Szabo Leads Women's Basketball Over Kent State 60-49

Saturday, November 29

San Luis Obispo, Calif.

6:00 PM

Dartmouth College

4-0

Kent St.

1-5

Dartmouth

Kent State

Szabo Leads Women's Basketball Over Kent State 60-49

11/29/2014 7:58:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Dartmouth

SAN LUIS OBISPO, CALIF. – Sophomore Fanni Szabo led all scorers with 28 points and the Dartmouth women's basketball team continued its hot start, with a 60-49 win over Kent State at the Cal Poly/ShareSLO Tournament on Saturday.

The 4-0 start for the Big Green is the programs best since the 2005-06 season. Dartmouth shot 38 percent (21-of-56) from the floor and secured 43 rebounds. At the line, the Big Green made 9-of-11 in the second half and finished the night connecting on 11-of-18 from the stripe.

“It is very important that we get our defense to generate offense. In both runs, it was clear that we needed the defense to stop Kent State, but also to re-boost our offense,” head coach Belle Koclanes said.

The Dartmouth defense did not allow a field goal in the final 11:29 when Kent took a 46-43 lead. Since that mark, the Big Green outscored the Golden Flashes, 17-3, to secure the win.

“In the final 11 minutes, the team embraced defense. We made stops and used defense to move the ball.”

Senior Milica Toskovic played an integral part for the Big Green, as she finished with eight points and set a career-high in both rebounds (13) and assists (7). With 8:05 left, Toskovic hit the game-winner on a triple from the elbow.

Although Junior Lakin Roland was in foul trouble for a majority of the contest, she finished with nine rebounds and seven points. With 1:20 left to play, Roland hit a three from the top of the key and then hit a pair of free throws to give the Big Green a nine-point lead, 58-49.

Roland was named to the all-tournament team after setting a new career-best with 29 points in the win over Cal Poly on Friday.

Szabo scored 19 points in the opening 20 minutes on 7-of-12 from the floor. Dartmouth led by as many as nine, 22-13, midway through the half, but a scoring drought allowed the Golden Flashes to take a 26-24 lead with 2:38 left in the first.

“Fanni had a great start from the tip,” Koclanes said. “She is an important player for us.”

With 52 seconds remaining before the break, Toskovic tied the game at 26-all with a layup and then picked up a steal and an assist on a bucket by Szabo. Kent State once again tied the game with 30 seconds later, but a jumper by freshman Olivia Smith with nine ticks left put Dartmouth ahead by two, 30-28.

At the half, Dartmouth shot 39 percent from the field, but Kent State, used a 15-8 run to end the frame and shot 41 percent from the floor.

The Dartmouth bench once again played a vital role scoring 15 points and played valuable minutes when Roland and junior Daisy Jordan picked up fouls. Smith scored eight points in 19 minutes and hit two key free throws to give the team a five-point lead with 4:34 left. Prior to Smith's freebies, Classmate Andi Norman banked layup off the glass. The duo combined for 13-of-the-15 bench points.

“We found our sparks this weekend. Tonight it was Olivia and Andi. They both gave us a spark off the bench on both ends of the floor.”

Krista White led the Golden Flashes with 20 points and six rebounds. Larissa Lurken added 11 points for the designated hosts. Kent State shot 37 percent from the field and added 30 points in the paint.

Dartmouth concludes its West Coast trip in San Diego on a Monday evening against the Toreros at 6 p.m. PT / 9 p.m. ET. The Big Green will host Hartford on Thursday afternoon for School Day at 12 p.m.