Big Red Dashes Dartmouth’s Hopes For Perfect Season

This past weekend, the Cornell women’s basketball team did something no other Ivy team has done yet this season: beat Dartmouth. As the final weekend of the season approaches, the Big Green’s overtime loss has made for an interesting title race, as Harvard is only one game out of first place.

The Big Red (10-14, 6-6 Ivy) was propelled to a 66-61 overtime victory by strong defense in the first half, as Dartmouth (15-10, 10-1 Ivy) scored only 22 points in the first half on 8-of-32 shooting. However, the Big Green was able to make 45.8 percent of its shots in the second, overcoming the eight-point deficit with which it had entered the locker room. The Big Green’s shooting touch would fail them again in the extra stanza, as the team missed all six of its attempted free throws.

Junior guard Lauren Benson led the Big Red with 10 assists and also added 12 points and seven rebounds. Another junior guard, Virginia McMunigal, led her team in scoring with 14 points. Two other Cornell players scored in double digits.

The Big Red were not as successful the next night against second-place Harvard (17-8, 9-2 Ivy), as they lost by a score of 63-56. The Crimson had just come off a 71-58 victory over Columbia and used this momentum to complete its second consecutive weekend sweep.
Senior guard and Ivy League Player of the Week Emily Tay led Harvard in scoring both nights. She posted a career-high 23 points against the Lions and added six assists and two rebounds. At Cornell, Tay had 16 points, nine rebounds, and five assists. She was helped by freshman guard and Ivy League Rookie of the Week Brogan Berry, who posted 12 points each night.

After losing to Cornell, Dartmouth’s game against Columbia (13-13, 6-6 Ivy) became a must-win if it wanted to remain in first place alone. With 10 lead changes, the game was close, but the Big Green was able to pull away at the very end, defeating the Lions 63-61. This loss dropped the Light Blue to fourth in the standings.

Senior center Darcy Rose led Dartmouth with 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Danielle Browne led the Lions in scoring with 19 points and Judie Lomax led Columbia with 13 rebounds.

Dartmouth and Harvard will both face off against Brown and Yale this weekend and will play each other next Tuesday. Both teams beat Yale and Brown on the road earlier this season, and if this is again the case this weekend, the title race will come down to the game on Tuesday. If Harvard wins, they will share the title.

While no longer in the title race, Columbia’s upcoming series against Penn and Princeton will decide its final standing. Currently tied for fourth with Cornell (who will also play Penn and Princeton this weekend), the Lions could finish third if they sweep.

This past weekend, the Quakers (7-18, 4-7 Ivy) were able to defeat Brown 55-48 in overtime after falling to Yale 61-51.

Against Brown (3-23, 1-11 Ivy), junior guard Caitlin Slover posted a double-double, leading Penn in both scoring (18) and rebounds (13). In their loss to Yale, senior forward Carrie Biemer led the Quakers with 18 points.

Despite its success against Penn, Yale (11-15, Ivy 4-8) fell to Princeton the following night by a score of 61-53. The Tigers were led by freshman center Devona Allgood, who had a double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds.

Before defeating Yale, Princeton triumphed over the Bears by a score of 61-38. The Tigers (11-14, 6-5 Ivy) took over the third place spot from Columbia by sweeping Brown and Yale this weekend.