We may be reaching the end of automatic wins for Ivy women’s basketball opponents against “lowly Dartmouth.”
The Big Green led for half the game at home Saturday before falling to Penn, 53-39.
It certainly seems like a new era in Hanover with first-year coach Linda Cimino.
Dartmouth (6-8, 0-2 Ivy) has done its work on defense and discipline, giving up fewer points per game than any other Ivy and committing few fouls. But it’s at the bottom of the league in points, and with Penn (9-6, 1-1) it faced three of the Ivies’ top 10 scorers. Penn came up 15 points short of its per-game average, but Dartmouth would have needed three points more than its average — rather than 12 below — to win.
Dartmouth built as much as a six-point lead and stayed a step or two ahead of Penn for most of the first half. Credit a combination of Dartmouth defense and Penn carelessness, resulting in a ghastly 11 first-half turnovers for the Red and Blue. The Big Green also had the hot hands in the first quarter — sinking 53% of their shots, a rate they could not sustain. Dartmouth finished the game hitting just 29% and just two of its 13 attempts (15%) for threes.
Doreen Ariik, a 6-foot-4 junior forward from Kenya who missed almost all of last season, showed why she has become crucial to Dartmouth’s progress this year. Ariik blocked three shots to add to her league-leading total, collected four rebounds and dished three assists. But she also shot a miserable 1-for-11 from the field.
Clare Meyer, a 6-foot-3 sophomore guard from Philly, gave Dartmouth what scoring punch it could muster, getting 14 points on 7-for-17 shooting.
Two Penn players, meanwhile, collected double-doubles: leading scorer Stina Almqvist (15 points on 7-for-16 shooting, 13 rebounds) and Jordan Obi (11 points, 5-for-13 shooting, 10 rebounds). Penn shot 39% from the floor and a lackluster 24% from deep but dominated the boards, 48-28.
Both teams will be back in action Monday, with Penn hosting Cornell and Dartmouth hosting Princeton.