Scenes from Michigan

Hi All,

We had a tough road trip to Michigan, losing both of our games (at Oakland and at #14 Michigan State) with a shorthanded lineup. But some people turned in some really tough performances, in particular senior Cassie Cooper and sophomore Kelsey Byrd. Cassie battled as our primary scorer and defender in the post both games and Kelsey was awesome off the bench. She had a career high nine points at Oakland and then topped it with 11 at Michigan State! I'm really proud of her as she's come back from surgery late in the summer to make a quick recovery and contribute. She's put in countless extra hours in the gym and with pool workouts.

Other than the losses, we did have some good times together on this trip and spent some quality time as a team. Our Michigan native, Faziah Steen's family hosted us for dinner at a local golf club on our first night. Below is a picture of the team along with Faziah's mom, younger brothers and uncles. We had a great time with her family and appreciated the event so much!

And thought I'd share some pics from the game at Michigan State. The Breslin Center is an impressive building.

Before the pictures, on behalf of the entire Dartmouth women's basketball family, I'd like to thank you all for your support so far this season. We've had some tough breaks and bumps in the road but I know we're getting stronger for it! As a wise follower commented on our blog last year: "When the Japanese mend broken objects, they fix the damage by filling the cracks with gold. They believe that when something's suffered damage and has a history it becomes more beautiful."

We will all go our separate ways tomorrow, as everyone flies home for the holidays. The players and coaches get a six-day break this year as they don't have to be back to campus until Dec. 26! I think everyone will benefit from the rest and some family time.

We hope you all have a wonderful holiday with your families and are looking forward to getting back on the court to continue getting stronger and better and showing you how great we can be!

- Dara

We're Still Here ... I Promise

Hi Loyal Fans,

Apologies for going WAY too long without a post on here. I hope we were doing a great job keeping up content as the games came fast and furious in the opening weeks and alas with the final exam break, so came a nap for the blog. Sorry we've been a little out of touch, but I hope you're still reading and we'll have some good updates this week.

We played our first game back from exams at Hartford last Sunday and as is typical of that first game back, it didn't go very well! Hartford is always one of the best teams in New England, often winning the America East and they have struggled a little early this season but we knew they were better than their record and very much hungry for a win. Unfortunately we were their prey! You can read about it here.

So we turn the page.

I'm actually writing to you from Newark Airport waiting for a flight to Detroit to meet the team. The rest of the group flew out from Manchester this morning and we'll all arrive in Detroit early this afternoon to start a nice 5-day trip in Faziah Steen's home state. We will be in Rochester, Mich. for the first half of the trip, taking on a solid Oakland University team on Dec. 16 at 6:30. Then its over to East Lansing to play Michigan State, who ranks 14th in the AP poll and 20th in the Coaches Poll, for a 1 p.m. tip on Dec. 18. We took the Spartans to overtime two years ago at Vermont's tournament.

As our regular readers know, this pre-holiday trip is my favorite part of the season! The main reason being that we're almost always bringing someone home and I love getting to see the great crowds that show up to support our players from their hometowns be it family, friends, former coaches or teams. It's so special. And it's great for all of us to get some better insight into where our Dartmouth basketball family members come from and learn to know them better. The other reason it's great fun is that without school in session, the players can and do focus completely on basketball and each other. It's a great time for team bonding.

I'll keep you updated throughout the trip to Michigan.

Thanks for reading, for your support and for bearing with us through this long break.

- Dara

Just a Quick Check In

Hi All,

Sorry I'm just getting to a quick Northeastern wrap up! The players started reading period and exams so that means catching up on some real life errands and a bunch of other stuff at work for the staff!

Anyhow, my game recap is here. We played a really solid game to beat Northeastern, 60-54. We were up 18-3 at one point in the first half! The Huskies used full court pressure and we really weren't fazed by it and were able to get a lot of layups off of it. Credit to Sasha Dosenko in particular for her work in the first half scoring as we broke the press.

It was a real team effort to win this one, which is always great to see. Brittney Smith had her third straight double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Other starters Nicola Zimmer and Louise Vanden Bosch scored nine points each. Nic had a HUGE three late in the game just as Northeastern was trying to make a run and Louise had a great second-half sequence scoring five straight points.

The biggest thing for us in this game was probably the play of our bench though. Sasha shot 6-of-7 from the floor en route to 13 points and four rebounds. Meghan McFee was huge for us too, scoring 10 points including hitting two three-pointers. Meg also got a big defensive rebound and was fouled with nine seconds left and coolly hit both at the line to help us ice the win.

It was really great to go into the exam break with three straight wins! Now the players just need to focus on their studies while getting into the gym to shoot when they can for the next couple of days. They're in the home stretch though!

Go Big Green

- Dara

To the Victor Go the Spoils

It's game day!! Just got back from pre-game meal at Molly's with the team. We tip against Northeastern in less than three hours - that's 7 p.m. at Leede tonight! Preview is here.

Congratulations to Brittney Smith who was named both the Ivy League Player of the Week and the Dartmouth Female Athlete of the Week for her efforts in wins over Vermont and Bryant. Those clickable links take you to the respective stories for each.

Make sure to check out the video interview that accompanies the Athlete of the Week story - just click on the picture at the top.

Hope to see you tonight or if you are a fan from afar, as I know many of you are, hope you'll be listening or watching.

Also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to sophomore guard Kylie Kufeld!! Of the players with in-season birthdays, she's the only one whose big day also falls on a game day!

Go Big Green

- Dara

Monday Check-In

Hi All,

Just a quick Monday morning update before I carry on with what is always the busiest day of the week!

We won a marathon game in overtime yesterday at Bryant, 75-72. Click here for the game story. The game tipped at 1 p.m. and didn't end until 3:15!! It was long even before we got to overtime. The teams combined for 51 fouls (29 for Bryant, 22 for us) and 65 free throws were taken (27 for Bryant, 28 for us). Unfortunately we only shot 65.8 percent from the line - ouch - which had we improved a bit might have ended the game in regulation. However, the team really locked down in OT and hit nearly 80 percent from the line, going 11-14, including the game-sealing free throws by rookie Nicola Zimmer.

Zimmer scored a career high 18 points, Brittney Smith continued a dominant week with a 20-point, 13-rebound double-double and Cassie Cooper set a bunch of new career highs including points (15), rebounds (18), steals (3), blocks (2) and minutes (38). It was one of those games with too many whistles on the easy stuff and not enough on the hard fouls! But sometimes you just have to scrap and pull out a W, which we did.

The team has the day off today and will be back to work tomorrow to prep for Northeastern at HOME on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. Hope to see you there!

- Dara

What I'm Thankful For ...

Good Morning!

First of all, Happy Thanksgiving to all of our family, friends, fans and followers out there. As we go through the ups and downs of the season your support means so much to us and we are thankful for you. We hope that you all have a wonderful day today!

If you saw the story on last night’s game, I think you’ll see that Dartmouth women’s basketball is thankful for it’s 66-51 win over Vermont! We really needed that win and the best part about it was getting there with a combination of tough, stifling defense and balanced offense. We had four players scored in double figures and four players had at least three assists. We shot 43 percent and had assists on 15 of our 25 field goals. The players really shared the ball well and showed just how much they want to see their teammates succeed. This is a particularly unselfish group.

Obviously the team is in Hanover this Thanksgiving but we will enjoy the day together. After a midday practice, we will have dinner at a local inn at 3 and will head back to Coach Wielgus’ house for dessert and some downtime, playing games and watching football!


So in the Thanksgiving tradition, I posed a question to our team, asking them to answer “What are you thankful for this year?” Here are their responses:

Cassie Cooper ’11: I'm thankful for all the loving and supportive people I have in my life. I feel so blessed every day.

Meghan McFee ’11: I am thankful for my friends and family, especially my parents, as well as for the incredible opportunities I've had throughout my life to become the person I am today.

Brittney Smith ’11: I'm thankful that I have great teammates and coaches that I don't mind spending Thanksgiving with. I'm also thankful that we got our first win of the season!

Louise Vanden Bosch ’11: I am truly thankful for my amazing family and friends — I could not have been more blessed. I am also thankful for the opportunity to play for a team with incredible people as well as so much tradition at such a prestigious institution.

Sasha Dosenko ’12: I am thankful for being done with classes until Monday!

Kelsey Byrd ’13: I am thankful for the family and friends who have supported me through good times and bad.

Kylie Kufeld ’13: I'm thankful for my family and friends, not only at home, but also here at Dartmouth, and the experiences I've had so far.

Faziah Steen ’13: I’m thankful for my caring teammates and supportive basketball staff.

Zakia Lghzaoui ’13: I am thankful to be able to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday with my Dartmouth women's basketball family. Since we can't be with our families, we always make Thanksgiving Day fun and eventful.

Arianne Hunter ’14: I'm thankful for the progress I’m making on my knee recovery and those who are helping me and for my family back home.

Eve Zelinger ’14: I am thankful for my supportive family, my crazy fun teammates and friends, and Oreo mint ice cream.

Nicola Zimmer ’14: I'm thankful for my teammates!

Head Coach Chris Wielgus: I am most grateful for my family and my family of friends who have sustained me through all the twists and turns of my life. I am also thankful for my family of friends who have spent their college Thanksgivings with me. I am so fortunate to have all these special and fun people come in and out of my life.

Asst. Coach Leah Foster: I'm very thankful for my family. They are an amazing support system and I have no idea where I would be without them.

Asst. Coach Erin Rewalt: It's hard to limit my thankfulness to a sentence or two, because I feel immensely fortunate for everything. I'm most thankful for the people in my life, including my supportive and loving family and friends. I'm also thankful to be back at Dartmouth, living in Hanover, and working with these incredible and dynamic people on the team and in the program.

Koren Schram, Dir. of Ops: After spending last year in Iceland, I’m thankful for being in America where we have Thanksgiving!

Personally, I always get a little homesick as the holidays approach, but I am thankful that my family understands the time constraints of my job. I am thankful for their love and support. I’m also so thankful for these great players and coaches who have allowed me to be part of the Dartmouth women’s basketball family for the last five years. 

Happy Thanksgiving!!

- Dara

Finally Home!

Hi Friends,

Well we are finally getting to host our first game at Leede Arena this season. While we certainly hoped to come home with a better record than 0-4 after the first two weeks, we know that this team has already been battle tested against some of the top athletes out there. That's especially true for our post players who have already been banging around with two of the top centers in the Big 10, Northwestern's Amy Jaeschke, and ACC, BC's Carolyn Swords. I think they have the bruises to prove it but they've stayed strong and tough.

Tonight we host Vermont at 7 p.m. in a little Thanksgiving Eve showdown. Dartmouth and Vermont were forced to renew their rivalry by the WNIT selection committee in 2008 and have since kept it up, playing each season since. This year each team is participating in the other's tournament, but won't meet again since they have been set up with predetermined opponents. It's become a good regional rivalry for both teams - in the fall of 2008, at Vermont's tournament, the game went to triple overtime before Vermont won.

My game notes/preview are available here.

The team will spend Thanksgiving together tomorrow with a morning practice and afternoon dinner out and back to Coach Wielgus' house for some relaxation, games and football on TV. We all miss our families at this time of year, but we've got something special here too and it makes up for it.

Check back tomorrow morning before your turkey for a little Thanksgiving edition of the blog!

-Dara

Previewing the TD Bank Classic

Hi All!

Checking in from the lobby at the Sheraton in Burlington where we are stationed for the next couple of days before the TD Bank Classic tournament at Vermont. Fortunately we find ourselves just down the street from Vermont's gym, making for some quick and easy trips back and forth for shootarounds and games.

The first two games were tough for us, and I think in a lot of ways we looked our age. As I've said in my game notes already, even though we have four seniors on this team, we have a lot of players that really haven't played much together. The first person you'd notice in that would of course be our freshman point guard Nicola Zimmer. She's adjusted very quickly but it certainly takes time to get to know your teammates and their tendencies. Even for returning starters, Brittney Smith (senior) and Faziah Steen (sophomore) there are adjustments as Cassie Cooper (senior) has returned to the lineup after missing all but two games last season and Meghan McFee (senior) is back in the starting five after coming off the bench for us this year.

So what I'm saying is, give us some time, we'll get there. As we watched film at pregame today, Coach Wielgus talked a lot about the maturation process and composure. We play two excellent teams this weekend - Boston College out of the ACC tonight and Marist, who has won its conference five straight times, tomorrow. We will be playing to win. But we are also playing to get better at basketball, learn more about ourselves as a team and to mature.

My notes and preview are available here. There are links to livestats and video and our radio broadcast.

Go Big Green!

- Dara

Good Read about a Good Kid

Good Morning!

It's Sunday here in Hanover but that's usually not a day of rest for most of us! The team will have practice and a film session to prep for UNH. I'll be working on game notes, game programs and all that good behind the scenes stuff! :)

Thought I'd share a link to a nice story about senior Cassie Cooper in her hometown paper.

A snippet on her role:
Cooper said her role on the team is based on doing all the little things. "It's all heart and desire," she said. "I'm not the go-to scorer or ballhandler."

And her thoughts on her Coach Wielgus:
"I love her," Cooper said of her coach. "She's made the Dartmouth experience amazing. She is a master at her craft."

Sometimes people laugh when I refer to the players as kids — since I've only got about 6-7 years on the seniors! Thinking about the seniors, I met them when they were just freshmen and they were so young to me. With the amount of growth they go through by the time they are seniors, they really aren't kids anymore — especially this group, but sometimes all I can think of is that group of four youngsters that arrived my second year at Dartmouth.

Cassie Cooper has always been someone I described as a "good kid." She works hard, she's unselfish, has a good sense of humor and she relates well to and cares about others. And she isn't a kid anymore, In four years she's matured, found herself and become a great leader.

Obviously you never want to see anyone get hurt, but last season, watching "Coop" cut down after two games was really heartbreaking. She had come back in great shape and determined after being our "sixth man" on the Ivy Championship team in 2008-09. There's no doubt her play would have dramatically changed our season on the court last year, but she still made sure her presence impacted the team. Whether it was crutching around Los Angeles when we played at USC just weeks after her surgery, helping the coaches see things from her perspective on the bench or just being a supportive teammate, Cassie was absolutely involved. So it was no surprise this weekend to watch her help a freshman teammate on crutches navigate Midway Airport and the Northwestern campus. She'd been there.

Knowing how tough it was for her to watch her team struggle while unable to play last season, it was really special to see her back on the court on Friday at Northwestern. I know she is fiercely determined and I'm looking forward to seeing what Coop will do the rest of this season.

Hope everyone has a great, restful Sunday!

- Dara

Opening Day

There is nothing like opening day. Everything is new, and crisp. The excitement is palpable as our journey together begins. But there is a reality to our journey. We do not test the waters or ease our way into season — no we dive head first into the fray.

This year it was off to the Windy City and the Big Ten’s Northwestern University. The challenge of playing in the Big Ten did not disappoint. They were big, physical and skilled. I was surprised at the quality shots we got in the early going. But many of those quality shots clanked off the rim and a deep hole formed before halftime.

We regrouped at halftime and fought our way back. Then things fell apart again. So the game was rough and score hard to swallow. But this team never gave up, forced 17 turnovers and were diving on the floor with under a minute to go.

I wanted and believed we could win that game. It did not happen. But right out of the gate, we experienced what it is like to play D1 basketball. Losing leaves a bad taste in your mouth that can only be removed by hard work, determination and a little bit of faith. We begin building those skill sets today.

P.S. Despite the outcome of the game, we did have fun. There were lots of alums and friends at the game supporting us. Wherever Dartmouth folk gather there is fun to be had.

- Coach Wielgus

Note: Read the full game recap here. We're off to New Hampshire for a game on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. - Dara

Season Opener

FINALLY! The long wait is almost over ... we open the 2010-11 season on Friday night at Northwestern. Game time is 7 p.m. here in Chicago but that's 8 p.m. in Hanover.

We flew out this morning and got to Chicago at about 12 and headed over to Northwestern's gym for a practice from 1-3. After some downtime we enjoyed a delicious family-style Italian dinner at Maggiano's!

Tomorrow will be a standard game day with shoot around and pregame, and nap time. :)

A lot of our long-distance flights involve bringing a player back to her home state. That's not the case this time but it does happen that assistant coach Leah Foster is from this area and spent a lot of her youth around Northwestern.

My game preview and notes are up online here. There are also links to livestats, radio and a pay-per-view live video stream.

Hope to have an update tomorrow!

-Dara

A Great Honor for a Great Player

Congratulations are in order for senior Brittney Smith, who has been named one of 30 national candidates for the Lowe's Senior Class Award, which celebrates excellence across the "Four C's" of Competition, Classroom, Community and Character.

The award gets a lot of submissions from across the 300+ schools that play Division I basketball and Brittney was chosen as one of 30 candidates. The list will be pared to 10 finalists in January.

Read the full release here and check out Brittney's profile here and the rest of the candidates here.

We're really proud of Brittney because she truly has been excellent in all four of these areas. We're also even more proud of the fact that she is our third candidate for this award in the last four seasons. Sydney Scott ’08 was a candidate in 2008 and Koren Schram ’09 was one of the 10 national finalists in 2009.

In my memory there have been maybe 1 or 2 other Ivy players in that timespan and I really can't imagine another mid-major (non-BCS) school that has produced the same amount as Dartmouth has. To me, it's a real testament to this program that not only are we winning on the court, but our players are excelling in the classroom, are involved and upstanding members of their community and are high-character young women.

This award is really one of the best in sports. I enjoy reading the other profiles as well because there are a lot of impressive men and women on those top-30 candidate lists.

Just six days til the season opener at Northwestern!

-Dara

Website Goodies

Hi All,

Hope you're enjoying the increased content on here as the season is fast approaching!

Check out DartmouthSports.com - click this link here - for a video interview with head coach Chris Wielgus. She talks about practice so far, players making moves and the non-conference schedule. And yes it's a photo of Meg McFee but click the play button and it's an interview with coach!

Also visit our 2010-11 Information Center which is full of info on this year's team and program history. Since the NCAA outlawed distribution of traditional, book-form media guides to recruits, the Ivy League decided that no Ivy school could produce any print guide, even just for the media. This Information Center is meant to help bridge the gap. While making the media guide used to take much of my time in the fall, I've still found myself quite busy as we do more and more video work. I enjoy design so in a way I missed doing the guide, but it was also quite a time-consuming task!

Hope you like the video! We plan to do a bunch more throughout the season with Coach and players!

- Dara

A Special Election

Tuesday was a long day with practice in the morning and an unusual amount of work and traffic coming my way. I went to work in the dark and came home in the dark. I somehow missed the sun. But I was not going to miss a chance to vote - it was election day!

So I rushed over to Hanover High School to get in line to vote. Fortunately, I cut it so close to the polls closing that there were no lines. But there was a surprise. Eve Zelinger ’14 and Nicola Zimmer ’14 were there as well. Eve from California and Nicola from Maryland had somehow found their way to Dartmouth College, to our team, and to a voting booth in New Hampshire. They were determined to cast their first ever ballot even if it was in NH!

So at the end of my long day I had to smile at how excited two rookie b-ball players from different sides of the continent were to cast their first votes. I have a great job!

- Coach Wielgus

Team Set to Host Annual Skills Clinic

The team is going to host its annual skills clinic this Sunday, Nov. 7 from 1:30-2:30 pm at Leede Arena.

The event is FREE for all local youth, eighth grade and under - just bring some sneakers/athletic shoes and we hope to see you there!

Read the full release here.

Preseason Picks

The Ivy League preseason prognostications are out and a panel of Ivy League media and women's basketball SID's think that Dartmouth will finish third in the Ancient Eight this season. Princeton was picked to finish first and Harvard second.

Given last season's finish I believe those three placings are fair but I also know that the preseason polls are rarely correct (cliche - but true!) and expect the League to be as competitive as ever this year!

Below is part of my release written for the website - click here to read the entire thing.

Season starts  in 16 days at Northwestern - can't wait!

- Dara

The 17-time Ivy League Champion Dartmouth women's basketball team has been picked to finish third in the Ancient Eight this season by a panel of league media and sports information directors.

Dartmouth, which has won four of the last six Ivy Championships, landed third in this year's preseason poll with 96 points. Defending champ Princeton was picked to repeat with 135 points and 16 first-place votes and Harvard landed in second with 115 points and one first-place vote.

Yale was predicted to finish fourth, followed by Columbia, Brown, Cornell and Penn. The poll featured 17 voters including a media member and sports information representative from each Ivy school and one national representative.

2010-11 Ivy League Women's Basketball Preseason Media Poll
Predicted Order of Finish
(First-Place Votes in Parentheses)
1. Princeton (16)   135
2. Harvard (1)       115
3. Dartmouth         96
4. Yale                   84
5. Columbia            73
6. Brown                50
7. Cornell               39
8. Penn                  19
 

Harder-Hiking: F57

Better late than never but here's an entry from freshman Eve Zelinger (Palo Alto, Calif.) about her Dartmouth Outing Club (DOC) trip early this September. We'll have to ask Eve which is harder - a morning workout with strength Coach Miller or "harder hiking" :)

Here it is:

I sat on my chair in my room on a hot summer night reading the Hiking 3 packing list. I glanced at the bold and read, “The rivers and lakes of New Hampshire get quite chilly by September, and temperatures can reach close to freezing at night.” For the chance of a small gust of wind or any possible circulating air, I opened my room’s window an inch higher. I folded my raincoat and long sleeved shirt and stuffed it in my pack. I could only dream of the cold air of New Hampshire nights hitting my face and cooling my overheating body.

A week later, I found myself no longer in my bedroom, but at Franconia Falls. The freezing cold water rushed down the natural rock water slide. As the water moved quickly, I stood frozen. With my legs on either side of the cold moving water, I had to make a decision. Was I going to sit down and let myself go? Despite hiking a somewhat strenuous nine miles, with a heavy pack on my back, I found myself understanding the weather description on the packing list. It was raining, I had one pair of dry clothes, and I couldn’t imagine myself submerging in the literally, breath-taking water. I sat down. I guess it was physics that sent me down the rock. With my mouth and eyes opened wide, I fell through the air and hit the water. Seconds later, I witnessed myself swimming faster than I had ever seen myself swim before to reach the rocky “sidelines” and get out. Though as I stood there, teeth chattering and goose bumps arising, I couldn’t be happier that I had experienced those three seconds of adrenaline rushing fun.

After leaving Franconia Falls, we continued to hike flat trails and climb large rocks. I would like to say we conquered Mt. Guyot, though my sore legs were no indication of an effortless defeat. We consumed Cabot cheese and Peanut butter spoonfuls. And one memorable night we had to “take one for the team,” in order to leave “no trace,” and “yum-yummed” the remains of our delectable wilderness dinner. Yum- yum is a term; a quite deceiving one I might add, which entails combining leftovers and passing the pot of food in circles amongst the group members, who then proceed to consume spoonfuls of deliciousness, until the pot reaches its bottom. I must confess I picked a convenient time to take an evening bathroom break ;)

The next day I woke up knowing I would be returning to civilization. After being on my D.O.C trip in the wilderness, I found myself appreciating the most trivial things. I recognized the beauty of a sink, and the wonders of dry socks and drinkable, non-iodinated water. And it was as I sipped hot chocolate (one without floating particles of last night’s couscous) and once again sat in a chair, that I realized the extraordinariness of such ordinary things.

-Eve

Picture Day!

Hi All,

Hope everyone is enjoying the fall weather these days - it's actually been quite mild here and we've had a good number of sunny days including today and the weekend forecast.

Like I'm sure many of you are, I am anxiously awaiting the start of basketball season! Note that's anxiously and not patiently. I think the same goes for our players and coaches. Though they can do some skill instruction and have a few practices, things won't officially kick-off for us until mid-October. Then just a month later we open at Big 10 foe Northwestern on November 12.

One exciting preseason activity has already passed, as we got the team pictures and headshots taken in record time - at least since I've been here. Getting those done in September was nothing short of a miracle between new class schedules, lifts and workouts and three teams sharing Leede Arena!

You may notice the white background behind the players - Leede got a bit of an interior facelift this summer. Mostly painting including one big change that you won't see in these pictures and that you'll just have to check out yourself this winter! (Perhaps on Nov. 24 for our home opener against Vermont).

Anyhow I thought I'd share some of the fun pictures with you. I really like picture day because it's a good chance to see the whole team together and take some great shots and let the players' personality shine. Our photographer Mark Washburn did a great job with these.

 This is my favorite, a casual group picture of all the players!

If These Walls Could Talk

Hi all! It's been an exciting week for us with our athletes back on campus and officially starting fall preseason workouts! Classes also started yesterday so the players are keeping busy with that. We'll have more on the start of preseason soon, but first a little glimpse into my world off the court ...


If houses could talk, what a tale my small, 2-bedroom cape would tell!

After weathering the storm created by two rambunctious sons, two dogs and one saintly grandmother my old house deserved to be pampered. It should have been stuffed with flowers, Martha Stewart seasonal crafts and fragrant candles. The smell of baked goods should greet every visitor.

But alas such an existence was not in the plans. The departure of the boys opened up a new, unexpected chapter for me and the house. There were coaches, administrators and friends whose lives landed them in Hanover with a job and no place to live. I had room and they were in need. Thus a Dartmouth Athletic commune was established.

Instead of baked goods we have big pots of stew. Flowers would obstruct the view when we all squish together at the table. The smell that greets one when the door is open is a combination of gas fumes from the cars in the driveway and fabric softener from the perpetual use of the dryer. Watching the cars maneuver in and out of the driveway is a spectator sport of which I am an all star. I can get any car out of my driveway at anytime.

No complaints from me though, I know I am lucky. I have had an amazing assortment of people stay with me — coaches, trainers, sports information and administrators have all spent short periods of time at my house en route to college housing. Our prestigious alumnae have gone onto to wonderful careers as doctors, lawyers, educators and titans of industry, yet oddly enough, these remarkable women prefer air mattresses on my floor to hotel rooms. Every time they visit is a wonderful trip down memory lane.

Today, the commune bid farewell to Erin Rewalt. She has waited patiently to get into her college-owned house. I know she is thrilled to have a place of her own, but she will be missed. After all a house is at its best when it is full.

-Coach Wielgus

More to Come This Season

Hi All,

Thanks to our loyal readers for sticking with us through a rather slow summer of blogging! For not having games or athletes on campus, it's amazing how busy the summer can be after all.

I'm really looking forward to this season and to blogging for all of you to read during it! The players are just getting back to campus this week and already working hard on their own. I think and hope they are ready to prove that last season was an anomaly and that Dartmouth will be back atop the Ivy League - where we belong - in no time. No one in the League can match our tradition and our players, veterans and rookies, are preparing to back that up!

Anyhow, just wanted to check in and let you know that the blog will be back in full swing soon. Pass the word along to anyone who might have thought we were through! :)

Hope everyone had a great summer.

Go Big Green!

- Dara

Welcoming the Freshmen

In a few short weeks the "pea Green" first-year students arrive on campus (that's an affectionate term coined by our upperclassmen). Dartmouth women's basketball will welcome four new players to our family. They are a diverse, talented group from all over the country. Point guard Nicola Zimmer is from Maryland, Arianne Hunter is a forward from Oklahoma, swing guard Eve Zelinger is from northern California and forward Janelle Ross is from southern California. These women are excited for the upcoming season and ready for their great Dartmouth adventure to begin and the coaches and veteran players can't wait for their arrival.

There is one more very special first year student joining the class of 2014 (2014 - that is scary sounding!). You cannot call her a rookie, as she knows more about Hanover and Leede Arena then I do. Former Big Green ball girl extraordinaire Kelly Wood is coming all the way from Etna, NH to attend Dartmouth College! Kelly is one of my all-time favorite youngsters and Dartmouth is lucky to have her as part of the family officially. I have a feeling 2014 is going to be a great class.

In a few short weeks I get to welcome them to Dartmouth. A new season will be upon us in no time! I can’t wait!

- Coach Wielgus

The Derby

“AND THEY ARE OFF!!” College coaches from every school in the nation have garnered their school colors and plastered their school names across their chests as they jockey for position in the front row of AAU Tournament games this July. The annual summer basketball derby — or rather the NCAA evaluation period has begun!

I LOVE THIS GAME. And I love watching high school players develop.

However, truth be told, racing from court to court and watching basketball for 12 or more hours a day can wear you out. But the entire process is beyond amusing. As a matter of fact, sometimes it is flat out silly.

All gyms are segregated so the fans and coaches don’t mix. Thank goodness for that. College coaches sit together and this is where the fun begins. It is a virtual who's who in the basketball world. Everyone but Geno and Pat have their school names boldly plastered across their chests. So when walking into the gym no one looks you in the eye — no, it is straight to your chest to see where you coach. The smaller the school is the bigger the lettering. Thus Geno and Pat require no letters at all.

There are 2 types of coaches: the old proverbial show horse coach and the work horse coach. The show horse coach arrives and positions his/herself very strategically. This is not as easy at it may seem. You see these coaches not only have to be seen by AAU players and coaches, but they need to sit next to a “big time” coach who can further their careers. Then they chat. As far as I can tell they never open their tournament books or write anything down - I'm not sure how they pull it off!

Then there are the workhorse coaches with tons of papers, game grids, organizational items from Staples and a backpack full of snacks, as they don’t have time to leave the gym. These coaches open the high-priced books of rosters and actually write in them. That is what I do and most of the coaches in the Ivy League do as well. Sometimes I venture into the gym in my civilian attire. It throws everyone off, as they are not sure if I am a big timer or not. Truth be told it means I have not found a laundromat in that city!

Every day on the road brings many funny stories and as you can tell this Irish lass loves a good story. But enough for now, just arrived in LA and have to catch some night games.

Until next time!

- Coach Wielgus

Double Dip

For the second time this month a Dartmouth women’s basketball alumna has answered the call to return home to Hanover. Koren Schram ’09, Big Green basketball player extraordinaire, has left her professional European playing career to become our Director of Basketball Operations.

Koren is a competitor and a winner (won three Ivy titles and was first team All-Ivy twice!). She knows Dartmouth and what it takes to win. She is enthusiastic, hardworking and quite the character. It is no surprise to anyone who knows Koren that a volcano erupted while she was in Iceland. So watch out Hanover ... she's baaaack.

I am so excited to have two of our basketball family, Erin Rewalt and Koren Schram return to Dartmouth. I can’t wait for the season

Until next time,

Coach Wielgus

Offically a ’79er

Hi all! Hope everyone is having a great summer. My assistant coaches and I have officially hit the recruiting trail and will be spending the month of July searching for the next generation of Dartmouth women's basketball players. Hope to see you along the way.

A wonderful and unexpected thing happened to me the other day. I received a phone call from Jim Wasz President of the Dartmouth Class of 1979. I was sure that Jim was going to give me a heads up on a talented student-athlete from his neighborhood. Instead Jim told me his class would like to adopt me!!! It is a Dartmouth tradition that any class can "adopt" a member of the College community (professor, coach, staff, administration, etc.) that has served the College faithfully but is not an alum his/herself. For a moment, albeit brief moment, I was speechless. Then I enthusiastically accepted my adoption.

I was beyond surprised and humbled by the generosity of this great class. I am now an adopted member of the Class of 1979 ... a ’79er. Thank you, thank you, thank you to my new classmates for this distinct honor.

Coach Wielgus ’79a

P.S. I just got my first Alumni newsletter!

SHE’S BACK!

After a harrowing round of hard fought negotiations between my agent and Erin Rewalt's agent an agreement was finally reach. Erin is BACK!!!

That 6’1 defensive-minded, All-Ivy forward has traveled the halls of Tuck, the corporate labyrinth of GE, and the sidelines of William and Mary on a journey that has landed her back home at Dartmouth.

Erin Rewalt ’99 Tuck’04 has returned to Dartmouth as an Assistant Coach. She is a whirlwind of work and fun. She is competent, quick-witted and grounded with a positive ”can do” attitude. Above all she loves the game and this very special program.

Personally, I am delighted to welcome her home. But I know Erin well and I am fastening my seat belt this adventure just picked up speed.

- Coach Wielgus

Dreams Can Come True

Assistant Coach Mary Gleason has been named the Head Coach of Houston Baptist University! She will have her work cut out for her, as HBU has recently entered the ranks Division I athletics.

If there is anyone ready for a challenge it is Mary. Mary is a basketball journeyman. She has played at the highest level in college and in Europe. She has worked tirelessly without fanfare for three great teams: NYU, Princeton and Dartmouth. She knows this business because she has walked the walk. No short cuts for this one. She got this opportunity the old fashion way ... she earned it.

Mary is smart, hardworking and a “pro.” Mary is breath of fresh air in this silly world of college athletics because her concern is the team and not self promotion. She will have to push the HBU program uphill for a while, but she has all the skill and strength she will need. HBU is lucky to have her.

I am so grateful that Mary’s her long journey to her own program came through Hanover and landed her back home in Houston. Clearly, dreams can come true ... if you come to Hanover.

-Coach Wielgus

A Bit of Culture for the Coaches

This last week of spring term has seen the coaching staff getting “cultured.”

Yes, we ventured out the gym and trekked all the way to the Hopkins Center! And we went to more than one venue — that could qualify us as groupies.

First, it was to the Bentley Theater to see Betsy William’10 in a supporting role in "The Marriage of Bette and Boo." It was a clever, bittersweet play that was well performed by all involved. Our girl Betsy was excellent as the obnoxious and less than kind sister of Bette. She was actually so effective in her role, she scared me!! I didn’t know she had it in her.

Then it was onto the Moore Theater to watch Jalea Moses ’12 impersonate Michael Jackson. She was unbelievably good. I was impressed when I saw Michael dance ... but to see Jalea do the exact same dance blew my mind! Her dance was the last performance of the night and she brought down the house.

Finally, Sasha Dosenko ’12 wrote about her adventure in France where she has been studying for a term. She arrives back in the States shortly and I can’t wait to hear more about her trip.

I am so proud of our players and the rich life they are able to create for themselves. How lucky am I that they bring me along for the ride.

Until next time,
Coach Wielgus

Springtime in Hanover

Spring sprang early in NH! It has been beautiful in the Upper Valley. There is nothing like Hanover during a bout of perfect weather and this spring has been the best.

My staff, Coach Bob Miller (Strength and Conditioning) and our trainer Mike Derosier all put our heads together and came up with a new approach to our off season basketball work outs. It was so much fun to listen to all the new ideas and then to incorporate them into a coherent program. As a matter of fact, it was as refreshing as the spring weather. The “plan” revolved around one word — RELEVANCE. Everything had to be relevant to the game.

But you know what happens to the best laid plans ... they can end up on a cluttered desk or in an overstuffed file folder. We knew we had to take our new “relevance“ to the players. But that never happened.

Before we could even mention the word “relevance,” the players came to us. They were looking for help and for direction! Spring term had not even started when my shopping spree at JC Penney was interrupted by the juniors calling to tell me they were ready to start conditioning. It was awesome. They were not looking back. They were not talking about “what if?” They were going to get after it.

Well they did. They never looked back, never hesitated and dug down deep to become better players and a better team. This is the greatest gift a coach can receive. I know it. In return for my gift, they have earned my respect.

I can’t wait for the season to begin ... and it is only spring.


*** This blog is dedicated to John Engelman’68, a good friend to Dartmouth who makes this place so special. Thanks, John

The Final Four

My staff and I attended the Final Four and the WBCA convention in San Antonio, Texas. What a beautiful spot! The weather was wonderful and everything was within walking distance including the Alamo, which, if you walked too fast you might miss. It is a remarkably tiny building for such a big history.

I had a blast working a youth clinic at a local high school. We had over 300 participants! I was assigned to the passing station with the Manhattan, Quinnipiac and BU coaches. The kids were fun and very engaged, it was like the “good old days” of teaching physical education. I do miss teaching youngsters.

Then it was off to attend the chalk talks, lectures and business meetings. Our Ivy League meetings were remarkable — for the first time in all my years in the League, we finished in less than 2 hours! I was so proud of my colleagues.

The games are the main event and not to be missed. There is nothing like attending the Final Four games and TV cannot do them justice. The fans, the student bands and the frenzy bring the arena to life. Yours truly walked over early to watch the teams warm up. I didn’t want to miss a thing and I am in the habit of arriving early for games.

All four teams put on a great show and congratulations to the UConn Huskies for taking it all!

- Coach Wielgus

March Madness from the Sidelines

March Madness has begun and I have been sidelined. My dancing shoes are in the closet, my derriere is on the couch and my eyes are bloodshot from watching a lighted box … the television. March Madness has begun and I am in Hanover and Hanover is deserted. The students are on spring break. The gym is empty. The March madness flu has struck and basketball aficionados are at home nursing various illnesses. I expect tumbleweed to roll down the corridors of Alumni Gym. The madness of March is far removed from this ghost town.

Then POOF ... in a matter of 2 hours everything changed. On Saturday afternoon Vermont beat Wisconsin and March Madness was alive and well in Hanover. One of our own had made it! Former assistant coach Sharon Dawley, took a dormant basketball program from the cellar of the America East to her second consecutive championship and a first round upset in the NCAA tournament. She was the first in our Dartmouth Women’s Basketball family to get a win in the NCAA tournament game!!!

Her accomplishments are formidable. But most significantly, she did this the “right” way. So chalk up a “W” for the good guys. In the midst of all the hoopla surrounding her victory, she called to tell me how many Dartmouth players, staff and fans had e-mailed her good wishes.  he was very touched. And as for Dartmouth, we are dancing in March ... albeit from Hanover

- Coach Wielgus

Few Pieces of Great News

Hi All,

Some good news to report. First off, congratulations to our two All-Ivy selections: junior forward Brittney Smith is a repeat selection for the All-Ivy First Team and freshman guard Faziah Steen, a unanimous choice to the Ivy All-Rookie team. We're proud of both of them!

Britt led us in every statistical category this season: 12.1 points, 10.2 rebounds per game, 61 assists, 53, steals, 51 blocks. She really made her move into the record books in areas of scoring, rebounding, blocks, free throws and scored her 1,000th career point and grabbed her 750th career rebound. She'll be tearing up those record lists next season and could very well become just our third-ever 1,000-rebounder.

Faziah did a great job for us this season, selflessly playing point guard despite that not being her natural position, and made her mark in the league. She scored 9.4 points per game and upped that to 10.9 ppg in Ivy play. She also grabbed 48 steals and closed her freshman campaign with 23 points at Harvard. The future is very bright for this young player.

Full All-Ivy story is here.

ALSO, as a team we have been named the Ivy winners for the NCAA "Pack the House" Challenge! In its third year, "Pack the House" is a national effort in which conferences and institutions compete to build attendance. Each participating institution designated one date as a "Pack the House" game with the goal of setting an attendance record. The NCAA named 33 winners, one from each conference, based on marketing plan creativity and attendance criteria. The University of Virginia was the NCAA's national challenge winner.

We are really proud to win this because we have always led the league in attendance and it is a great initiative to help grow our game.

Dartmouth hosted 1,619 fans for its victory over Ivy rival Harvard on January 16 and broke our student-attendance record from last season with more than 250 students cheering the Big Green to victory. That game was great and the environment at Leede was electric. You can read more about that here and here.

Perhaps my favorite thing is that the NCAA will donate $500 to the nonprofit organization of each winning school's choice. Dartmouth has asked that the NCAA make its donation to the Upper Valley Haven, which is a local shelter for homeless families, also providing food, clothing and other services to our neighbors in need.
As you may know, our team has worked closely with The Haven, including tutoring children and hosting a food drive earlier this season. Read a blog post about The Haven here.

BIG thanks to Josh Hartman from our marketing department for all the work he did for this. All the details on the Pack the House win are here.

Just watched the women's selection show and am trying to get geared up for the tournament! I am obviously still interested, but it takes a little more time when you're not in it.

Happy bracketing!

- Dara

Battling to the Final Minute

Hi All,

Well, after a very tough weekend against Princeton and Penn, I must admit I was unsure what would happen during our Tuesday night game at Harvard. It's rare that the final game of the entire Ivy League season between the two rivals does not have Ivy title or at least postseason implications. The Crimson had already clinched its bid to the Women's NIT as the League's second-best team.

It was really a unique game of runs! Mostly, Harvard going on a run and us answering back. A first-half run gave the Crimson a 13-point lead and we battled back, but Harvard still led by 10 at halftime. But our team never caved. In the second half, it continued to be runs - but six seemed to be the magic number, on two different occasions we cut the lead down to six after Harvard had extended the lead to more than 10 points.

After two huge threes gave Harvard a 62-51 lead with three minutes to play, I must admit, even I was not optimistic. But I should have been, given the way Faziah Steen and Betsy Williams were shooting the ball! The two of them went on an 8-0 run to pull us within just three points with 1:12 to play. Harvard hit two at the line on its next possession to go up five, and we could not score on our next. The Crimson actually missed the front end of a one-and-one on two occasions, but we again struggled to get a good look at the basket and never made up the 64-59 difference.

It was tough to swallow that loss after we battled back all game. We played a great second half, but again, the story of trailing at halftime came to bite us again. Betsy was really tremendous in her final game in a Dartmouth uniform and as I told her, other than winning, there is no better way to go out. She scored 16 points and was 4-of-4 from three-point range. She ranks 14th all-time with 60 career threes. And Faziah had the best game of her freshman year, scoring 23 points, grabbing seven boards (on a court with a lot of big players), and dishing out four assists. She hit threes, jumpers, layups and free throws and shot 64 percent from the field. It was a great way to end her first season.

We'll have All-Ivy news up later today and some more thoughts in the next few days.

Also want to give a shout out and thank you to our amazing alumnae, who supported this team all over the country this season. There's been a great resurgence and it's impacting the program tremendously. A few were on hand after the Penn game to congratulate Coach Wielgus on her 25th season at Dartmouth, they gave her an amazing picture/memory book and helped welcome our seniors to their alumnae family at our postgame senior night reception.

Thanks again for everyone's support this year!

- Dara

Spring Is In the Air?

Faithful Fans,

I write to you, once again, as a bad blogger. Believe it or not, "spring" is in the air in the form of Dartmouth spring sports starting up, which has had this women's basketball SID stretched a bit thin!

Anyhow, there hasn't been too much to report this week. Coaches tell me it has been a good week in practice though, and I believe the team is ready to send the seniors out in style. Yes, we have a lot going on this week in addition to our games against Princeton (Friday) and Penn (Saturday). On Friday, Brittney Smith will be honored for scoring her 1,000th career point earlier this month and on Saturday, we will of course honor our three seniors.

As promised, here is the LINK to my preview, stat/video links and pdf notes which will be on there in the morning.

I'll also have some thoughts of my own about the seniors, as soon as I can collect them. It's honestly surreal for me to see them finish their careers, as we kinda grew up together at Dartmouth. I arrived here in 2006 for my first full time sports info job (tho I'd been a full time intern for 2 previous years), having just turned 24 and met the three of them as freshmen. We've had a lot of great experiences together and it's amazing how quickly the time goes. Senior night is always bittersweet, you see, they all come and go, but we remain the same. It's almost like being frozen in time in a transient place, the four-year world that college is. This is my egocentric version of my thoughts on the seniors! :) Like I said, I'll have some more of my feelings about each of them in a day or two.

In the meantime, Coach Wielgus has some thoughts on senior night, and the emotions that surround it each year:

This is going to be a tough weekend. This season has been long and our path bumpy. I should be rejoicing at the idea of next weekend when I actual have a weekend — you know the kind of weekend where you can spend 2 days in a row doing things other than work.  

A weekend without a game is fine with me, but a big part of me is sad. And I want to go on the record as dreading Saturday night. This internal upset has nothing to do with our formidable opponents or the game itself, rather, Saturday night is the last home game for the seniors. Saturday is our official farewell to Betsy, Margaret and Michelle. They have run the basketball gauntlet for 4 years and leave here with 2 Ivy Championships, 2 postseason WNIT's and 1 NCAA Tournament appearance. So, their run has been good.

Experience has taught me that Dartmouth basketball will survive their graduation. But I also know that I have grown accustomed to seeing them everyday. I will miss them greatly and I can’t wait to see again as alums.  -Coach Wielgus


Thanks again for Going Green with us and look for more soon.

- Dara

Last Road Weekend of the Season

Hi All,

Sitting here for shootaround in the "historic" Payne Whitney Gym at the John J. Lee Amphitheater at Yale. Mouthful, yes.

We're on our last Ivy road weekend of the season at Yale and Brown, once again hoping for a sweep. Overtime losses have cost us a sweep in the last two weekends.


My preview, notes and links for the weekend are here.

We've had a real unfortunate theme so far this season - going on road trips without our whole team. It's such a bummer when anyone has to miss a trip. In the past few weeks we've had several players with illnesses, including Brittney Smith who battled last weekend after being very ill all week. These last two weekends we just haven't been ourselves without our whole crew. Last weekend, Cassie Cooper, who is injured, skipped our trip to Columbia/Cornell because she was sick. This weekend, senior co-captain Michelle Meyer has had to stay home because she was too sick to make the trip. I know that's been agonizing for her ... we all miss you and hope you feel better FAST!

It just doesn't feel quite right when someone is missing. We're really a family and we miss each other when we're not together.

But it's a big weekend for us - GO BIG GREEN!

- Dara

Gail Boudreaux's Got Game

Hi All,

As many of you may know, Gail Koziara Boudreaux ’82 is not only one of the most decorated women's basketball players in our program's history, but is also one of the most powerful women in the business world. Seriously - Forbes Magazine ranked her the 54th most powerful woman in the world this fall and last year was Fortune Magazine's 45th most powerful woman in business! She has also been a tremendous friend to our program throughout the years.

As  President of UnitedHealthCare and Executive Vice President for UnitedHealth Group, Koziara Boudreaux now oversees 42,000 employees worldwide. After joining UnitedHealth—the No. 1 health insurer in the U.S.— in 2008 as head of its most profitable division ($40+billion), she hit the ground running. Koziara Boudreaux immediately consolidated six national regions into four and plans to grow profits by focusing more intently on local markets.

Koziara Boudreaux still holds Dartmouth's career scoring (1,933 points) and rebounding (1,635 rebounds) records from her playing days in 1978-82, during which time she helped the Big Green to three Ivy Championships and was a three-time Ivy League Player of the Year.

Click here for a great interview from ForbesWoman Magazine, in which Koziara Boudreaux draws the connection from basketball to business.

A few of my favorite excerpts:

"At Dartmouth I was on the team that established women's basketball at that college. At the time, there were four boys to every girl at Dartmouth, so I learned to adapt to a male world, but I also bonded with the women on my team. We all learned that it's good to win. In sports, as in business, you never play to lose. You learn that there will always be someone looking to beat you, no matter how good you are, so you continually have to raise the bar and improve what you're doing. And when you have a defeat, it's not the end of the world. Instead of giving up, you look at what you could have done better and how not to repeat the same mistakes."

"I feel that whether or not you're a great athlete, playing sports is a great thing to do, and especially fabulous for girls because it builds self-esteem. When you play sports you have to ask yourself: Do I want to be the person who takes the shot at the end of the game or be the one who just stands still?"

- Dara

Good News

Hi All,

I'm hoping to get some thoughts on the weekend up soon, but am a bit swamped tonight. Last weekend we beat Cornell on Saturday after losing in overtime, again, at Columbia. It was an absolute heartbreaker and we certainly had chances to win in overtime, and had the lead in the last minute.

In the meantime, wanted to report some good news.

First of all, our win over Cornell marked the 300th Ivy League win in program history! And yes, we are the FIRST Ivy school to get to that mark, seven games ahead of Harvard. It's amazing just how close our rivalry with the Crimson has been. I really am happy for this group of players to be the ones to get us to that milestone. They have taken some tough, tough losses in the past few weeks but they keep fighting and deserve to have something special to their credit.

Another piece of good news, Sasha Dosenko was named the Ivy League Player of the Week. Sasha has been playing at a torrid pace, averaging 15.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game in our tough split. In the last four games, she is averaging a double-double (13.8 ppg, 10.3 rpg) and has come into her own this winter after averaging just 4.7 minutes in 20 games as a rookie.She has put work into developing her game and we are all very proud of her effort. The full story is here.

Like I said, hope to have more scoop up soon and a report from Coach Wielgus. Thanks to all for your continued support.

- Dara

Going for a Sweep ... On the Court

Hi All,

Just a quick update from the road. We're at shootaround and our trainer Michael and I are sitting on the floor of Columbia's Levien Gym, polishing off a crossword puzzle while the team goes over the game plan one last time,

We had an uneventful trip down, though I must point out that I had a sweep, 2-0, of good movies for the bus ride down! We watched Couples Retreat - not an Oscar-contender or anything but it was funny and everyone liked it and we watched Up, which is another amazing animated Disney Pixar film

Now we're looking for a sweep on the court this weekend! I'm off to help pass during shooting drills.

All the important weekend links/notes are here.

Go Big Green!

- Dara

Like A Band of Gypsies We Go Down the Highway

"On the road again
Like a band of gypsies we go down the highway
We're the best of friends.
Insisting that the world keep turning our way
And I can't wait to get on the road again."

Something tells me that this weekend, Willie Nelson might lose us on the last line. We're getting set to embark on the most grueling road trip of the year and arguably one of the toughest in college athletics. For our Columbia-Cornell weekend swing, we'll log just about 800 miles from Thursday evening to early Sunday morning! It's a five hour trek to Columbia on Thursday night, taking on the Lions on Friday night, then just under 5 hours up to Ithaca, take on the Big Red on Saturday night and six-plus hours home after that

Getting into your second destination well after midnight and having to play at 7 p.m. is really grueling. I continue to contend that it is both unfair and unhealthy and that it is the one Ivy weekend that should be played Friday night, Sunday early afternoon. But that's for a whole other other story.

Anyhow, as our followers know, we are very much used to life on the road and our players like the structure those days bring. Even though the rides can get LONG, I like it too as it's a break from the office and it's when I best get to know the players and coaches, which is what helps me do my job well.

But I'll turn it over to Coach Wielgus, who has come a long way from the days of driving the team in vans, eating homemade sandwiches.

- Dara

******

"Bus Life"

Like rock stars on tour, we travel the main corridors of this country going from one gig to the next. Our home is the bus. Each of us has our own space and our own routine. There are the readers, the texters, the movie buffs and the sleepers. To be a sleeper is to be truly blessed. There are two players I have never seen awake on the bus.

For most of us however, we are awake or dozing, but rarely sleeping. We go from idle conversation to a movie and back again to idle conversation. Movies are tough ... to pick out. The criteria is mind boggling: content, movie stars, relevance across generational lines and now loudness must be taken into account. Whoever picks out a movie is subject to much scrutiny and ultimately ridicule. I should know. I picked them out for the last trip - it has been strongly suggested that I NOT venture into Video Stop for the duration of the season.

But the bus is where it happens. During the endless hours of banter we learn about one another and our families. We also learn to entertain ourselves. Of course there is always students studying and staff disrupting them, but every once in a while there will be an open mike, player entertainment and iPod karoke. Every once in a while, we start laughing and can’t stop.

The bus is our clubhouse that forces us to just hang out together. Hanging out - face to face interaction is a treasured experience in this high speed internet, text or e-mail me world in which we live. Hanging out with our staff and players is a blast!

- Coach Wielgus

Onward and Upward

As I’m sure you all know, we took a heartbreaking double-overtime loss to Yale last night. We unfortunately got behind which really hurt us, again, having to come all the way back from 10 points down just to force overtime.

I won’t say much other than I know that the effort our players put in was tremendous. They came all the way back and left it all on the court, all of them exhausted and two pushing through injuries sustained midway through the second

We have three losses in Ivy play, but still a full seven games left to play — we get another shot at everyone. How exciting is that?! I know our players are not giving up. Just two years ago we were in the exact same boat and wound up tied for the Ivy Championship. This league is crazy and, as we’ve seen, anything can happen and any team can beat any other.

Times like this I am drawn to a quote that I imagine many of you have read before. It is from the great Teddy Roosevelt’s speech, “Citizenship in a Republic” delivered at the Sorbonne in Paris on April 23, 1910:
"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."


I’d like to say is thank you to all of you out there who support us so faithfully. Our players and coaches and staff would not make it through without the unyielding care we get from parents, friends and fans. I know many of you, especially parents, wish you could be with us more often, but there is a lot of love here.

The players were pretty beat up last night after a long, physical game, but after a day off today, I think everyone is ready to get after it this week. We are driven to go 7-0 during the next three weeks.

Couple of notes. First, check out a feature on one of the more inspiring stories to come out of the program, senior captain Michelle Meyer ’10.

Also, serious congratulations are in order for junior Brittney Smith ’11 who is already charging up the record books. She scored her 1,000^th career point and grabbed her 700^th career rebound against Yale last night. She is just the sixth player in program history to reach both those career marks. She became the 15^th 1,000^th point scorer for Dartmouth and did so seventh fastest, in just 81 games. Remarkable work, Britt.

- Dara

Looking for a Sweep

Hi All,

Last night we pulled out YET ANOTHER close Ivy win over Brown, 67-63. But we were all proud of the way our players gutted it out against Brown, who has definitely improved this year. We had a seven point lead with about six minutes to play and were on a real run - it felt like we'd pull away. Brown had other ideas, and scored eight points in one minute to take a lead!

We kept pace but didn't get the lead back until Betsy Williams drove, scored and converted a three-point play with 17 seconds to go for a 64-62 lead. She ended up also hitting two free throws in the last two seconds to help us hold on for a 67-63 win. She finished the game with 17 points - the fourth time in her career she has tied that career high! Sasha Dosenko was awesome with 17 points and nine rebounds and Brittney Smith reached double-digit rebounds for the seventh straight game with 14 and had 11 points for her fifth double-double of the last six games.

***

Tonight we host Yale, which is usually one of the most physical match-ups of the season. It will certainly be tough for us after playing a close game last night, but we need to get a sweep this weekend. Right now, Princeton is still alone in first but we are tied with Harvard in second at 4-2. Everyone else has dropped to at least three losses.

Anyhow, I'll be heading to Leede soon to get things set up for the game and pop into shootaround. We're hosting our Pink Zone game tonight which, as I've said before, is always awesome. Hopefully we get a good crowd. It's Winter Carnival this weekend - "I Came, I Saw, I Carnivaled" but it's a little strange to see the Coliseum snow sculpture in the middle of a snowless Green!

Speaking of snow (or lack thereof), is anyone else pumped for the Olympics? I can't get enough of it!

- Dara

Back to Work

Hey Big Green Fans,

Hope everyone is having a great week so far. I can't believe it is already Wednesday! Lots to do before a big weekend here in Hanover.

We were really disappointed to lose to Princeton on Saturday because we felt we had a solid game plan. Sometimes things don't go your way, but the game was certainly closer than the final score. Our team played really hard from wire to wire, so although disappointed, we couldn't be overly upset about the loss - or at least it makes it easier to swallow. Plus we know we have another shot at them at home!

Couple of important notes this week:

• First, congratulations to Betsy Williams ’10 for being named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District 2nd Team. This is voted on by people like me, college sports information directors, and recognizes excellence in the classroom and the court. Our district is easily the most competitive in the nation and there were about 40 women on the ballot for 10 spots. Click here for more details on the award and for a recent feature on Betsy, click here.

• Also this weekend, on Friday during our game against Brown, we'll be celebrating National Girls and Women in Sports Day. It's a nationwide event meant to encourage and inspire participation in athletics by women and girls.

• Biggest of all, is one of my favorite events of the season, this Saturday night during the Yale game, we're hosting our Pink Zone Breast Cancer Awareness game! This is an initiative by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association that has been going on for the last three seasons, raising unbelievable amounts of money. Last year the WBCA formally partnered with the Jimmy V Foundation to create the Kay Yow Cancer Fund, honoring the late great NC State women's coach Kay Yow who lost a 20 year battle with breast cancer last January. Check out some truly impressive stats on the WBCA's Pink Zone Website.

We're really excited to participate in both events. Also exciting is a special $1 admission deal for ANYONE who WEARS PINK to Saturday night's game and raffles including a pink basketball signed by the team.

It's always great when our team - and teams all around the country - can use their public image and status to help good causes.

Weekend previews will be up soon.

-Dara

Big Saturday Night

Hi All,

Just a quick update from Princeton's Jadwin Gym. The Penn-Princeton trip puts us in two of the Ivy League's more unique arenas, with the Palestra's historic feel and Jadwin's unique setup. It has the high arch ceiling of a field house and behind the benches is a bit of an abyss with an indoor track and field set-up.

We had a good victory last night over Penn, 51-37. Again our offense wasn't the most high-octane, but our defense was just stifling to the Quakers. Rookie guard Faziah Steen did a great job with 14 points, six rebounds and five steals! The Smith sisters continued to come up big as well. Brittney had her fourth straight double-double with 13 points, 14 rebounds AND five assists while Margaret scored a season-high 11 points and eight rebounds for us.

The snow is falling outside and tip-off at Princeton is at 6 p.m. tonight. The Tigers are much improved and sitting at 4-0 so we've got a great chance to force a log-jam at the top of the league standings.

Go Big Green!

- Dara

Better Late Than Never?

I’ve been a pretty neglectful Big Green blogger this week. Apologies to you our loyal followers — it’s easy to lose track of time during our Ivy travel weeks, when I’m out of the office by 2 on Thursday.

I’m sitting courtside in the historic Palestra with about 50 minutes to go before our tip against Penn. If by some chance you are reading this before the game, all the important links for tonight and tomorrow’s game are here.

Anyhow, some events transpired since I last wrote after the Cornell win. On Saturday we played poorly and took a disappointing loss to Columbia. There were some strong individual efforts, but too many defensive lapses cost us the opportunity to stay undefeated in Ivy play.

Taking an early Ivy loss is never ideal, but our team responded well in practice this week. There was a lot of individual film study — the coaches worked hard to break down game so the players could watch themselves and truly analyze what they need to improve upon. I think this is one of the most valuable tools.

We had a great shootaround today and are looking forward to the game. LOTS of snow is headed this way, so we’ll be feeling right at home when we look out the window at Princeton!
- Dara

Getting Their Money's Worth

Well, no one can say we aren't making the ticket price worth it these days.

We had our third straight close game - though this one was by 2 points, so that's big by our standards. :) We beat Cornell, 55-53 last night at Leede Arena on the strength of a tremendous defensive effort led by Betsy Williams coupled with a 22-point, 12-rebound effort from Brittney Smith.

But it was Margaret Smith who got it done for us AGAIN. She went three-of-four at the free throw line in the last 45 seconds to bring us back from a 1-point deficit and put us up by 2 with 0.9 seconds to play. In between those trips to the line, we got another big defensive stop to keep Cornell from scoring a game-winning basket. She's come up big at the line in both of our Ivy wins.

We had been down by 8 at halftime after a less than stellar defensive performance. Our players came out blazing, opening on an 11-0 run to erase the deficit and go up three, and ultimately went on an 18-3 run to start the half. Our defense paced our offense during that stretch and it really showed how good we can be. It was exciting!

We play Columbia tonight in a game that is really hard to predict. Columbia had defeated Cornell by 20+ points in both of their meetings this year, while Harvard defeated Columbia by 18 last night - of course we beat Harvard by one earlier this month. So, as usual, the Ivy League remains unpredictable and unique every single night.

Looking forward to tipoff tonight at 7! Hope to see you there or hope you'll watch the video stream or listen on the radio at DartmouthSports.com

- Dara

Let the Games Begin

Hi All,

It's been a busy week here with our coaches, athletes and staff getting ready for our first back-to-back Ivy weekend of the season. The players have had a good week in practice and after 10 days without a game, are definitely itching to get on the court. We're hosting Cornell and Columbia this weekend, definitely opening the Ivy slate with a bang - Cornell shared the title with us in 2008 and was the only Ivy team to beat us last year, while Columbia is really surging of late. My game notes, preview and all the live stat, video and radio links can be found here.

It's amazing that we've already played 15 games and that it's all going to come down to the next 13, played over the course of six grueling weeks. As most of you know, the Ivy League has a unique Friday-Saturday schedule, which is really trying for our athletes both physically and mentally - and for coaches too! A minimum of 80 minutes played in 48 hours is unbelievably taxing. The games, especially by the second half on Saturday, aren't always pretty but every single one is a battle and it always comes down to leadership, toughness and an absolute determination to win.

Our team has certainly displayed those three qualities in our last two games, both one-point victories! More impressively, those wins both came by earning improbable defensive stops - steals - when the other team had a very real chance to hold or take a lead. Its amazing when it happens once, let alone twice in three days. The players are showing a real commitment this week in practice and I believe are ready to defend their Ivy title. We are certainly a different team from last year and we obviously miss our two All-Ivy graduated seniors, but the Dartmouth Basketball qualities of rebounding, defense and mental toughness are just as strong.

We are really developing our identity as a defensive team and, more importantly, the players are taking ownership of that. The thing that's great about a good defensive team is that every single player contributes. While everyone might not play on Friday or Saturday night, each has played a critical role through game preparation and scouting all week. Some might think that's cliche, but I believe it's one of the truest things in sport. If your teammates don't push you - be it while pretending to be the opposition's all-conference guard or by playing their hardest every drill - you will never get better. All 13 players on our roster are contributing, particularly to our defensive strength.


We'll put it on the line this weekend, looking to improve on our 1-0 start in Ivy play. Hope to see you at the games, Cornell on Friday and Columbia on Saturday. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. both days!

- Dara

A Saturday Blessing

This weekend we decided to branch out from what we would normally do as a team on a Saturday: sleep in as late as we can, grab breakfast at the Hop, hit the training room for ice and stim, and then head to a two-hour practice in Leede. This past Saturday we decided, as a team, to volunteer at the Special Olympics Winter Games at the Dartmouth Skiway. What a great decision it was.

We all piled in our cars and left campus at 8:30 in the morning. We made it to the Skiway, checked in, grabbed donuts and hot chocolate, took some toe and hand warmers and got on with our day by heading to the opening ceremonies. After the opening ceremonies, we were assigned to be cheerleaders at the snow shoeing games. Alright ... cheerleading ... was pumped.

After the gun went off and the first heat started and my entire team began to cheer like we do against Harvard, reality hit me in the face — we were making a difference in the lives of all of the Special Olympic athletes because of our enthusiasm and simple desire to fuel excitement into the snowshoe competitors. We as a basketball team were completely engaged in the competition for three hours by making tunnels for the athletes to run through, escorting athletes to the starting line, running papers with times back and forth between the competition and the winners podium. I was awe-struck by the Special Olympics athletes.

All of the athletes in the snow-shoeing race showed what a team should exemplify. They encouraged one another if they happened to fall down in the snow, they were excited for each others' 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th place finishes, they high-fived each other, gave each other meaningful pats on the back and most importantly, they appeared to be happy not for themselves, but for everyone performing around them. The smiles plastered across their faces and the glimmer in their eyes made my week.

Volunteering at The Special Olympics acted as a battery re-charger, a soul rejuvenator and wake-up call that life isn’t all about us as Dartmouth athletes. It’s so easy to get wrapped up in the hype that surrounds the women’s basketball team and the bubble that we are in at Dartmouth College. This experience was truly a blessing for our team and we definitely squeezed out as much time as we could with the athletes at the Special Olympics until it was time to travel back to campus and take part in Saturday’s practice.

- Michelle Meyer ’10

Photos courtesy of Kylie Kufeld ’13. Click to enlarge.