Dartmouth Stays Close Through Three Quarters, But Falls at Buffalo

Sunday, December 29

Buffalo, N.Y.

2:00 PM

Dartmouth College

6-6,0-0Ivy League

Buffalo

9-2,0-0MAC

Dartmouth

Buffalo

Elle Louie women's basketball action at Manhattan

Junior Elle Louie

Photo by: Doug Austin

Dartmouth Stays Close Through Three Quarters, But Falls at Buffalo

12/29/2019 4:03:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

A big fourth-quarter run led the Bulls past the Big Green

By: Mike Miezejeski

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Dartmouth (6-6) took an early lead and kept things close through three quarters, but Buffalo (9-2) proved to be too much in the fourth and handed the Big Green a 73-49 loss Sunday afternoon at Alumni Arena.

Veronica Kelly put together a career-high 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field, while Annie McKenna was also in double figures with 10 points, four rebounds, four assists and four steals. Asha Taylor hit three 3-pointers for nine points and Katie Douglas finished with eight points. Elle Louie Tallied six points and six rebounds, all on the offensive end.

Dyaisha fair, the third-leading scorer in the nation, finished with 22 points for Buffalo. Two of her teammates joined her in double figures.

"Our team is better than we were a week ago and we came into today focused and eager to improve and our energy and effort was there," said Belle Koclanes, the Gail Koziara Boudreaux '82 and Family Head Coach of Women's Basketball. "We have to have a winning mentality and execute that. I'm really proud of the effort, energy and communication through the first three quarters and the fourth was our lesson. We need to respond when teams elevate their play against us."

Dartmouth came to play and raced ahead to an early lead. The Big Green played tough, battling for offensive rebounds, and came away with blocked shot to spark a 10-3 surge to take a 13-6 lead with 3:58 to go. Buffalo then flipped the script and nailed three 3-pointers of its own to close the quarter on a 10-2 run to go up 16-15 after one.

It took over three minutes for offense to start in the second. McKenna and Kelly scored consecutive baskets to give Dartmouth a 19-16 advantage. Back-to-back threes put the Bulls back on top, but Dartmouth stayed the course as Kelly closed the half with six quick points to make it a three-point ballgame at halftime.

Buffalo hung onto a slim lead as the Bulls' Fair and the Big Green's Taylor traded 3-balls to start the third. It was a defensive struggle from there on as the home team was able to get to the line and sunk eight shots from the charity stripe in the quarter. Douglas drilled her first 3-pointer in the final minutes as the clock ticked down, but Buffalo made four free throws in the final minute to take a 46-40 lead in to the fourth.

The Bulls came alive and outscored Dartmouth 19-4 to start the fourth, extending its margin to 65-44 with 2:32 to go. McKenna knocked down a corner three and Kealy Brown scored in the paint, but Buffalo hung on to take the win.

Dartmouth plays its final game of the decade at Loyola (Md.) on Tuesday at noon at Reitz Arena.