HANOVER — When Dartmouth College women’s basketball coach Belle Koclanes was recruiting Katie Douglas and Asha Taylor two years ago, she generated a nickname for the duo: The Splash Sisters.
The name, a twist on the well-known Splash Brothers, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, who play for the Golden State Warriors, was an ode to Douglas and Taylor’s potential to carry the Big Green’s point production.
Koclanes didn’t tell the two about her nickname initially. It was a hope; the two were just recruits at the time.
But now in their sophomore seasons, their coach’s vision has started to come to fruition. Both have started in at least five games and are averaging more than 6.5 points per game.
“We laid out a vision for them,” Koclanes said recently. “We said, ‘Look, we want you to join us, and this is what we want you to do here. This is what you’re capable of doing.’
“Their offensive skill sets are so fundamental, so aggressive and so sound that they can score at all three levels. That’s what we need. Ultimately we want them to be able to shoot from all five spots on the floor so that we can play interchangeable offense and interchangeable defense.”
Douglas and Taylor didn’t know each other in high school and come from different parts of the country — Douglas hails from New Jersey, Taylor from Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
When they met for the first time on their official visits to Hanover, Douglas had already committed to Dartmouth. Taylor was leaning toward the Big Green but hadn’t made a decision yet.
Taylor admits that she was shy on the visit, not knowing her way around and not interacting with the team too much. But Douglas stepped in and helped ease her through the visit, helping Taylor envision herself as a student-athlete at Dartmouth.
“I think we initially hit it off freshman year when we first got here,” Douglas said. “As we’ve been continuing to play with each other, I just think that relationship has gotten stronger.”
One of the selling points to the two for Koclanes was the opportunity to help the program win its 18th Ivy League championship. A league title also guarantees an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Taylor won two Florida High School Athletic Association state titles and, in her junior year, the shooting guard helped Miami Country Day School win the Dicks National Championship.
Douglas won a New Jersey Preps state championship her freshman year and was an all-state New Jersey prep player.
The two have a past of winning, which is what Koclanes wanted. The seventh-year coach hasn’t won an Ivy League title yet; Dartmouth’s last came in 2009. The Big Green is 6-5 this season with nonconference games at Buffalo on Sunday and Loyola (Md.) on Dec. 31 before Ivy League play starts on Jan. 11 when Harvard visits Hanover.
“We obviously go into a game and expect to win,” Douglas said. “But I think there is a different level that is brought to practice, when you’re just groomed into winning a lot because you come to compete every day.”
Added Taylor: “Being able to come in here and turn this program into a winning culture and winning that 18th championship, we both want it more than ever.”
While the 18th title is at the forefront of Dartmouth’s goals every season, Koclanes knows she needs to continue Douglas and Taylor’s development this season. It means finding both players meaningful minutes and coaching them through tough situations.
In a Dec. 15 loss to Texas State at Leede Arena, both started and played more than half of the game for Dartmouth. Taylor finished with a team-high 12 points but was 4-of-14 from the field, including 4-of-11 from beyond the arc. Douglas scored eight points on 2-of-5 shooting from the field.
Koclanes wants the high volume of shots, but she’d like to see a few more fall. She knows that with time will come more confidence. With confidence comes a presence on the floor. A presence on the floor means players are knocking down shots at a high volume.
With that, maybe — just maybe — the Splash Sisters might come into full effect.
Pete Nakos can be reached at pnakos@vnews.com.