Women's Basketball Falls to New Hampshire, 60-44

Thursday, December 18

Durham, N.H.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

5-5, 0-0Ivy

New Hampshire

6-3, 0-0AE

Dartmouth

New Hampshire

Women's Basketball Falls to New Hampshire, 60-44

12/18/2014 8:52:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Dartmouth

DURHAM, N.H. — Sophomore Katie Vareika once again led the Big Green from the outside, but New Hampshire held on to an early lead to defeat Dartmouth (5-5), 60-44, on Thursday evening at Lundholm Gym.

Vareika finished with a team-high 12 points on 4-of-7 from beyond the arc in 23 minutes off the bench. The Dartmouth bench contributed 25 points and played significant minutes. Freshman Andi Norman had seven points in the loss but shot well hitting 3-of-4 from the field with a free throw.

The Big Green finished the game shooting 37.5 percent from the floor, while the Wildcats shot 46 percent overall. New Hampshire (6-3) outrebounded the Big Green, 37-27, and got to the charity stripe 18 times for 11 points. The hosts also added 36 points in the paint and 21 points off turnovers.

Three players in double figures led UNH to victory, as Elizabeth Belanger had the game-high with 16 points. Kaylee Kilpatrick had 14 points and nine rebounds and Aliza Simpson contributed 13 points.

The Wildcats opened the second half on a 17-6 run and took an 14-point lead, 46-32. Midway through the final stanza, the Wildcats increased the lead to 19 (55-36) on free throws by Belanger. Vareika and sophomore Fanni Szabo tried to decrease the New Hampshire advantage with a three and a layup, but the Wildcats kept the deficit at 18 (59-41) on a drive by Ariel Gaston with 4:26 left.

Early in the first half, the game saw four lead changes as each team jockeyed for position out of the gates. The Big Green took a three-point lead three and a half minutes into play on a jumper by Norman, but the Wildcats reversed the edge with a 6-0 run on a layup by Belanger at 14:26. The game remained within a possession for the next 10 minutes, until New Hampshire took a seven-point lead 23-16 on a 7-0 run.

Dartmouth answered back with a pair of three-pointers by Vareika. With 33 seconds remaining in the half, Szabo picked off a New Hampshire inbounds and sent a pass to freshman Olivia Smith, who scored on a layup under the basket to make it a 27-26 contest. Belanger added a layup with five seconds left to give the Wildcats a 29-26 lead at the half.

The bench was responsible for 17 of the Big Green's 26 points with Norman leading the way with seven points. Vareika's six points came from the outside as the team shot 46 percent from the field and connected on 3-of-8 from the outside.

Dartmouth returns to Hanover for a pre-holiday break contest against Loyola Chicago at noon on Saturday.