The Dartmouth 03/02/2020

03.02.20

Men’s lacrosse, 3-0 on the season, off to best start since 2006 p. 5 Women’s basketball splits weekend against Cornell and Columbia p. 7 Men’s hockey splits weekend, earns six seed in ECAC tournament p. 8

Men’s basketball still in Ivy tournament hunt after weekend sweep p. 4 NAINA BHALLA/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

SW 2

MONDAY, MARCH 2, 2020

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

The weekend Roundup Compiled by boyd bragg, addison dick and lili stern

w lacrosse The No. 15 women’s lacrosse team extended its season record to 3-0 in a 12-11 overtime win over Brown University on Saturday. Katie Bourque ’20 and Ellie Carson ’20 split 11 of the Big Green’s 12 goals between themselves, with Bourque scoring a career-high six and Carson tallying on five more — another career high.

Throughout the game, when Dartmouth would punch, Brown

would punch back. The Big Green led by as many as three, but the Bears hung on. Goalkeeper Kiera Vrindten ’20 had six saves to Brown’s Erin Tucker’s nine, but Bourque’s final attempt in overtime snuck past Tucker to give the Big Green a win in its first Ivy League contest this season.

This week, the Big Green will host the University of Florida on Tuesday at 3 p.m. and the University of New Hampshire Saturday at 1 p.m.

W tennis The women’s tennis team earned a 5-2 win on the road over Boston University on Saturday.

The Terriers took the doubles point, but the Big Green was dominant in singles play. Four matches went to three sets, and the Big Green won three of those matches to gain the edge. Both Catherine Cable ’20 and Allison McCann ’20 won their matches

in straight sets.

The Big Green (6-5) will return to action on March 17, beginning a five-match stretch in the state of California with a match at the University of San Diego.

Following those five matches, the Big Green will begin its sevenmatch Ivy League slate with battles against each conference opponent.

Zachary ZacharyBenjamin Benjamin’19 ’19

Debora Hyemin Han ’20 Editor-in-Chief Editor-in-Chief Editor-in-Chief

Hanting Hanting Guo Guo ’19 ’19

Aidan Sheinberg ’20 Publisher Publisher Publisher

Ioana IoanaSolomon Solomon’19 ’19

03.02.20 Vol.CLXXV CLXXVI No. 4.30.18 4.23.18 Vol. Vol. CLXXV No. No. 27 21147

Amanda AmandaZhou Zhou ’19 Alex Fredman ’20 ’19 Executive Editors Executive Editors Executive Editor

Addison Dick ’21 Mark Cui ’19 Justin Kramer ’21 Justin Kramer ’21 Samantha Hussey Lili Stern ’22 ’20 Associate Sports Editor Sports Editors Sports Editors Divya Divya Kopalle Kopalle ’21 ’21 Naina Bhalla ’22 Michael Michael Lin Lin ’21 ’21 Lorraine Liu ’22 Photography Photography Editors Editors Photography Editors Jaclyn Jaclyn Eagle Eagle ’19 ’19 Grant Pinkston ’23 Templating Templating Editor Editor Templating Editor

softball The softball team opened up The Spring Games with two losses to Florida International University and the State University of New York at Albany. Dartmouth started play in Longwood, Florida on a sour note, allowing Florida International to quickly score three runs.

Dartmouth was limited to three hits throughout the contest from Calista Almer ’20, Tatyanah Castillo ’20 and Micah Schroder ’20. Pitcher Madie Augusto ’22 struck out four batters. She kept the Panthers scoreless in the third, fourth and fifth innings.

The second game on Friday against Albany was a nailbiter throughout the contest. The Big Green came out of the gates strong on the offensive end, putting up two runs in the first. In the bottom of the first, pitcher Brooke Plonka ’22 struck out the first two players at bat. Albany answered with a solo home run and a two-run hit to put Albany up 3-2. The game was back and forth until the fourth inning, where contributions from Schroder and Shipley put the Big Green up 6-4.

Two Dartmouth errors in the 4th inning allowed two runs from Albany. In the fifth, Dartmouth fell behind, as Albany capitalized on an RBI double and a sacrifice fly to put the Great Danes up 8-6.

On the night, Plonka ’22 struck out seven batters and allowed just four hits.

Heather Turner ’21 struck out two batters and forced 11 groundouts to hold Western Michigan

m hockey

scoreless until the seventh inning on Saturday morning. Dartmouth scored in the second and fifth innings, thanks to a home run by Loghan Thomas ’20, an RBI by Billie McFadyen ’22 and hits by Abby Shipley ’21 and Kate Farren ’23. Western Michigan eventually scored in the final inning on a solo home run, but that was not enough to top a brilliant pitching effort by the Broncos. Dartmouth won the game 3-1.

The second game of Dartmouth’s Saturday doubleheader saw the Big Green shut out by the University of Loyola Chicago. Dartmouth had six hits on the night. Pitcher Brooke Plonka ’22 struck out nine batters and allowed only three hits. Loyola won the game 3-0.

The Big Green’s final game of the weekend came against the University of Kentucky, with the No. 12 Wildcats coming out on top 4-0. The Big Green is the first team to hold Kentucky under 10 runs in a game this season. Plonka struck out eight batter in seven innings, but the Big Green offense was stifled and shut out for the second straight game.

Dartmouth (4-6) will travel to Northridge, CA on March 14 for the California State University Northridge/Loyola Marymount University Tournament. The Big Green will play eight games in four days in the Golden State before returning to Hanover for its home opener against Columbia University on March 21.

This past weekend, the Big Green finished off its regular season at home with two games against Union College and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Dartmouth came out of the weekend with two points and finished the season in sixth place in the ECAC. On Friday night, the team came out on top with a 5-3 win over Union, breaking a nine-game losing streak to the Dutchmen which started in 2015. Drew O’Connor ’22 had a hat trick, and Cam Strong ’20 and Jeff Losurdo ’22 also contributed tallies to the win. O’Connor now leads the ECAC in goals scored this season.

Against RPI on Friday night, O’Connor scored his 21st of the season, but unfortunately it was not enough to spark a comeback for the Big Green, who was down 3-0 at the time of O’Connor’s goal. A late empty net goal, scored after goaltender Adrian Clark ’20 was pulled to try and get something started offensively, closed out the game with a final score of 4-1 in favor of RPI. The Big Green take on Princeton University in the first round of the ECAC playoffs this coming weekend at Thompson Arena. With a win, Dartmouth would move on to the quarterfinals and take on one of the top four teams.

m lacrosse After a 14-5 win at the University of Massachusetts Lowell on Saturday, the Dartmouth men’s lacrosse team has its first 3-0 start to a season since 2006.

A slow start put the Big Green in a three-goal hole ten minutes into the first quarter. From then on, however, the Big Green took over — a goal from Tommy Rogan ’23 with four minutes remaining in the first kicked off a 12-goal run for the Green and White. Matt Paul ’21 led the way offensively, tallying six points with five goals and an assist. When the River Hawks ended the Big Green’s run with nine minutes remaining in the game, the Big Green quickly struck back with two more, putting away the River Hawks once and for all. Goaltender Danny Hincks ’22 finished the game with 10 saves.

Next weekend, the Big Green will travel to Burlington, VT to face the University of Vermont on Saturday.

MONDAY, MARCH 2, 2020

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

w basketball The Dartmouth women’s basketball team (9-16, 3-9 Ivy) split its last two home games of the season this weekend, defeating Cornell University (10-14, 3-9 Ivy) in overtime Friday night and losing to Columbia University (17-8, 8-4 Ivy) on Saturday night.

On Friday, the team’s 82-79 victory over Cornell was its first overtime win since the 2017-18 season. It also marked the first season sweep of Cornell since the 2009-10 season.

The team started the game shooting well from deep.

Crucial 3s from Kealy Brown ’20 and Asha Taylor ’22 helped to propel the Big Green to a 12-point lead midway through the second quarter. The Big Red fought back with a few big baskets of their own and finished the half only trailing by three.

In the second half, the Big Red quickly adjusted, erasing what remained of Dartmouth’s lead in the third. Dartmouth fought back and pushed the game to overtime. During overtime, a series of fouls by Cornell

led to Dartmouth free throws that were able to secure the victory. Annie McKenna ’20 led the Big Green with 17 points.

On Saturday, the Big Green celebrated its seniors Kealy Brown ’20, Paula Lenart ’20, McKenna and Grace Phillips ’20 before falling to Columbia in the last home game of the season.

The Big Green was unable to replicate the previous night’s shooting performance and quickly fell behind by double-digits in the second quarter. Dartmouth chipped away at the Lions’ lead in the third and fourth quarters but was unable to make enough of an impact to win the game.

The team now sits sixth in the Ivy League with a 9-16 overall and 3-9 conference record. Next weekend, the team will finish the season traveling to play Yale University (17-8, 7-5 Ivy) and to Providence to play Brown University (8-17, 2-10 Ivy).

m basketball This past weekend, the men’s basketball team won two crucial road games in its chase to finish in the top four in Ivy League play, which would result in its first-ever birth to the Ivy League Tournament. On Friday, the team played at Cornell University. An exceptional performance from guard Ian Sistare ’20 led Dartmouth to an 82-70 victory. Sistare put up 25 points on eight-of-10 shooting from the field. The Big Green led from the 16:55 mark in the first half until the end of the game. Dartmouth shot 55.6 percent from the field and 47.8 percent from the 3-point arc.

On Saturday, the team traveled to New York City to face Columbia University. Guard Chris Knight ‘21 recorded his fourth double-double in the past five games to lead the Big Green to its second victory of the weekend.

Knight finished the night with 19 points and 10 rebounds on a perfect seven-of-seven from the field. Guard James Foye ’20 contributed 15 points with five 3-pointers. The game was back and forth for the first 10 minutes, but Foye drilled a three and the Big Green finished the half up 37-30. In the second half, Columbia quickly closed the lead to one point with 12:53 remaining. Dartmouth’s scoring efficiency separated the two, as Columbia made only two of 21 3-point shots in the game.

Dartmouth currently sits in sixth place in the Ivy League standings heading into the final weekend of conference games. The Big Green will take on Yale University and Brown University at home. The team must win both of these games to have a shot at finishing in the top four.

m swimming The men’s swimming team competed in the Ivy League Championships in Cambridge, MA this weekend and finished in last place.

The Big Green saw a few encouraging individual performances despite the team’s 8th place finish.

Connor LaMastra ’21 led the Big Green with three podium finishes, highlighted by a second-place finish in the 500 free, which was good for an NCAA B cut. He also broke a record for the Big Green in the 1000 free — in which he finished third — and he finished third in the 200 fly. On the diving board, Justin Sodokoff ’21 had the Big Green’s best performance, finishing in fourth on the 1-meter board.

This meet marks the last for the team this season.

SW 3

baseball

Dartmouth baseball started the first game of its three game series against the University of Virginia in rough fashion, falling 20-1 on Friday. After going down 7-0 in the first inning, the Big Green held strong until the seventh inning when the Cavaliers scored eight runs.

The Big Green put forth a commendable performance the following day after Friday’s lopsided game. Dartmouth lost 12-4, but Kolton Freeman ’23 and James House ’23 hit their first home runs of their collegiate careers. The Big Green closed the gap in the seventh inning to one, only trailing 5-4. In the next inning, two errors allowed the Cavaliers to open up the lead.

On Sunday, the Big Green played

its best game of the weekend but fell short for the third straight game, losing to the Cavaliers 4-3. Justin Murray ’22 allowed just two earned runs in six innings of work. Ubaldo Lopez ’21 tripled and scored in the second inning, one of the Big Green’s nine hits on the day. The Big Green tied the game at two in the top of the sixth inning, but Virginia took the lead again in the bottom half with two runs.

The Big Green will return to action on March 14 with four games against Hofstra University followed by games against Bradley University and Bethune-Cookman University. Those games precede the start of Ivy League play, which kicks off for the Big Green against the University of Pennsylvania on March 21.

Sailing The Dartmouth sailing team started the spring season at the Sharpe Team Race Trophy in Providence, RI this weekend. The Big Green finished in third place of the eight teams that competed, winning 10 of 17 total races. Brown

University won the competition, with Roger Williams University finishing in second place. The Big Green will compete next on March 28, traveling to Cambridge, MA for the Lynne Marchiando Team Race.

m golf The men’s golf team traveled to the Wexford Plantation Intercollegiate on Monday and Tuesday and placed 17th overall. On Tuesday, the Big Green shot 26 over par as a team to finish with a three-round score of 72 over par. Charles Petrie ’22 was

the best Big Green player, shooting a 4-over-par 76 on Tuesday to finish 14 over par. The title went to Augusta University. The Big Green will next play on March 14 at the Mission Inn Spring Spectacular in Howey-in-theHills, FL.

m Squash

The men’s squash team finished in fourth place at the CSA Hoehn Cup this weekend. On Friday, the Big Green squeaked by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology 5-4. MIT put up a fight, and Sam Supattapone ’21 clinched the match in a five-game match that lasted over an hour. On Saturday, the Big Green lost to Ivy

League foe Cornell University in the semifinals 6-3. In the third place match on Sunday, Dartmouth fell to Western Ontario University 6-3.

Following the fourth place finish in the Hoehn Cup, the Big Green will compete in the CSA Individual Championships in Philadelphia beginning on March 6.

SW 4

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

MONDAY, MARCH 2, 2020

Men’s basketball still in Ivy tournament hunt after weekend sweep B y DEVAN FINK

The Dartmouth Staff

Heading into the final weekend of the season, Dartmouth men’s basketball (12-15, 5-7 Ivy) is miraculously still alive.

Just two weeks ago, the Big Green sat at 0-6 in conference play, seemingly without any answers to its Ivy League competition. The team cited a tough schedule — five of its first six games came on the road — as the reason for the disappointment and hoped that the softening of the calendar would help them climb their way back into the race.

“The start was definitely brutal,” said James Foye ’20. “Starting with Harvard, both games as your travel partner, is obviously tough. Then, we had some tough ones on the road, and I think, rather than softening up — once you get that first win, it can make it easier. Because, before you get your first win, when we were 0-6, it can be pretty mentally draining, thinking about how you haven’t won a game, how you’ve lost however many in a row.”

At home against Columbia University and Cornell University on Valentine’s Day weekend, Dartmouth swept its first Ivy back-to-back in five years. The Big Green defeated the University of Pennsylvania in a commanding victory the following Friday and have since swept the two New York Ivies once again, this time on the road. The Big Green’s only blemish in its last six games came at home versus Princeton University, when the bucket to take the lead late in the game did not fall.

This weekend, with an 82-70 win at Cornell on Friday, the Big Green snapped its 20-game road conference losing streak, and sweetened the deal with an 76-57 victory over Columbia on Saturday.

Coincidentally, Dartmouth’s last road back-to-back sweep came against these two schools, when the team finished its 2014-15 season with five straight victories.

“It is probably the hardest road trip,” Foye said. “It’s a gritty, gritty weekend, and I think your mindset

has to be, ‘They’re tired too.’ It’s just kind of [about] who wants it more and who can make a couple more plays. As much of a physical thing it is, it’s also really mental and getting yourself in that position.”

The math for Dartmouth to make the Ivy League Tournament and have the chance to play for the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament still remains incredibly complicated and highly unlikely. In addition to needing victories versus both Yale University and Brown University at home next weekend, Penn will need to drop both games on its weekend slate: at home versus Cornell and Columbia. Even if all of this happens, Dartmouth could still finish the year tied with Brown at 7-7. If that is the case, Harvard would need to beat Yale for the Big Green to earn the tiebreaker over the Bears.

“Penn losing both at home is probably the most unlikely, but who knows?” Foye said. “Rooting for Columbia and Cornell, weirdly enough. It’s a weird league.”

The odds of all of this happening are extremely slim. According to college basketball statistician Luke Benz, the Big Green has just a 0.3 percent chance to earn the fourth seed in the tournament. The tough losses at Brown, when Dartmouth held an eight-point lead at the half, and versus Princeton, when a furious comeback fell short despite three opportunities to take the lead, only loom larger now.

“You want those back,” said Chris Knight ’21. “Those really hurt.

One, [against Brown], we were on the road. We needed to have one of those early road wins. That would have set us up really well. You can’t do anything about it now, and you just have to look forward.”

Regardless, it is rather impressive that the Big Green has hung around this long. Knight has taken his game to another level in the recent going, averaging 19.8 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists in his last six games.

His efficiency has been off-thecharts: Knight has shot 72 percent from the field during this stretch, by far the best field goal rate across any

NAINA BHALLA/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

Chris Knight has averaged nearly 20 points in his last six games.

six-game timeframe over his college career.

“I’ve always told people that a lot with me is mental,” Knight said. “I’ve just been more locked in on defense, on offense, doing what I’m supposed to do. I’ve just been playing more smoothly.”

Perhaps most impressive this weekend was Knight’s performance against Columbia. Entering halftime with just three points on one field goal attempt, Knight said that the Dartmouth coaching staff challenged him to be more aggressive. He answered their call, exploding in the second with 16 points on a perfect six-for-six shooting. As part of the tale of two halves, Knight added a total of six assists, his second-highest single-game mark in his college career.

“Our offense runs through him, both at the high and low post,” Foye said. “He’s been — these past couple weeks — I think he’s been the best player on the floor in almost all of our games. In the second half [versus Columbia], he came out like a man

possessed and didn’t miss a shot all night. His natural passing ability is really impressive, and it makes him a really, really fun guy to play with.”

But it wasn’t just Knight that carried Dartmouth to two key victories this weekend. As Aaryn Rai ’21 mentioned earlier last week, the Big Green needed to hit the big shots in order to secure wins on the road.

“It’s just coming in with that confidence, knowing that no matter where we are, we’re still the same team that we’ve always been,” Rai had said. “We hit shots, we get stops, and that’s what we do. Coming in with that confidence is going to help us.”

And hit shots they did. Ian Sistare ’20 dropped 25 points versus Cornell on Friday on eight-for-10 shooting, and Foye scored 29 across both games while making eight 3-pointers himself. In all, Dartmouth shot 39 percent from beyond the arc this past weekend, making 11 3-pointers on Friday and 12 on Saturday. For the Big Green, these games represented

the first two instances of it making at least 10 3-pointers in conference play.

“What started off the tone was Sistare against Cornell,” Foye said.

“We know how good of a shooter he is. He’s been doing it in practice, was doing it last year, and he’s been struggling a bit this year, but we’ve known that’s in him. Hitting six-ofeight just boosted us, not only for that game, but throughout the weekend.”

Dartmouth will need to continue its hot streak as it enters the final weekend of the regular season.

Both games will be at home, but the competition is formidable.

Top-seeded Yale comes to Hanover on Friday, and Brown visits Leede Arena on Saturday. Both teams still have much to play for — Yale has not yet clinched a regular season Ivy League championship and like Dartmouth, Brown still has a remote chance of finishing fourth. All will be figured out this weekend, but if the Big Green wants to continue to keep its hopes alive, it will need to emerge from both games victorious.

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THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

MONDAY, MARCH 2, 2020

Men’s lacrosse, 3-0 on the season, off to best start since 2006 B y KAITLYN LEES

The Dartmouth Staff

Something is certainly different for the Dartmouth men’s lacrosse team this year. The team’s exciting 3-0 start marks its best start to a season since 2006. After wins over Merrimack University and Bryant University, the Big Green continued its strong performance with a 14-5 win over the University of Massachusetts Lowell this past weekend.

Heading into the first game, George Prince ’21 said the team had high expectations for the season. This motivation has showed so far. Three games in, Dartmouth already has more wins than in its previous four seasons.

Prince attributed the success to the offseason work the team has put in and an eagerness to show improvement over the last few years from the work of alumni and returning players. The Big Green did not graduate any of its goal-scorers from the 2019 season and has nine new freshmen.

The team has been working on physicality, particularly ground balls and mental and physical toughness. Prince said that this has been a long-term goal of the team that he thinks they’ve found

a good balance of this year.

“We’re confident enough in each other that we can be a physical and disciplined team at the same time,” Prince said.

The Big Green started the season by taking on Merrimack University.

It was a close game between the two teams, with goals traded throughout.

In the end, the game came down to the fourth quarter. Dartmouth maintained the lead from the second quarter on, but Merrimack kept the game close and remained within striking distance until late in the fourth. Tommy Rogan ’23 scored three goals for the Big Green to provide a two-goal advantage as time expired.

Prince had a career-high nine points and Rogan had six for the game.

Captain Ben Martin ’20 and Matt Paul ’21 also scored for the Big Green.

Goalie Daniel Hincks ’22 secured 14 saves. Rogan said the 13-11 victory was a great team win and helped solidify that preseason confidence Prince talked about.

Next, the team faced off against Bryant University in its home opener.

At Scully-Fahey field, Bryant scored first 14 minutes into the game. Both offenses were shut out until Martin put the first goal up for the Big Green.

In the second, Bryant briefly took the lead before Martin scored again to tie the game again, assisted by Prince. The teams kept the game close in the second and third quarters.

Rogan said that heading into the second half, winning more ground balls was a priority for the Big Green as Bryant led in that statistic after the first quarter. The teams entered the final quarter tied 5-5. Both teams came alive offensively in the fourth. Bryant’s three quick goals might have provided momentum, but Dartmouth was able to fight back and take the lead.

“The fourth quarter was a culmination of the mentality that we’ve had where even if we are faced with adversity we’re going to pull it out in the end,” Prince said.

In the final 10 minutes, the Big Green offense and defense were both strong. Dartmouth recorded six goals and kept Bryant from scoring again.

Liam O’Connell ’20 and Mitchell Myers ’23 scored their first goals of the season. Martin, Prince and Paul all scored again as well. Overall, 10 different players ended up providing points for the Big Green. Hincks again had 14 saves in the game and was named Dartmouth’s Male Athlete of the Week. Dartmouth outshot Bryant

and accomplished its goal of winning more ground balls than the Bulldogs.

The 11-8 victory is the first time in program history that the Big Green has come out on top over Bryant.

“All of the older kids keep telling us freshman how we don’t understand how big this is for the program,” Rogan said. “Especially after that game to be 2-0 and down 8-5 and still come out with a win.”

This Saturday, the Big Green traveled to UMass Lowell and came back victorious with a 14-5 win. UMass Lowell scored first two minutes into the game and were up 3-0 10 minutes into the game. Rogan said the team was comfortable in this situation, as the Big Green’s opponent has scored first in all three games this year. This confidence showed as Dartmouth quickly shifted the momentum. Rogan put the Big Green on the board with two goals.

Harlan Smart ’20 followed up with two more. Suddenly, Dartmouth held the lead at the end of the first quarter.

From there, Dartmouth increased the offensive pressure and kept UMass Lowell out of the net. O’Connell started the second quarter scoring spree and Paul followed up with three goals. Paul had a career day with six total points. In the third quarter,

Martin and O’Connell both scored to take the score to 10-3, and Paul then scored twice again. The Big Green prevented UMass Lowell from scoring for nearly 30 minutes. After the first 10 minutes of the game, the Dartmouth defense only allowed two more goals from the Riverhawks. Hincks continued his strong play in goal with 10 saves. Jimmy Heidt ’21 and Mike Connolly ’21 both registered their first goals this spring in the final minutes of the game. Again, Dartmouth led the Riverhawks in ground balls 31-23 and recorded a 19-15 advantage in shots on goal.

Rogan said the Big Green coaches and leaders are focusing on the next game at hand, but he conceded that Ivy League play, which starts on March 21 against Harvard University, is on the team’s mind.

“Being in the spot we are, there’s a lot of confidence in the locker room right now, which I think may be different from years past,” Rogan said.

Dartmouth will play three more nonconference games before conference play begins. The Big Green will look to continue its undefeated start on Saturday with a road game at the University of Vermont.

SW 6

The Redshirt Senior

with Evan Griffith ’18 Th’20 The Redshirt Senior: Despite ‘Parity,’ Plenty of Excitement Can Be Found in College Basketball Some words that have been tossed around this college basketball season include “parity” and “chaos,” and the take that there isn’t a “top team” in this season and how that is ruining the game. While this season has been known for its upsets, with the first seven weeks of the AP Poll having seen five different number 1 teams (Michigan State, Kentucky, Duke, Louisville and Kansas) and top 10 teams losing a total of 11 games against unranked opponents in the first half of December, the absence of a dominant team and the resulting chaos does not make for a poor season.

Sure, it will make it harder to fill out your bracket and it will make it harder for the media to come up with storylines since there’s no Zion Williamson or Ja Morant highlights to shove down your throat every week, but with a little bit of searching, excitement can be found within the chaos.

Let’s first look at the players that are trying to fill the void that Zion left.

The odds-on favorite for the Naismith Player of the Year is Michigan State’s Cassius Winston. It makes sense too, at the end of last season when Winston and the Spartans knocked of Zion Williamson’s Blue Devils in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament, and the NBA-caliber talent decided to return for his senior season. This season, Winston hasn’t played poorly, he’s averaging 18.5/2.5/5.8, but he’s

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

regressed a bit from the 18.8/3/7.5 he averaged last year.

The fact that Winston isn’t in the spotlight much this season has just as much to do with Michigan State not playing like the preseason AP Number 1 team. By this time last year, Michigan State was 23-5 and 14-3 in Big Ten play; the Spartans would lose only one more game on the season, a one-point road loss to Indiana, and would go on to win the Big Ten Tournament and advance to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament.

This season, the Spartans are 19-9 and 11-6 in Big Ten play and are as of Sunday are in second place in the Big Ten. Despite the record being worse than last year’s and the team being currently projected as a 5-seed in this year’s tournament (the Spartans were a 2-seed last year), Michigan State is the 7th most efficient team in the country per KenPom. The fact that Winston isn’t getting more player of the year attention can be attributed to the fact that the Big Ten is a bloodbath this year. Since I care way too much about college basketball, here’s where I personally have the Big Ten teams projected to be seeded in this year’s tournament: Maryland: 2 (Big Ten Champion) Penn State: 4 Michigan State: 5 Michigan: 6 Iowa: 6 Ohio State: 6 Wisconsin: 7 Illinois: 8 Indiana: 9 Rutgers: 10 That’s 10 teams, a whole lot more than the ACC is going to get this year.

Michigan State isn’t a bad team and Cassius Winston is still playing well, even though the Spartans are the first team since 2013 to start at the top of the AP Poll and drop out completely.

So Cassius Winston probably won’t be the player of the year, since Michigan State is trapped in the gauntlet that is the Big Ten. One player who is quietly filling the void is Kansas’ Devon Dotson, the point guard for the current AP Number 1. Dotson averages 18/4/4 for the Jayhawks and is the team’s current leading scorer. But the biggest thing Dotson has going for him is

consistency, and that’s a big reason why the Jayhawks are the number one team in the country at the moment.

Dotson has scored in double figures in every game except for one this season, and that game was against the former top-seeded Baylor Bears in which he scored 9 points before exiting the game with a hip injury. While Dotson doesn’t have the athleticism of big man Udoka Azubuike or the defensive stats of fellow guard Marcus Garrett, all he does is score points and win games, like against Iowa State when he put up 29 points with six threes in a 91-71 victory.

The media has slept on Kansas for most of the year — in part because they lost their first game of the season to Duke (my opinion is the first game of the season doesn’t matter; the final score of the Virginia-Syracuse season opener was 48-34, no one plays good basketball the first game of the season) but the Jayhawks are primed to make a run in the postseason. As of right now, they’re my pick to win it all.

Another player who has shone this season includes Dayton’s Obi Toppin.

Toppin is currently the betting favorite to win player of the year (and hasn’t gotten attention from the media since Dayton is in the Atlantic 10), averaging 20/8/2 and leading the Flyers to a 27-2 record. Dayton joins fellow mid-major San Diego State as the two best small schools in the country (other than Gonzaga, they’re always good). San Diego State has its own player of the year candidate in guard Malachi Flynn, who was a big reason why the Aztecs were the last undefeated team in the country this season.

All these players have something exciting and worth watching. Winston has excellent ball movement, Dotson and Flynn will have great games no matter whom they play, Toppin can muscle to the basket and dunk on anyone. There are great players around the country this season, even though they’re not your James Wisemans or your Cole Anthonys — highly touted freshman and top draft prospects that have either underperformed or not played at all. Don’t equate parity with a lack of talent, and don’t assume there is a lack of talent because the media says so. Excitement is there if you know where to look.

MONDAY, MARCH 2, 2020

MONDAY, MARCH 2, 2020

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

SW 7

Women’s basketball splits weekend against Cornell and Columbia B y ETHAN STRAUSS The Dartmouth

The Dartmouth women’s basketball team went 1-1 in its last two home games this season, defeating Cornell University (10-14, 3-9 Ivy) in overtime Friday night and losing to Columbia University (17-8, 8-4 Ivy) on Saturday night.

Friday’s 82-79 win was Dartmouth’s first overtime victory since 2018 against Yale, and it also marked the Big Green’s first season sweep of Cornell since the 2009-10 season.

The first quarter started slow for both teams with multiple consecutive missed jumpers in the first five minutes.

Shooting eventually improved, and the teams traded the lead back-and-forth for the remainder of the quarter. Two big 3s from Kealy Brown ’19 and Asha Taylor ’22, coming off the bench, put Dartmouth ahead by five at the quarter’s end.

Impressive shooting from beyond the arc helped the Big Green take a 12-point lead midway through the second quarter. The team went 8-13 from 3 in the first half alone. But Cornell pushed back at the end of the first half after a number of made free throws to cut the Big Green’s lead to three.

“Twelve points to us is nothing,” said head coach Belle Koclanes. “It’s not that large of a lead. We stayed focused in the locker room on solutions — and that conversation is always collaborative.”

The Big Red quickly erased the remnants of Dartmouth’s lead to begin the second half and even built a seven-point lead of their own in the third quarter. The Big Green was again helped by 3-point shooting and points from the bench to stay in the game.

Through tough defense, Dartmouth was able to chip away at the Big Red’s lead until taking a one-point lead of its own in the beginning of the fourth.

“So, what we love about basketball are the ebbs and flows of the game and the ebbs and flows of season,” Koclanes said. “Lead changes: We talk about that all throughout the game from quarter to quarter. This group is very task-oriented; when you give them a very specific task, they crush it. So, we

try to do that coming out of timeout and sometimes playing catch-up is that task.”

Late in the fourth, the Big Green was able to continue to match the Big Red in shooting. Critically, Dartmouth stopped giving up free throws and hit a few of its own to keep the game close.

A made Big Red layup with three seconds to go in regulations tied the score at 73-73 and pushed the game to overtime.

In overtime, the teams continued to tie and re-tie the game until the score sat at 79-79 with under two minutes to play. After two clutch free throws from Annie McKenna ’20 and another from Katie Douglas ’22, the Big Green defended well to maintain a three-point lead to win the game 82-79.

“I think just the way we played together, everyone came in and did their role,” said Anna Luce ’21. “We looked for the extra pass and executed out of timeouts really well.”

The Big Green finished the game shooting 50 percent from the field and 55 percent from beyond the arc compared to Cornell’s 46-percent and 27-percent marks. McKenna and Luce lead Dartmouth with 17 and 16 points, respectively. Three Big Green also scored a season-high 32 bench points.

Dartmouth did struggle from the free throw line throughout the game only shooting 47 percent, but when the game was on the line shooting improved.

On Saturday, the team played its last home game of the season, losing to Columbia 62-50. Before the game, the 2020 class of McKenna, Paula Lenart ’20, Kealy Brown and Grace Phillips ’20 were honored as part of the senior night celebrations.

Throughout the game, Dartmouth was unable to replicate their spectacular shooting from the night before. The Lions shut down the Big Green during the first quarter, allowing only seven points and forging a 10-point lead entering the second. Dartmouth continued to miss jumpers, many of which were rebounded by the Lions and taken back for a score. In the second quarter, the Lions were able to push their lead as far as 26 points, but by halftime Dartmouth had chipped away a little to keep the score 37-22.

Apart from a made 3-pointer for

LORRAINE LIU/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

Annie McKenna led the Big Green in scoring this weekend, scoring 17 points against Cornell and 15 against Columbia.

both teams, the third quarter started out slow. The teams traded jumpers, but a scoring run by the Lions at the end pushed their lead to 21. In the fourth, the Big Green made a valiant effort, outscoring the Lions 20-11, but the lead proved too much to overcome.

The Big Green was again led

by McKenna with 15 points with Taylor following with nine. The Lions depended on two double-doubles by Abbey Hsu and Hannah Pratt to pull off the victory.

Dartmouth shot 34.5 percent from the field and 36.8 percent from 3 on the night, numbers much lower than on Friday. The Big Green was also outrebounded 46-29 and again struggled from the line with a 55.6 freethrow percentage. Once again, nearly half of Dartmouth’s points came from the bench.

The team now sits at sixth place in the Ivy League with a 3-9 conference record. Next weekend, the team will finish its season traveling to New Haven to play Yale University (17-8, 7-5 Ivy) and Providence to play Brown University (8-17, 2-10 Ivy).

SW 8

MONDAY, MARCH 2, 2020

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

SPORTS

Men’s hockey splits weekend, earns six seed in ECAC tournament B y OLIVIA MORTON The Dartmouth Staff

Big Green men’s hockey finished off its regular season at home this weekend with two decisive games against Union College and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. After beating Union 5-3 but falling 4-1 to RPI, the Big Green came out of the weekend with two points, solidifying its sixth-place finish in the Eastern College Athletic Conference.

Friday evening was a whirlwind, to say the very least. Drew O’Connor ’22, who now leads the conference with 21 goals, kicked off the scoring midway into the first frame assisted by Brendan Demler ’21 and Jeff Losurdo ’22. The Dutchmen responded just five minutes later, but Losurdo punched back after less than a minute to take back the lead, which the Big Green would maintain for the rest of the game.

A late first-period penalty gave Dartmouth the advantage on the power play at the start of the second period. A pass from Will Graber ’20 to just outside the crease found O’Connor’s stick, who buried the puck in the back of the net after a rebound off the initial shot. The next tallies came later in the period when Union scored its second of the night to bring it within one of the Big Green. Cam Strong ’20 scored off Graber’s second assist of the night to help Dartmouth pull away with a minute and a half remaining in the second.

The third period was a similar story. Union scored early off a power play to again try to close in on the Big Green, but goaltender Adrian Clark ’20 and the Big Green defensive unit kept the visitors out of the net for the rest of the period. O’Connor scored his third of the night during another power play with five minutes left in regulation, completing the first hat

trick of his career. At the final buzzer, Dartmouth clinched two points with a 5-3 win.

“I like the way the team is coming along,” said head coach Bob Gaudet ’81. “There’s a lot of maturity on our team and we play hard. It’s just fabulous to see. I think Drew O’Connor’s just one of those guys — I hope the fans come out and watch him play because he is just a fabulous hockey player. He just finds a way. I love his attitude, he just keeps on coming out hard. He’s a threat to score every time.”

Coming into Saturday night’s game, the team knew the result (in conjunction with the results of a few other key ECAC games) would determine who the team would play in the first series of the playoffs next weekend. The away team, RPI, entered Thompson Arena looking for a win in order to secure a home ice series.

The first frame, like a few others this season, was scoreless. Dartmouth players stayed out of the penalty box and had a lot of early opportunities, but could not find the back of the net.

“I think our work ethic has been consistent but the results haven’t been there,” Gaudet said. “It’s not anything big that we have to shore up, I’d just love to bury some opportunities.

We typically get some really good opportunities early and when it goes, things go well for us and when it doesn’t sometimes it’s a little slippery. We just got to work on our consistency, staying after it because we’re getting good bids and you know I’d like to do it for a full game.”

RPI got the first tally of the game nine minutes into the second frame, kicking off a three-goal streak that was capped off by two goals scored within 28 seconds of one another. O’Connor cut off this run with his 21st goal of

SEAMORE ZHU/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

Men’s hockey beat Union 5-3 and lost to RPI 4-1 to finish the regular season.

the season, finding the back of the net while the Big Green was down a player after Collin Rutherford ’21 was called for slashing.

The team continued to fight and had multiple chances, with numerous shots dinging the post, just outside the goal or saved by RPI’s goaltender Owen Savory. RPI finished off the game with a final empty net goal after Clark was pulled to try and get something started offensively. The score at the buzzer was 4-1, with RPI on top.

“I think the goalie has probably a 96 save percentage and I would venture to say that is totally the difference in their team,” Gaudet said. “We had

some point-blank bids and maybe they’re not glaring, but we had some good players with point blank bids that he stopped. So I think that’s the difference. Our mistakes ended up in the back of the net, and it wasn’t Clarky’s fault, they’re just a very good, solid, and opportunistic team. They’re well coached, they clamp it down once they get a lead, and I was hoping we could get a lead and they could chase it. And that’s what happened with us, we had to chase it a bit.”

At the end of regulation, Dartmouth honored the program’s nine seniors: Ryan Blankemeier ’20, Clark, Ben DiMaio ’20, Graber, Clay Han ’20, Shane Sellar ’20, Dean Shatzer ’20,

Strong and Daniel Warpecha ’20.

Next weekend, the postseason play begins with the ECAC tournament.

The Big Green, seeded sixth in the conference, will take on 11th-seeded Princeton University at home. The series is best of three, with the winner moving on to the quarterfinals. Games will be played at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and at 5 p.m. on Sunday if necessary.

“Everybody is good, it’s just a brutally tough league so everybody we play is good, and we just gotta play hard,” Gaudet said. “The regular season is over now and so we move on to the playoffs. That’s the next play for us.”