Seventh-year head coach Belle Koclanes announced the upcoming schedule for the Dartmouth women’s team on Tuesday. Preparing to earn its first-ever appearance in the Ivy Tournament, the team’s 13-game nonconference slate is heavy on regional opponents, but light on teams from last year’s postseason.
The Big Green will take on fellow New Englanders Vermont, Merrimack, Fairfield, Maine, UMass-Lowell, New Hampshire and Boston University. While most are familiar foes, this year’s contest with Merrimack will be a first, as the Warriors make the jump to Division I.
Dartmouth will visit Loyola (Chicago) and Northwestern in early December, as a homecoming trip for senior guard Annie McKenna of nearby Elmwood Park. The Wildcats, coming off a successful season that ended as runner-up in the 2019 WNIT, are one of three non-Ivy teams that played in the postseason. The other two are MAC champion Buffalo and America East title-holder Maine, both making it into the NCAA Tournament.
After a New Year’s Eve game in Baltimore against Loyola (Maryland), the Dartmouth will have 11 days to get ready for its Ivy opener at home against Harvard. The Big Green lost by 16 at home last year to the Crimson, but defeated Harvard by seven the last time they started the league schedule at Leede Arena.
Dartmouth will continue its schedule two weeks later at Harvard, then return to the Upper Valley for the next four games. Unfortunately for the Big Green, they will follow the two games against last year’s third-place team with contests against both co-champions, Penn and Princeton. The team will finish the homestand with games against last-place Brown and fellow-fourth-place Yale.
Things don’t get any easier for the Big Green as they hit the road for three of the last four weekends of the regular season. After a weekend in New York against improving Columbia and Ivy Tournament participant Cornell, the squad travels down to Princeton and Penn. Following a Senior weekend return match against the Big Red and Lions, Dartmouth will be back on the road to close out the season in Southern New England against the Bulldogs and Bears.
The Big Green finished last year at 13-14 overall and 6-8 in the Ivy League, tied for fourth place with Cornell and Yale. The team had its fate in its hands on the final night of the season, but missed earning the last bid to Ivy Madness after losing 57-47 at home to Cornell.
Dartmouth lost Isalys Quinones, Cy Lippold and Emily Dryden to graduation. Quinones and Lippold were the team’s top two scorers. Quinones led the group in blocks and was second in rebounds, while Lippold was tops in three pointers and assists per game.
Fortunately for the Big Green, they return six players that averaged double-digit minutes, including senior guard McKenna (30.8 mpg, 7.1 ppg, 3.6 apg), senior forward Paula Lenart (22.7 mpg, 6.3 ppg, 7.0 rpg), and junior forward Anna Luce (18.9 mpg, 6.7 ppg, 3.7 rpg). Coach Koclanes will also welcome four new recruits, as her team looks to upset the recent Ivy powers and earn its first championship since 2009.
2019-20 Dartmouth Women’s Basketball Schedule
11/5 Tue. vs VERMONT
11/13 Wed. vs MERRIMACK
11/17 Sun. at Fairfield
12/1 Sun. at Manhattan
12/4 Wed. at Loyola (Chicago)
12/7 Sat. at Northwestern
12/10 Tue. vs MAINE
12/13 Fri. at UMass-Lowell
12/15 Sun. vs TEXAS STATE
12/18 Wed. vs NEW HAMPSHIRE
12/21 Sat. at Boston University
12/29 Sun. at Buffalo
12/31 Tue. at Loyola (Maryland)
1/11 Sat. vs HARVARD
1/25 Sat. at Harvard
1/31 Fri. vs PRINCETON
2/1 Sat. vs PENN
2/7 Fri. vs BROWN
2/8 Sat. vs YALE
2/14 Fri. at Columbia
2/15 Sat. at Cornell
2/21 Fri. at Penn
2/22 Sat. at Princeton
2/28 Fri. vs CORNELL
2/29 Sat. vs COLUMBIA
3/6 Fri. at Yale
3/7 Sat. at Brown