No. 1 Colombia wins women’s basketball

The women’s basketball team lost to Columbia University 79-50 on Saturday, Jan. 28, in what was the Big Green’s seventh conference loss.

With Columbia currently leading the Ivy League with a 6-1 record, the team faced a tough challenge against the Lions. Recent illnesses and injuries have forced Big Green’s players to change their strategy for this game, and head coach Adrienne Shibles said the team’s leadership is looking to meet these challenges with a “next move.” He said he believed that he had nurtured the spirit of “Woman Up”.

“Everyone is stepping up and trying to fill the void for those who may not be able to compete this weekend. I think it was a necessary change in our preparation. [for upcoming games]said Sibbles. “We had a bit of a rough patch of adversity, so the preparation needs to be sharper and more focused, and they’re really bringing it.

Colombia took a 45-25 lead by halftime in Saturday’s game. Dartmouth fought hard to keep their distance from the Lions in the first quarter. Grace Niekelski ’25 made her 3-pointer to make the score 10-13 for her. Emma Koch ’23 said the first quarter would finally set the tone for the rest of the match.

“I really struggled at first. It was like digging a hole that was hard to get out of,” Koch said. “We had a pretty big points gap, but I think we were still fighting for the rest of the game.”

In the second quarter, the team continued their efforts to stop Colombia’s momentum. Mia Curtis ’24 started the quarter with his 3-pointer and scored his team-high 12 points. Big Green held up his defense and did not allow Columbia to score until 6 minutes and 42 seconds. Despite these successes, the Lions had a 20-point lead at the end of the second quarter. Koch said the team needs to improve its defense against key players on the court.

“One of the things we can work on, and we’ve been talking about all season, is stop the hot guys,” Koch said. “There were definitely a few girls who had a lot of points against us, so I guess we didn’t recognize it right away. [We just need to] Be especially careful during games. ”

Dartmouth failed to recover and lost to the Lions. Despite the loss, the team focused on some of their strengths displayed on the court. For the first time since the 2017-18 season, the women’s basketball team won 10-10 at the free-throw line. Mekkena Boyd ’24 she went 6-6 to secure victory for this team. Boyd said her gym and team energy contributed to these successes.

“We’re a team that sticks together, and we don’t turn against each other in the face of adversity. We had a packed gym and a lot of energy,” Boyd said. “We stayed together and celebrated small victories as the game progressed. [that’s] Things I never took for granted. ”

Despite a 0-7 conference record and a 2-19 overall record, Sibbles said the season was marked by significant player development. She highlighted the improvement in her team’s offense and shooting percentage.

“We feel like we have more weapons this year and a more balanced scoring attack, so that’s really benefited our program,” Sibbles said. But I’m not particularly strong yet, but I’ve been working a lot on taking care of the basketball, limiting turnovers, defensive communication, and rebounding.”

Koch said strong team dynamics allowed Big Green to improve its chemistry.

“I think a lot of other teams with the records that we have… don’t really have a close team dynamic. [so] There will be many other problems,” Koch said. “Sports should be fun, but I think people lose sight of that. We always have fun with our friends there.”

Despite this growth, the team recognizes areas for improvement. Boyd said the team struggled with consistency and cohesion on the court.

“A lot of our games, we’ve been looking good and playing decently on defense and offense, but it’s all about consistency and putting it all together for 40 minutes,” Boyd said. It’s something we’ve been working on since the beginning of the season, and I’m not always able to make the most of it.”

Sibbles said the team hopes to learn from this loss and build a more experienced team, especially in the next few years.

“We really want to take away the growth we’ve already achieved, but we’re not going to stop here. We’re continuing to improve by 1% every day,” said Shibles. “…we’re stealing experience, we’re stealing growth, we’re stealing team culture improvement.”

Dartmouth travels to Brown University on Friday, February 3, before taking on Yale in the remaining four-game road stretch the next day.