Dartmouth Defeats Cornell For First Ivy Win of 2016-17

Saturday, January 28

Hanover, N.H.

6:00 PM

Dartmouth College

6-11, 1-3Ivy

Cornell

11-6, 2-2Ivy

Cornell

Dartmouth

Dartmouth Defeats Cornell For First Ivy Win of 2016-17

1/28/2017 6:50:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Andi Norman Tour the weight room Belle Koclanes Kate Letkewicz Olivia Smith Fanni Szabo Cy Lippold Photo Gallery Highlights: Dartmouth women's basketball vs. Cornell, Jan. 28, 2017 Box score: Dartmouth 84, Cornell 74 PDF Release

By: Dartmouth

HANOVER, N.H. – After playing a historic four overtime game less than 24 hours the night before, the Dartmouth women's basketball team carried the momentum into Saturday night's contest, defeating Cornell 84-74 in Leede Arena.

With the victory, the Big Green improve to 6-11 overall, 1-3 in the Ivy League, while the Big Red fall to 11-6, 2-2 in conference play.

Dartmouth senior Fanni Szabo led her team in scoring for the second consecutive night with an impressive 23 points. Szabo was one of three Big Green players to finish the night in double-figures as junior Andi Norman scored 14, while Olivia Smith added 12 in Dartmouth's first conference victory of the season.

A large crowd was able to witness this victory after hundreds showed up to honor former Big Green head coach, Chris Wielgus, who was recognized with a lunch prior to tip off and ceremony at center court during halftime. The lounge located in the basketball offices was also named in honor of Wielgus who won 12 Ivy League titles during her two stints in Hanover.

“Today has been an awesome day for our program and for our team,” said Belle Koclanes, the Gail Boudreaux '82 and Family Head Coach of Dartmouth Women's Basketball. “Having Coach Wielgus here and all of our alumni was inspirational for me and our team. Our team can truly understand the program they are apart of instead of us just telling them about it. For them to feel and see all of that today was remarkable.”

The Big Green played one of their best games of the season shooting nearly 60 percent from the field, as well as behind the arc. Dartmouth also had a solid outing at the free throw line making 12-of-14.

At the 6:03 mark of the first quarter, Smith's jumper gave the Big Green their first lead of the game and Dartmouth did not surrender the lead for the rest of the night. In the second quarter Dartmouth completed an 11-0 run that was capped off by a Norman three which extended the Big Green's advantage to 25-12. Norman finished the game with four three's contributing to the team's 10 made shots from beyond the arc.

In a five-minute span in the second quarter both teams got hot shooting the three, with nine consecutive treys between the two Ancient Eight squads. By halftime, Dartmouth held on to a 49-31 lead and showed no signs of fatigue after last night's marathon of a contest. Cornell found some momentum in the third quarter, outscoring the Big Green by three points, but a three-pointer by Cy Lippold and jumper by Kate Letkewicz to end the quarter gave Dartmouth a 66-61 lead.

The Big Red got within five points of that lead with three minutes to play in the fourth, but Szabo's six points in the game's final two and a half minutes helped preserve the victory for Dartmouth.

The Big Green return to action next weekend when Dartmouth travels to Princeton and Penn. Both games can be seen live in HD on the Ivy League Digital Network.

Notes: The Big Green made 10 three-pointers for the first time since Dec. 28, 2014 when Dartmouth made 12-of-23 vs. Niagara. Dartmouth is 5-1 this season when three players score in double figures.