So much has gone on with the Big Green in the last few weeks - we've been really busy with our Ivy weekends. This has been a tough winter for us injury-wise, we were actually down to just nine players in uniform last weekend, including missing starters Brittney Smith and Nicola Zimmer. It's been frustrating for everyone, knowing the potential for greatness we had at full strength but also knowing that we should not be 1-4 in the Ivy League even without those players.
However, I have so much respect for our players because they have not backed down and have continued to work so hard even without reward. That made our 68-65 win over Penn last Friday night at Leede Arena so special. First of all, Penn is MUCH improved from last season. They have played really tough competition including Temple and Virginia to 10-point games and the night after losing to us, took first-place Harvard to double-overtime before falling. Secondly, it was a great team effort for us to get that win. Sophomore Faziah Steen is playing out of her mind - she scored 28 points in that game after also scoring 28 the previous game at Columbia! She also had a pile of assists and steals and hit seven three pointers, one shy of the school record. Our seniors really led us down the stretch too. Cassie Cooper (15 points, nine rebounds) scored six straight points, including the go-ahead three-point play to lead 64-63 late. Classmate Meg McFee then went 4-of-4 at the line to seal it, finishing with 17 points and five assists, including the ling pass to Cooper before the go-ahead play. Poor Coop seems to always get stuck on nine rebounds, missing out on the glory of the double-double! But as long as the team wins, she truly doesn't care.
We are back on the IVY ROAD this weekend, heading to Brown for Friday night and Yale for Saturday. I love a good road trip with this crew, it's a fun group! Also, check out a feature on senior Louise Vanden Bosch here.
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Off the court, our program lost a dear friend this week, as former associate head coach Sharon Dawley's father, David, passed away on Monday. After 10 years with us in Hanover, Sharon became the head coach at Vermont and after a successful tenure moved on to be the head coach at UMass this past summer. That move put her back in her home state of Massachusetts and closer to her family.
Coach Wielgus wrote the following reflection on a loss that reminded all of us that there's so much more to our lives than basketball, something we often lose sight of.
It’s been a long week. Former assistant coach Sharon Dawley’s father, David passed away on Monday. He and his wife Ginger were super fans. They attended most of our home weekend games and were front row at our NCAA games regardless of whether or not Sharon was coaching with us still. They were great supporters of Dartmouth, Sharon and Lou’s restaurant. Whenever they passed through town, I would meet them at Lou’ s for a good meal followed by a wrestling match with Dave for the check.
When Dave arrived at Mass General Hospital last Wednesday, the nurses had to remove his rings. He wore two — his wedding and one Dartmouth Ivy championship ring, which Sharon gave him years ago. His cardiologist noticed his championship ring. He told the family he was a Dartmouth grad and fraternity brother to Bob Ceplikas, Deputy Athletic Director. The Dartmouth connection is never ending. He was a remarkably good doctor and very kind to the family.
Please keep Sharon and her family in your thoughts and prayers. They make a difference.
Wish us luck this weekend and we'll have some more updates next week.
- Dara
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