HANOVER — Belle Koclanes isn’t oblivious to the facts.
Since she took over Dartmouth women’s basketball more than six years ago, the Big Green has struggled to emerge from the Ivy League’s bottom tier. There have been back-to-back fifth-place finishes and a fourth-place finish in 2015-16, but that was before the current four-team Ivy League tournament was created.
In the final three years under predecessor Chris Wielgus, Dartmouth finished seventh, seventh and sixth in league standings. Koclanes didn’t inherit a program at its peak, but she hasn’t reached the summit like Wielgus did with six NCAA Tournament bids, either.
On Friday night at Leede Arena, Dartmouth and Koclanes were reminded of how much climbing they have left to do. First-place Princeton dominated and handed the Big Green its second loss of conference play, 66-34.
If Dartmouth (7-9, 1-2 Ivy) is summiting the peak, Princeton is already there. The Tigers are receiving votes for the AP Top 25 and are ranked No. 3 in the most recent CollegeInsider.com women’s mid-major top 25 poll, which is voted on by select coaches.
Along with the rankings, they entered Friday No. 1 in the country in fewest turnovers. Starting guard Bella Alarie, who scored 23 points against the Big Green, is an expected top-10 pick in this spring’s WNBA draft. Connecticut Sun coach Curt Miller was at Leede Arena on Friday night to watch her play.
Whether Princeton (14-1, 2-0) wins the Ivy League postseason tournament has yet to be determined, but the Tigers have a case for an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament, with their lone loss coming in overtime at Iowa.
That’s where Dartmouth is attempting to get to and get back to.
“It’s a goal to be as good as them,” senior Annie McKenna said. “I remember beating them on our home floor my freshman year. It’s definitely attainable to beat them.”
Dartmouth was competitive for most of the first half. It held a 14-13 lead after the first quarter and four minutes into the second still had a lead. But an Alarie 3-pointer with 5:31 until the half put the Tigers up, 21-19, and Princeton never trailed again.
Katie Douglas and Elle Louie each picked up two fouls in the first quarter, forcing Dartmouth to turn to its bench. The Big Green did itself no favors, though. It closed out the first half with a scoreless drought of 3 minutes, 58 seconds. Then, it opened up the third quarter slow, and the Tigers dominance continued.
Ultimately, the visitors outscored Dartmouth, 53-20, in the final three quarters of play.
Princeton nearly dominated in every statistical category. The Tigers shot 38.7% from the field and 38.9% from beyond the arc, while the Big Green shot a mere 26.9% from the field and was 3-of-22 from 3-point range. Dartmouth shooting 3-of-7 from the free-throw line didn’t help, either.
“We’re doing the best we can with the time we have and the talent we have,” said Koclanes, who’s 1-12 against Princeton. “We’re working our tails off to try to change that.
“The Ivy League, it’s at the highest level it’s ever been at, and we’re behind. And so people will say, ‘Well, Belle, catch up.’ And I’ll say, ‘What do you think I’m doing every day in my life since I joined this quest?’ ”
Stat sheet: Dartmouth turned the ball over 25 times, resulting in 18 points for Princeton. … The Tigers bruised Dartmouth in the paint with 34 points. … Kealy Brown was a bright spot for Dartmouth with a team-high 11 points off the bench.
Big picture: The loss doesn’t come as a surprise; Dartmouth knew it would need to play a near-perfect game to pull out the win, and it didn’t. If anything, the Big Green will be kicking itself for not giving the Tigers its best look.
Splitting this weekend will be a telling sign if Dartmouth can post its first winning record in the Ivies since going 13-1 during the 2008-09 campaign.
Up next: Dartmouth will turn around on Saturday night and host perennial power Penn. The Quakers fell to Harvard on Friday night, 58-51. Koclanes is 1-11 against Penn.
Pete Nakos can be reached at pnakos@ vnews.com.