Dartmouth Falls to American in Low-Scoring Affair, 45-41

Thursday, December 17

Hanover, N.H.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

2-10

American

1-8

American

Dartmouth

Dartmouth Falls to American in Low-Scoring Affair, 45-41

12/17/2015 5:42:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Lakin Roland Fanni Szabo Belle Koclanes Kate Letkewicz Daisy Jordan Amber Mixon Highlights: Dartmouth women's basketball vs. American, Dec. 17, 2015 PDF Boxscore

By: Dartmouth

HANOVER, N.H. – Despite a strong first quarter effort, the Dartmouth women's basketball team fell to American, 45-41 in the first of back-to-back home games.

The loss drops the Big Green to 2-10, while American improves to 1-8 for its first win of the season.

Senior Lakin Roland led Dartmouth in scoring with 21 points, the most points the Jeffersonville, Indiana native has scored in a game this season. Junior Fanni Szabo and sophomore Kate Letkewicz each scored eight points in the loss. Letkewicz grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.

“American University is a good team that is coached well,” head coach Belle Koclanes said. “It doesn't matter that they didn't have their first win until tonight. What matters is the game at hand. We were prepared for today. We got off the plane yesterday and watched some film. We fixed our two-zone from Louisville and we did a bunch of film with guards and posts to continue to develop their decision making. You saw a lot of that in the first quarter tonight.”

Roland got things started for the Big Green in a huge way after she scored the game's opening five points. Dartmouth jumped out to a quick 10-6 lead hallway through the first stanza. By the first media timeout Roland was already in double digits in scoring with 10 points. A Szabo jumper stretched the Green's advantage to 16-6. By the end of the first, Dartmouth was ahead 18-8 after going on an 8-0 run through the quarter's last five minutes.

“Lakin wants to get better and do everything she can for this team in her senior year,” Koclanes said. “Daisy does too. She keeps getting into foul trouble, which is frustrating because some of her screens look really good. She's getting some tough calls, which is the story of a post players life. We need Daisy and Lakin on the floor, this group respects them and responds to them.”

In the second, American began a comeback sparked by a 9-0 run in the quarter's opening minutes. Sophomore Kate Letkewicz ended the scoring drought for the Big Green with a three-pointer to give her team a 24-22 lead. With three minutes remaining in the first half, the Eagles tied the game at 24. Roland broke the stalemate before the halftime buzzer with a jumper with just four seconds to play, as Dartmouth to a 26-24 lead into the locker room at the break.

The Eagles came out tough in the second half, completing a 6-0 run to begin the quarter. A Roland free throw broke the Eagles momentum for the time being, but American responded with a trey to take a 33-27 lead. Just minutes later, Letkewicz responded with a three of her own. In the closing moments of the quarter, Roland hit Szabo with a pass who drove hard to the basket for a layup cutting the Eagles lead to just one point.

After a Daisy Jordan free throw, the score was tied at 35 with 4:55 left to play. The teams traded three-pointers knotting up the score at 38. The Eagles got momentum on their side with a key shot from behind the arc to take a 43-33 advantage with just under three minutes remaining in the game. Dartmouth would come within four points of American's lead after Amber Mixon drained one of two free throws, but that would be as close as the Big Green would get.

Dartmouth returns to Leede Arena Friday night when the Big Green host Niagara at 7:00 p.m.