In their final home game of the season, Dartmouth women\u2019s basketball team lost to the University of Pennsylvania 89-66. The senior night loss brings their record to 10-16 overall and 1-12 in the Ivy League, keeping the Big Green in last place in the conference.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Penn got off to a hot start, finishing the first quarter ahead 31-13. Dartmouth gave up seven 3-pointers and 12 fast-break points in the quarter. Shots were falling for the Quakers, who finished the quarter shooting 80% from the field. On the other hand, Dartmouth missed several scoring opportunities, including seven missed layups.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey made their 3s, we missed layups,\u201d head coach Linda Cimino said. \u201cThat was the difference.\u201d<\/p>\n
The second quarter was more even, as Penn scored 20 to the Big Green\u2019s 19, bringing the halftime score to 51-32.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cimino said that the team made several adjustments that helped improve their performance in the second quarter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe switched out of our zone and just played [man-to-man] the rest of the game, and I thought that helped a little bit,\u201d Cimino said. \u201cAnd then we settled down offensively and were able to score.\u201d<\/p>\n
The second half was also a more even matchup, but the Big Green were unable to close the gap created in the first quarter. The Quakers outscored Dartmouth 20-16 in the third quarter, but each team scored 18 in the fourth quarter to bring the final score to 89-66.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it wasn\u2019t for that first quarter, it would have been a very competitive game for both of us,\u201d Cimino said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Guard Zeynep Ozel \u201928 scored eight of the team\u2019s 16 points in the third quarter and had an emphatic block at the end of the period. In the fourth quarter, the Big Green were able to capitalize on Penn\u2019s mistakes, scoring eight points off of turnovers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dartmouth\u2019s bench contributed 29 points throughout the game, led by forward Olivia Austin \u201928, who had 11 points. Other contributors off the bench were guards Sierra Carson \u201927 and Nina Minicozzi \u201927, each with six points. On the other hand, Penn\u2019s starters accounted for 81 of their 89 points.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe definitely have a bigger bench this year so more people are able to contribute, and that\u2019s been showing at our games recently,\u201d Ozel said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really great to have that depth,\u201d forward Clare Meyer \u201926 added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ozel led the team with 13 points, while guard Alexandra Eldredge \u201927 and Austin each had 11. The team shot 26-for-59 from the field and 10-for-26 from behind the arc. The Big Green had 25 rebounds, eight of which were offensive rebounds.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For Penn, senior Simone Sawyer was 10-for-13 with 23 points to lead the Quakers in scoring. Cimino noted Sawyer\u2019s strong performance.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was so impressed with the way she scored,\u201d Cimino said. \u201cWe really struggled to defend her in that first quarter.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, Cimino was pleased with her team\u2019s fight in the remaining quarters.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought especially out of halftime, we came out defensively, and we got a few stops and were able to score and cut the lead,\u201d Cimino said. \u201cWe never stopped fighting.\u201d<\/p>\n
The game was the team\u2019s senior night, honoring each of the team\u2019s three seniors, Olivia Lawlor \u201926, Meyer and Brooke Hollawell \u201926 for their contributions over the past four years.<\/p>\n
Cimino was very complimentary of the graduating cohort.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEach of them brings something different to our program, and I\u2019ve really enjoyed getting to know them off the court as well,\u201d Cimino said. \u201cAll three of them have been great leaders, and I think they\u2019ve all had an impact on their teammates.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ozel also praised her senior teammates.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOur seniors have been great leaders this year,\u201d Ozel said. \u201cI\u2019m really sad for them to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meyer reflected on what the program has meant to her, saying that the team has played a large role in her Dartmouth experience. While she is sad to be coming to the end of her career, she said she is excited to continue supporting the team after graduation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is so much talent in the classes below us \u2026 and so I\u2019m really excited to keep watching them and see what they have to do in the future,\u201d Meyer said.<\/p>\n
The team faces Cornell in Ithaca, N.Y., on March 7 at 1 p.m. for their final Ivy League matchup. Since the Big Green will not make the Ivy League tournament, this game will also be the team\u2019s last of the season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cimino is optimistic about the final game.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we match up well with Cornell, and it\u2019s going to be who wants it more,\u201d Cimino said. \u201cI\u2019m excited that we get to play one more game and redeem ourselves from this weekend and try to end on a win.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In their final home game of the season, Dartmouth women\u2019s basketball team lost to the University of Pennsylvania…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":127227,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":{"0":"post-127226","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pennsylvania","8":"tag-pennsylvania","9":"tag-pennsylvania-headlines","10":"tag-pennsylvania-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127226"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127226\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/127227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}