The Dartmouth women's basketball team continues Ivy League action on Saturday (Jan. 26) when they close out the season series with rival, Harvard. The Big Green and Crimson tipoff at 7 p.m. at Leede Arena.
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Game 16:
Dartmouth (2-13, 0-1 Ivy League) vs. Harvard (10-5, 1-0 Ivy League)
Date: Saturday, January
26 (7:00 p.m.)
Location: Hanover,
N.H. (Leede Arena)
Series: Harvard
leads, 41-30
Streak: Harvard
has won six
Starting Five
1. The Big Green return to Leede Arena after spending the
last two games on the road. The game marks just the second home game in the
month of Jan. for Dartmouth and is the first Ivy League home game for the Big
Green.
2. Dartmouth is looking for its first Ivy League home-opening win since defeating Harvard at Leede Arena in 2009-10. The Big Green are 23-13 in Ivy League home-openers all-time.
3. Dartmouth is looking to snap Harvard's current six-game win streak in the series. The Big Green are looking for their first win at Harvard since defeating the Crimson on their home court during the 2008-09 season. Harvard's six straight wins mark the most consecutive wins for the Crimson in the series.
4. Sophomore Tia Dawson is looking to maintain her scoring edge as of late. With her 10 points in the first meeting between the squads, Dawson posted her second consecutive game in double-figures and with her nine rebounds was just shy of her second consecutive double-double.
5. Dartmouth, who enters the game with an 0-6 record at Leede Arena, is looking for its first home win of the 2012-13 slate. The last time Dartmouth won a home game was March 3, 2012 against Columbia. The Big Green have dropped their last six home games.
Dartmouth vs. Harvard
Notables
-This will be the 72nd meeting between the Big Green and
Crimson and is a battle of the two longest-tenured coaches in the Ivy League.
Dartmouth skipper Chris Wielgus is in her 28th season roaming the Dartmouth
sidelines and Harvard's Delaney-Smith is in her 31st season at Harvard. Between
the two coaches there are 23 Ivy League championships. Chris Wielgus owns 12
and Delaney-Smith owns 11.
-The Big Green and Crimson have four non-conference opponents in common as both teams have played BYU, Holy Cross, New Hampshire and UMass. The Crimson defeated BYU, Holy Cross and New Hampshire and both teams defeated UMass.
-The Harvard game is a battle between high school teammates for Faziah Steen (Detroit, Mich.) and Harvard's Emma Golen, both played at Detroit Country Day along with Cornell's Spencer Lane. Additionally, Dartmouth's Nicola Zimmer (Chevy Chase, Md.) played high school basketball with Harvard's Marissa Brock.
A Win Would ...
1. Give Dartmouth head coach Chris Wielgus her 390th win at
Dartmouth. She entered the 2012-13 season needing 13 wins to claim her 400th
victory as head coach of the Big Green.
2. Snap Harvard's six-game winning streak and would also give Dartmouth its first win at Leede Arena this season. The win would also move the Big Green to 24-13 in Ivy League home-openers.
3. Move the Big Green to 1-1 in Ivy League action. The last time Dartmouth was at .500 or better after the first two weeks of Ivy League play was during the 2009-10 season when they were 3-0 after the first three games.
Scouting Harvard
The Crimson enter Saturday's Ivy League contest with a 10-5,
1-0 Ivy League record after defeating the Big Green, 88-66, on Jan. 12. The
Crimson, who are on winter break, also took the previous two weeks off. Christine
Clark leads the offense with a team-best 16.9 points per game. She is joined in
double-figures by teammates Victoria Lippert and Temi Fagbenle who are
averaging 13.1 and 11.5 points, respectively. Clark had a game-high 22 points
in the first meeting between the two squads while Lippert added 19 points,
scoring 16 in the first half. Fagbenle, a member of the Great Britain Olympic
squad, is leading the rebounding efforts with 6.8 boards per game. Head coach
Kathy Delaney-Smith is in her 31st season.
Roland Earns Rookie
of the Week Honors
Freshman Lakin Roland (Jeffersonville, Ind.) picked up her
first career Ivy League Rookie of the Week honor on Jan. 14 after putting up a
career-high 13 points against Harvard. Roland had a career-best 13 points and
24 minutes, while registering just one turnover. She was also a perfect 5-of-5
from the charity stripe. She joins Abbey Schmitt (Winnetka, Ill.) as Dartmouth
players to win Ivy League honors this season.
Ivy League Weekends
Up Next
The Harvard game marks the final single-game weekend of the
season for the Big Green. Dartmouth will hit the road for its first true Ivy
League weekend Feb. 1-2 when it travels to Brown and Yale. For the first time since the 2010-11 season,
the Big Green will play three road games within the first four games.
Steen Fills Up the
Scoresheet
Senior guard Faziah Steen (Detroit, Mich.) found her offense
against the Crimson. Steen scored a season-high 18 points for her second
consecutive game in double figures. Her 18 points was the most since she scored
18 against BYU on Nov. 13. Steen has been in double-figures in nine games this
season and is leading the team with 11.6 points per game. Her average is down
from 15.6 points during her junior campaign.
Offense Coming Around
The Big Green offense, which is averaging 52.5 points per
game, saw some success on the offensive side of things against Harvard. Dartmouth
scored 66 points, which marks the most points this season. The Big Green have
only scored 60 or more points on three occasions and has a 1-2 record when
scoring at least 60 points.
