The Dartmouth women used a stifling defense to rout favored Brown 64-48 in the Ivy League opener for both teams at the Pizzitola Sports Center on Saturday afternoon.
Going up against a Bears team (6-8, 0-1 Ivy) which tied for fourth last year and was picked for fifth in this year’s preseason media poll, the road win was a huge boost for a Big Green squad (7-7, 1-0) that was picked for the conference’s last spot.
While Dartmouth hasn’t been a strong three-point shooting team throughout the opening two months, the Big Green used a 3-for-5 effort from beyond the arc to open up a 17-9 lead after 10 minutes.
Brown, which was held to 21% shooting in the opening frame, responded with an 8-2 run over the first five minutes of the second quarter to cut the deficit to three, 19-16.
After Dartmouth got the lead back to seven, Bruno went on a 5-0 run punctuated by a give-and-go layup from junior guard Grace Arnolie to first-year forward Aima Ofunrein to make it a 23-21 game.
The teams traded layups and free throws the rest of the quarter, and the Big Green finished the half with a 27-25 advantage.
Three straight buckets from first-year guard Zeynep Ozel, sophomore forward Cate MacDonald and senior guard Victoria Page upped Dartmouth’s lead to 35-27 and forced Brown head coach Monique LeBlanc to call at timeout at the 6:19 mark.
The breather didn’t help the Bears, as the Big Green hit three of their next four shots, including an old-fashioned three from first-year forward Olivia Austin and a deep triple from Ozel, to complete the 14-0 run and up the lead to 43-27.
By time the horn sounded for the end of the third quarter, Dartmouth was ahead 47-32 and 10 minutes away from its first conference-opening victory since 2020.
Trying to get back in the game, Brown’s Alyssa Moreland hit a tough layup and was fouled. The junior forward missed the free throw, but Ofunrein tipped the ball into the hands of Gia Powell and the first-year guard sank a triple from the left elbow to make it a 10-point game, 47-37.
Brown’s hopes were quickly dashed as Paige hit a floater from the left side and Austin intercepted a pass and went coast-to-coast for an uncontested layup.
The Bears tried a full-court press as a last resort, but the Big Green converted on two straight possessions to maintain the 14-point lead, 56-42, and effectively put the game away.
Dartmouth shot 52% (17-for-33) from two, which was similar to its yearly result of 47%. However, the team’s 46% from three (5-for-11) and 88% (15-for-17) from the free-throw line were significantly better than its year-to-date numbers of 28% and 60%, respectively.
Despite giving up a 21% advantage on the boards and 14 more shots, the Big Green’s physical defense limited Brown to 41% (12-for-29) from inside the arc, 17% (5-for-29) from outside the arc, and 64% (9-for-14) from the charity stripe.
Dartmouth also held Arnolie, who led Brown in scoring at 14.7 points per game, to only four points on 1-for-13 shooting.
Prior to the game, Big Green coach Linda Cimino, who hails from Rhode Island and had a large contingency of supporters on hand, said on the game broadcast that it was key to make sure her team played strong transition defense to limit Brown’s strength. In her postgame comments, she noted the importance of hedging hard on Brown’s screens and not allowing open threes.
Paige led the way for victors with 14 points on 6-for-10 shooting and three assists.
“In my career, I haven’t done that, open Ivy League play with a bang and a convincing win,” the emotional Tennessee native said after the game. “We’ve talked about separating ourselves and growing. I think this was a step in the right direction.”
Ozel finished the afternoon with 12 points and five assists, Austin totaled nine points, seven rebounds and three assists, and MacDonald came off the bench to add 11 points and five rebounds.
In another positive result for Dartmouth, senior forward Doreen Ariik, who led the Ivy League in blocks and Dartmouth in rebounding last year, saw her first action of the 2024-25 season.
Moreland, who missed the first month of the season recovering from an injury, was Brown’s top performer with 13 points and nine rebounds.
Cimino’s squad will look to build on its momentum next Saturday afternoon when the Big Green travel to Penn to take on the team ranked fourth in the conference preseason poll, while LeBlanc will try to get her Bears into the win column at home against Yale.