Season Preview: Big Green to Strive as One in 2019-20

2019-20 Women's Basketball Team with coaches

2019-20 Dartmouth Women's Basketball Team

Photo by: Gil Talbot

Season Preview: Big Green to Strive as One in 2019-20

10/31/2019 2:18:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Dartmouth plays Vermont Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. at Leede Arena

By: Mike Miezejeski

HANOVER, N.H. – Dartmouth women's basketball is starting fresh, but not forgetting that they were nine minutes away from reaching the Ivy League Tournament last season.

2018-19 saw the Big Green defeat Cornell on the road for the first time since 2009 and sweep their New York road trip for the first time since the 2006-07 season. Cy Lippold moved into the top 10 all-time in assists at Dartmouth and ranks 11th in 3-pointers made. Isalys Quinones was named to the All-Ivy League Second Team.

Now that those two have graduated, Dartmouth is resetting and preparing for a successful 2019-20 campaign. Belle Koclanes, the Gail Koziara Boudreaux '82 and Family Head Coach of Women's Basketball shared her thoughts on the upcoming season.

Koclanes: "Our goal is to win an 18th championship by taking it one step at a time. We have been one win away from the tournament the last two years, so we have shown that we are contending in the top half. But for this season, we are not going to talk about last year. The focus is that it's a new year, new season and a fresh start."

Strive as One

Strive as One is the theme in 2019-20. Dartmouth returns three players that started 20 or more games last season in seniors Annie McKenna, Kealy Brown and Paula Lenart. The junior class brings experience as well, Elle Louie made 14 starts, while Anna Luce appeared in 23 games and earned a starting call as well.

All five sophomores will see playing time led by Katie Douglas, who averaged 11.1 ppg over the final seven games of the season along with Jimena Abejon, who played in 20 games last year, Asha Taylor, Georgia Alexander and Veronica Kelly. Every member of the Big Green including the freshman class will have to build a strong chemistry in order to have a successful season.

Koclanes: "Strive as One means being there for one another in every facet of being at Dartmouth both on and off the court. Building trusting relationships so that we can be a better team, better teammates and better people. It also means that we are communicating the same message all the time. We are all here for the same reason every single day."

Total Team Effort

It will be a total team effort this season. Dartmouth will display its speed, athleticism and is going to share the ball to get open looks. This year's team is built to have a different top scorer each game and will keep opposing teams on their toes. The Big Green will also rely on everyone to play defense and rebounding will be key with returning forwards Paula Lenart, Georgia Alexander and Veronica Kelly.

Koclanes: "We have multiple players who are capable of putting the ball in the basket. We are more athletic and faster than we have ever been, and we have some really lethal outside shooting weapons that we are excited about. Annie McKenna, Katie Douglas, Anna Luce, Asha Taylor and Kealy Brown, who shot over 40 percent from deep last season, are just a few who can knock down three's, get to the rim and score in the midrange. Elle Louie is one of our best athletes and she has continued to work on her range, which will open up everything that she already does for us."

"We have a ton of athletes on our team and that helps from a defensive standpoint. We have experienced and smart players who are learning to be more disciplined on that end of the floor. We return Paula Lenart, our leading rebounder from a season ago, but everyone will have to crash the boards all the time and have a consistent effort because a lot of games will come down to rebounding."

Class of '23

Guards Karina Mitchell and Allie Harland and forwards Emma Koch and Kaiyah Corona will add depth to the roster. Mitchell hails from Charlotte, N.C., Harland is from Melbourne, Australia and Koch is out of Iowa City, Iowa. Corona comes to Hanover from Los Angeles, California.

Koclanes: "We are very excited about our freshman class. We are continuing to elevate our recruiting and we are bringing in higher level talent. Harland is a threat on the perimeter, and we are going to develop her game to all areas. Koch is smart and fundamental and will have a phenomenal career here, she is very physical and can shoot the ball. Corona is also a physical player who can shoot from anywhere and Mitchell adds speed and athleticism and will immediately add to what we are doing.

Dartmouth plays its season opener at Leede Arena on Tuesday at 7 p.m. against Vermont.