Dartmouth Falls at Yale Despite Strong Start

Saturday, February 4

New Haven, Conn.

4:00 PM

Dartmouth College

2-21,0-9Ivy League

Yale

11-11,5-4Ivy League

Dartmouth

Yale

Olivia Lawlor ’26

Photo by: Chris Poss

2/4/2023 7:05:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score Highlights

The Big Green led at the half, but the Bulldogs’ third-quarter push was the difference

By: Kyle Relf

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — The Dartmouth women's basketball team held a halftime lead on the road against Yale, but ultimately suffered a 69-56 defeat on Saturday at John J. Lee Amphitheater.

Following a low-scoring start for both sides, a strong second quarter had Dartmouth with a three-point edge at halftime. Yale opened the third with a 15-1 run and eventually led by as many as 16. Though the Big Green hung around and cut the lead to as little as five, the Bulldogs hung on in the fourth to improve to 11-11 (5-4), while Dartmouth fell to 2-21 (0-9).

After scoring 23 on Friday night, Victoria Page was once again the Big Green's leading scorer, this time dropping a game-high 17 while knocking down four 3-pointers for a second straight outing. Mekkena Boyd followed with 12 and finished two rebounds shy of a double-double. Emma Koch grabbed 12 boards, one shy of tying a career-high, to reach double-digits in the category for a sixth time this season. Yale's balanced scoring contingent was paced by Mackenzie Egger and Kiley Capstraw, who posted 12 apiece.

Dartmouth was 0-for-4 from deep in the first quarter and shot worse than 30 percent from the field before finding a rhythm from the perimeter and knocking down 4-of-6 3-pointers in the second. The Big Green tied the game, 15-15, at the 6:49 mark of the second quarter with Mia Curtis' triple and jumped out to an 18-17 advantage when Page connected from deep on the next possession. Hot shooting continued with Boyd's triple just over a minute later and Curtis knocked down Dartmouth's fourth with less than three minutes until the break. The Big Green entered halftime with a 28-25 lead after Boyd knocked down 1-of-2 at the line in the final seconds.

Yale took control in the early minutes of the third quarter with a 15-1 run, racing to a 40-29 advantage. Olivia Lawlor's layup at the 5:07 mark stopped the bleeding and served as Dartmouth's first field goal of the second half. Page and Leiya Stuart scored back-to-back buckets and the Big Green were within five, 40-35. Yale quelled the quick run with three straight triples, capped by Christen McCann's, which handed the Bulldogs a 49-35 lead. A Page three with just over a minute remaining gave Dartmouth life entering the fourth.

Boyd's bucket, the first points for either side in the fourth, had Dartmouth within six, but that was the smallest deficit the Big Green would face for the remainder of the contest. Jenna Clark's 3-pointer at the 7:47 mark returned Yale to a double-digit lead. Page answered on the other end and a scoring drought of exactly five minutes followed for Dartmouth. Niekelski had the Big Green back within 10 with 2:22 remaining, but Capstraw hit a dagger from beyond the arc to create an insurmountable 11-point lead with less than two minutes remaining.

Saturday, Feb. 11 marks the end of a four-game road stretch as Dartmouth travels to Princeton for a 1 p.m. tip-off. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+.