Crimson Drops Finale to Dartmouth by 21

Last night at Leede Arena in Hanover, N.H., only the Harvard women’s basketball team stood between Dartmouth and a share of the Ivy League championship.

With Brown, Princeton, and Dartmouth all vying for a share of the Ivy title, the Crimson (12-15, 8-6 Ivy) looked to scratch one name from that list. However, Harvard fell short against Dartmouth (21-6,12-2), losing 76-55.

Poor play from the Crimson was not enough to challenge a motivated Big Green, which captured a portion of the Ancient Eight crown for the second straight year.

“It should have been a game where we were loose,” Harvard coach Kathy Delaney-Smith said. “We have struggled with that all year.”

The Crimson struggled to 34 percent shooting from the field and committed 24 turnovers, which Dartmouth converted for 25 points, as parts of a disappointing performance on final night of the season.

“I expected a better game,” Delaney-Smith said.

At the game’s onset, Harvard matched the Big Green’s intensity, creating seven lead changes and three ties in the first half.

The game would continue to go back and forth until Dartmouth mounted a 7-0 run in latter stages of the first half to pull away. The Big Green led the Crimson 30-26 at halftime.

But when the two teams returned to the floor, only one seemed able to step up its game.

“They lit up,” freshman forward Katie Rollins said. “They definitely came out hard, ready to defend their title.”

Dartmouth flourished in the second half, steadily pulling away. The Big Green immediately took control offensively going on a 12-0 run to push its lead to 42-26.

Dartmouth guard Angie Soriaga, the game’s leading scorer with 24 points, commanded the surge with her collegiate career on the line, draining five three-pointers in the period. Fatima Kamara posted a double-double for the Big Green, scoring 16 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.

Meanwhile, Harvard floundered, shooting 8-of-26 from the field and committing 11 turnovers.

“We had a tough time with turnovers,” Rollins said. “And we had a tough time getting the shots we wanted.”

Amidst the scoring drought, senior Shana Franklin and freshman Katie Rollins led the Crimson offensively with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Harvard did manage to make more trips to the free-throw line than its rival—20 compared to eight—but the extra shots did not help erase the deficit. The Big Green would only continue its dominance until the final buzzer sounded, stretching its advantage to as much as 25 points.

Losing the final game of the season, the Crimson could not send its four seniors a proper farewell. Franklin, captain Maureen McCaffery, and guards Laura Robinson and Jessica Holsey all saw their final action last night in a meancholy defeat.

McCaffery tallied only three points to go with four rebounds, the gritty team leader Robinson wound up with four points and two assists, while Holsey, who has been hampered by injuries all season, was limited to only one minute of action.

“It was a hard loss,” McCaffery said. “Basketball: its agony and ecstasy.”

Dartmouth now advances to a playoff to determine the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, while Harvard turns its attention to next year and buildng upon the solid contributions made this season by its underclassmen.

“I am very excited to see where we will go from here.” Delaney-Smith said.