Hanover
The sparse gathering, which climbed to slightly more than 100 later in the contest, saw yet another frustrating outcome for the Big Green, which went cold late and fell, 65-62. The result makes its participation in the Ivy League’s inaugural postseason tournament highly unlikely. That four-team event is to be staged at Philadelphia’s 90-year old Palestra on March 11-12.
Dartmouth, 6-14 overall and 1-7 in Ivy play, was last season’s fourth-place league finisher at 7-7. The last-place Big Green now not only likely needs to run the table, it closes its scheduled campaign by hosting Princeton and Pennsylvania, teams to which it lost last weekend by a combined 60 points.
Dartmouth was led by Kate Letkewicz, who had 23 points and nine rebounds during 33 minutes of play. The ponytailed junior made 10 of 14 field-goal attempts and became her team’s only real weapon when sophomore post competitor Isalys Quinones left with a left leg injury with four minutes remaining in the third quarter and her team down by two points.
“Ice,” as she’s nicknamed, had 14 points and a game-high 10 rebounds when she departed, not to return. That left junior Andi Norman to play in the paint. She had five points and three rebounds during 27 minutes of action.
Fellow forward Olivia Smith was praised by Dartmouth coach Belle Koclanes for her defense and eight rebounds but struggled offensively. Her line: 30 minutes, 2-of-11 field-goal shooting for four points and an 0-for-4 performance at the free-throw line. The junior committed six of her team’s 18 turnovers, a total number that led to 18 Bears points.
The game’s 11th tie occurred at 57-57 and with 2 minutes, 32 seconds remaining. From that point, Fanni Szabo and Emily Slagle each committed a turnover, the former missed a jump shot and Brown made six of eight foul shots. Cy Lippold sanke a bucket and Letkewicz drained a 3-pointer and saw another miss as time expired.
“We’re not starting well, and we’ve talked to the team about it numerous times,” said Koclanes, whose team trailed, 17-8, after a quarter and made just three of 15 field-goal attempts during the period. “We’ve tried different lineups, especially at point guard.
“Our (post players) have been fantastic this season. If they’re not scoring, they’re rebounding. I know what I’m going to get from them and what our rotations look like. Our guards? Not so much.”
Case in point, Szabo. The senior guard averaged 28 points during games against Columbia and Cornell last month but has scored just a combined 26 points during four games since. Sunday, she had eight points on 2-of-9 shooting from the floor.
Point guard? It’s been a black hole for the Big Green. Junior Amber Mixon has started 15 times and is a defensive stopper, but her 43 field goals attempted is ninth on the team and she’s averaging 2.6 points per game.
Freshman Annie McKenna looked like she might be an answer, but her minutes plummeted to single digits last weekend, and she didn’t play at all the last two games. Koclanes said the Illinois product needs to work on her defense.
Szabo and sophomore Lippold have also seen time handling the ball, but neither is a natural. That’s an Achilles’ heel, especially at crunch time.
“It’s a familiar pattern,” Letkewicz said. “We go down to the wire, but it’s a matter of starting better and finishing out the game in its entirety.”
None of Dartmouth’s six freshmen have played the last two games, and the five other than McKenna, who’s averaging 17 minutes per outing, are each averaging fewer than five minutes per contest. Koclanes does not seem concerned.
“They’re just not ready, and there are all different reasons for it,” the coach said. “Each player here is on their own timeline, whether they’re a freshman or a senior. Even as we try to recruit higher-level kids who can play right away, it’s going to take them a minute to catch their breath, athletically and academically.
“Are there freshmen in our league playing? Absolutely. Just not our freshmen.”
Notes: The Bears are 14-7 overall and 5-3 in the Ivy League, good for fourth place. … Third-year Brown coach Sara Behn starred at Boston College from 1989-93. Her No. 33 was retired by the program. … Showing off his throwing arm by tossing mini basketballs into the crowd was Abrm McQuarters, who recently exhausted his eligibility as Big Green football running back. McQuarters and former teammate Vernon Harris participated in a “dizzy bat” race between the third and fourth quarters, the latter managing a smooth layup while the latter crashed to the court along the baseline. … Mark Graupe, a former Dartmouth men’s basketball assistant who served as that program’s interim coach in 2010, had the Dickinson (N.D.) State women’s team at 20-5 overall and 12-1 in North Star Athletic Association play entering the weekend. Graupe is in his fourth season with the Bluehawks, an NAIA program.
Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com or 603-727-3227.