Columbia Pulls Away From Dartmouth

Saturday, February 3

New York, N.Y. / Levien Gymnasium

5:00 PM

Dartmouth College

6-13,0-7Ivy League

Columbia

15-5,6-1Ivy League

Dartmouth

Columbia

Victoria Page matched the team-high with 10 points.

Photo by: Kyle Relf

2/3/2024 8:35:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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The 71-52 road loss to the Lions capped the first half of Ivy League play

By: Kyle Relf

NEW YORK, N.Y. — Playing its second of back-to-back Ivy League games, the Dartmouth women's basketball team suffered a 71-52 loss to Columbia on Saturday evening at Levien Gymnasium, marking the end of the first half of the Big Green's conference schedule.

Dartmouth is now 6-13 on the season and 0-7 in the Ivy League, and Columbia improved to 15-5 and 6-1 in the Ancient Eight.

The Big Green kept the Lions' lead within 10 points for much of the first half, but were outscored 21-5 in the third quarter as the 2023 Ivy League champion and WNIT runner-up began to pull away, eventually leading by 30 in the early minutes of the fourth.

Dartmouth, which featured three scorers in double figures on Friday night at Cornell, was paced by Victoria Page and Clare Meyer with 10 points apiece. Mekkena Boyd added nine points and connected on three of her four attempts from beyond the arc. Cecilia Collins led the Lions with 15 points, and Abbey Hsu grabbed a game-high nine rebounds to complement her 13 points.

Boyd opened the scoring for Dartmouth with her first of three triples and the Big Green soon had a 5-2 edge after Meyer's bucket less than two minutes into the contest. Columbia made an 11-0 run in the last minutes of the first, but Dartmouth was able to salvage a three-point deficit (18-15) with another Boyd 3-pointer and Page's buzzer-beating jumper.

The Big Green were within three points early in the second quarter, but found themselves trailing by 12 at the 3:19 mark. Both sides traded 3-pointers in three straight possessions late in the quarter before Olivia Lawlor scored with seconds remaining to bring Dartmouth within single digits heading into the break.

A scoring drought of more than seven minutes spelled trouble for the Big Green, who succumbed to a 19-0 Lions run. Boyd cashed her final 3-pointer of the game with just over 30 seconds remaining in the third to end the drought. Columbia had its first 30-point lead, 67-37, at the 7:06 mark of the fourth. Dartmouth was able to come within 20 in the game's final minutes, aided by back-to-back buckets from Meena Tate.

Saturday's game marked the end of a four-game road stretch for the Big Green as they return to Leede Arena on Saturday, Feb. 10 to host Harvard at 2 p.m. Next weekend's contest, which will air live on NESN and ESPN+, serves as Dartmouth's annual Alumni Game.