Slipper doesn't fit for Tigers

Green was the only color that mattered in New Haven on Sunday afternoon. Outside the Yale gymnasium, it was revelers marking St. Patrick's Day. Inside, it was Dartmouth fans cheering the Big Green's win over the women's basketball team for the Ivy League's automatic NCAA tournament bid.

At times, it seemed as though Dartmouth (23-6 overall, 12-2 Ivy League) could do no wrong, playing aggressively and confidently. The Tigers (21-7 overall, 12-2 league), on the other hand, were unable to reach the level of play that had seen them win at Hanover earlier in the season, and the Big Green waltzed into the dance with 63-48 win.

"They came out and executed, and we didn't," senior center Becky Brown said. "Normally, that's our role," she added.

Indeed, Dartmouth executed almost to perfection. Wary of Brown, the league's leading scorer, the Big Green covered her fanatically, sometimes triple-teaming the center to neutralize her firepower. The Dartmouth defense was also able to trouble Princeton on the wing, preventing the Tigers from completing their offensive plays.

Under such pressure, Princeton held back, trying to slow down and go for its best looks. The Big Green, however, left no holes in its defense, and time and again the Tigers either ran down the shot clock waiting or simply turned the ball over in the paint.

"We weren't moving quickly enough to make their defense break down," Brown said, adding that the team "looked stagnant."

Head coach Richard Barron echoed that sentiment, saying that "we held the ball a little too long," leading to a "stalled" offense.

On the other end of the court, Dartmouth had none of the Tigers' problems, taking full advantage of lethargic play to rip through the Princeton defense. In particular, the Big Green used the midrange jumper to great effect, a tactic the Tigers simply did not seem capable of containing.

While Dartmouth didn't quite open with a 15-2 run as it did in February, the Big Green were clearly more aggressive from the start. Senior guard Jeanie Cullen opened the scoring, contributing eight of Dartmouth's opening 10 points as the Big Green grabbed an early 10-6 lead.

Though Princeton fought back to tie the game and briefly lead —by one point—midway through the first half, the opening stages were marked by sloppy ball-handling from both teams.

Dartmouth quickly recovered its dominance as the period progressed and was able to hold the Tigers scoreless for the final five minutes of the first stanza, resulting in a comfortable 11-point lead at halftime.

The Tigers came out of the locker room looking strong, and for a moment executed their game plan properly. Princeton was visibly snappier, keeping the Big Green out of the arc while making its plays on the other end of the court.

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With barely under 10 minutes remaining, the Tigers cut their deficit to just three points off a jump shot from sophomore forward Meagan Cowher and for a split second it seemed as though Princeton would manage the impossible.

But as quickly at it had come, the moment passed. Brown missed a layup, Dartmouth secured the rebound and the women from Hanover embarked on a 9-2 run. Three minutes later, the Big Green led by double digits again, and the result was a forgone conclusion.

Dartmouth posted a solid shooting performance, ending the afternoon having made 51 percent of shots from the floor, compared to 38 percent for the Tigers. The Big Green held back on three-point shots, making four of 13 attempts. Princeton, for its part, made just one of 16, though a good number of those attempts came in the dying minutes of the game.

While the Tigers held the edge in rebounds, 31 to 26, they also committed more turnovers, 19 to 12. Crucially, Dartmouth managed 23 points off turnovers to Princeton's 10.

The Big Green is on its way to the NCAA tournament for the second year in a row. The loss does not mean that the season is necessarily over for the Tigers, though, as the team still has an outside chance of securing an NIT bid —announced on Monday.

Princeton is the league co-champion, along with Dartmouth and Brown. The Tigers have broken the school record for wins in a season. But the memory of this breakthrough season just makes this loss hurt all the more. For the seniors in particular, who were so instrumental in building up the program, this is not the way they wanted to play their last league game.