the Atlantic-10 Conference during the Classic, with Binghamton as the odd team out of the Big Green schedule.

• With four wins on the season, La Salle enters as the winningest team in the Classic this season. UMass' three wins are second and Dartmouth and Binghamton each have one win on the year.

LA SALLE SCOUTING REPORT

Another team that struggled out of the gate is La Salle from the Atlantic-10 Conference. The Explorers have early-season wins over Manhattan, Central Connecticut State and William & Mary. A tough and challenging schedule set forth by fourth-year head man Jeff Williams, La Salle fell to Ivy rival Penn (64-54). Prior to heading to Hanover, the Explorers went 1-1 in the Gator Holiday Classic, hosted by the University of Florida. After an opening round defeat to FIU, The Explorers defeated Tennessee State. Michaela Owens leads the squad with 13.8 points per game and is seconded by Khristin Lee at 11.9 per game. Siobhan Beslow leads the team on the glass, grabbing 6.3 rebounds per contest.

ALL-TIME SERIES (La Salle)

The Big Green is 1-1 all-time against La Salle, with both meetings taking place at Dartmouth hosted tournaments. The first time La Salle made the trip to Hanover was in 1982, when they lost 65-63 to the Big Green. In 2011, La Salle returned and came away with a 60-47 victory over the hosts. The Explorers hold a 3-1 record in games played in the Upper Valley.

LAST TIME OUT VS. LA SALLE

Then freshman Milica Toskovic finished with a career-high 11 points, but the Explorers used a 24-11 run in the second half to defeat the Big Green, 60-47 in the opening match of the 35th Annual Blue Sky Classic. Faziah Steen '13 led the Big Green with 12 points and Kamala Thompson finished with double figure rebounds. Alexis Scott led La Salle with 14 points. The Explorers finished with two other players in double figures.

HONORING A BIG GREEN GREAT AT THE HALF

During halftime of Dartmouth's opening contest with La Salle on Dec. 29, the Department of Athletics and Recreation will honor former long-time head coach Chris Wielgus for her 28 seasons of excellence to the Big Green women's basketball program.

SZABO CLAIMS HER SECOND IVY LEAGUE WEEKLY HONOR

Fanni Szabo added her second Ivy League Rookie of the Week after scoring a career-high 33 points in a home loss to Providence. Szabo started out slow, scoring seven points in the opening frame, but exploded out of the gate in the second half with 26 points on 11-of-15 from the field and 4-of-6 from the outside. Szabo also added six steals, three rebounds and two assists to her game accolades.

IVY ROOKIE OF THE WEEK

Fanni Szabo was named the first Ivy League Rookie of the Week this season after scoring 21 points in her collegiate debut against Holy Cross.

LEADER OF THE PACK

Szabo leads Dartmouth in all but one shooting category this season. Through ten games, Szabo leads the team in field goal percentage (47%), field goals attempted (145), field goals made (68), 3-point field goal attempts (79), and 3-point field goals made (26). Szabo trails sophomore Sofia Roman and junior Kamala Thompson in 3-point percentage, shooting 33 percent (26-of-79) compared to Roman (2-of-3) and Thompson (4-of-7).

INJURY BUG HURTING GREEN

Through seven games so far this season, the Big Green have lost 41 woman-power games due to injuries. Sophomore Sofia Roman missed two games with an ankle injury early on in the season. Senior Co-captain Nicola Zimmer has been out with mononucleosis since the Providence game (7 games). Junior Milica Toskovic has missed the last few weeks after coming down with mononucleosis before the New Hampshire game. The Big Green began the season with sophomores Kasey Crockett and Lauren Taiclet all on injured reserve. Junior center Tia Dawson returned for the DePaul after missing four games with a concussion. Sophomore Daisy Jordan made her season debut against DePaul after missing the first eight games of the season.

OH CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN!

Seniors Nicola Zimmer and Eve Zelinger were named co-captains for the season. Zimmer, returns for her second season as team leader, with Zelinger being voted on by her teammates.

SECOND CITY GAL

Junior Abbey Schmitt had a great first season with the big Green in 12-13 after sitting out her freshman campaign with a knee injury, as the Winnetka, Ill. native was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week three times. As a junior, Schmitt transitioned into a center and is averaging 6.8 points and 5.1 rebounds per contest. In the Green's home defeat against Albany, Schmitt registered her third career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Schmitt and the Big Green will make a special appearance in her hometown for a pair of games before the holiday break, against DePaul and Loyola Chicago. Against DePaul, Schmitt scored 10 points and had four rebounds. Against Loyola, she had six points, five rebound and one steal.

IT'S THE LAKE SHOW WITH LAKIN ROLAND

Sophomore Lakin Roland impressed the new coaching staff during training camp and has jumped in the starting power forward spot. Roland is third in scoring, averaging 9.0 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. At 6-0, Roland will need to use her size and ability on the glass to help her team on both ends of the court. Roland has also been a tremendous help on the defensive side and has taken three defensive charges so far. Against Loyola, Roland finished with her first double-double of the season with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

IT'S TIA'S BLOCK PARTY SHE CAN DO WHAT SHE WANTS

Tia Dawson tied her career record with six blocks against Vermont early in the season, but has missed the past three games with a concussion. When healthy, Dawson is the squad's best interior defender with the ability to go one-on-one inside the paint.

HUNGARIAN TRANSPORT

Szabo has made quite a name for herself in her native Hungary. Szabo has been named to multiple All-Tournament teams and has taken the stage in many important games for her country, including an exhibition against Team USA in 2011. Szabo scored four points in the game that featured current WNBA stars Cappie Pondexter, Brittney Griner and Tina Charles.

SELF HIGH-FIVE

The Big Green were chosen fifth in the 2013-14 Ivy League preseason poll, that was conducted by various media outlets within the eight institutions and one national media member.

TUTTO IN FAMIGLIA (All in the Family)

After being hired by Dartmouth, Koclanes searched for a staff that would complement her coaching style. Former Navy assistant Maria Noucas was tabbed as the top-assistant, after battling Koclanes the past few seasons in the Patriot League. Koclanes' next option was to find someone who understands the ins and outs of the Ivy League. Enter the 2011 Ivy Player of the Year Addie Micir, a Princeton graduate. Micir is a smart, energetic fresh mind that just finished two seasons overseas in Europe. Her most recent team was Challenge Sports Binnenland in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The final position on the staff went to Koclanes' former student-manager at ODU Michael Motta. The youngest member on staff, Mottaspent last season with Providence as a graduate assistant coach.

TOUGH SCHEDULE = GOOD RPI

The schedule will feature six teams that played in the post-season last year, includig three from the Ivy League. Dartmouth will square off against four teams from the America East Conference (Albany, Hartford, New Hampshire and Vermont) and two teams from the Big East (DePaul and Providence), Atlantic-10 (La Salle and UMass) and Patriot League (American and Holy Cross). The Big Green will also face single foes from the Atlantic Coast Conference (Syracuse), Northeast Conference (Bryant) and Independent (NJIT).

WELCOME TO HANOVER

Dartmouth will play the most home non-conference games at Leede Arena since the 1992-93 season, when they hosted eight teams. In total this season, the Big Green will welcome 15 different schools to Hanover, but only 14 will face the Green. Binghamton is the only team to not face Dartmouth, as they are the third team in the Blue Sky Classic.

IVY LEAGUE DIGITAL NETWORK

Dartmouth Athletics, in partnership with NeuLion, announced the launch of the brand new Ivy League Digital Network, featuring enhanced live video streaming of all home games and extensive coverage of Big Green road contests against Ivy League foes.

Starting with the 2013-14 season, the completely redesigned Dartmouth channel — known as Big Green Insider — will include an easy-to-navigate interface with a league-wide network schedule and new interactive features that showcase the expanded content offerings available on computer, mobile and tablet devices, all without the use of an app.

FREE LIVE AUDIO

This season 24 of the 28 games will be streamed with free live audio on Dartmouthsports.com and the Ivy League Digital Network. Brett Franklin will have the call beginning with a live 15-minute pre-game show where he will be joined by an assistant coach and player and then an extensive postgame show with head coach Belle Koclanes. During select road games this season, assistant SID Nick Guerriero will join Franklin to help breakdown the game and give the inside scoop on Dartmouth women's basketball.

THE BRETT FRANKLIN SHOW W/ BELLE KOCLANES

Inspired by former Old Dominion head coach Wendy Larry; Belle Koclanes is following in her footsteps with her own radio talk show segments. Koclanes joins WTSL 94.3FM/1400-AM and WTSV 1230-AM host Brett Franklin every Tuesday evening from 5:30-5:45 p.m. An archive of the weekly segment can be heard on Dartmouthsports.com the following day.

FOLLOW THE BIG GREEN

Interested in the Big Green on social media or looking for in-game updates? Then follow the official twitter account @Dartmouth_WBB. Head coach Belle Koclanes is also on twitter @coachbelleko. Assistant coaches Maria Noucas and Addie Micir can be followed at @mnoucas and @amicker23. Director of Basketball Operations Michael Motta can be searched under @michael_motta. The official FB page is www.facebook.com/DartmouthWomensbasketball.

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