Dartmouth women’s basketball fell to the Columbia Lions this past Saturday, losing 81-42 in a game that brought their record in the Ivy League Conference to 1-10.
In the first quarter, the Big Green struggled to break through Columbia’s defense and hit their shots. Columbia came out aggressively with a full-court press, which they continued until the end of the game despite their lead. Head coach Linda Cimino said Dartmouth could not “convert on [their] layups,” a problem which continued for the rest of the first half. The Big Green ended this first part of the game down 14-40.
“We didn’t start the game off well offensively,” Cimino said.
With the Lions maintaining a double-digit lead into the third quarter, the Big Green began to put up more of a fight. Dartmouth began to assert itself on the court, scoring more layups and battling against Columbia’s press. Zeynep Ozel ’28 sank the team’s only three-pointer of the game.
“I was really proud of our effort in the third quarter,” Cimino said.
Dartmouth kept fighting into the fourth quarter, driving to the net and putting some points on the board despite Columbia entering the quarter up 56-29. Cimino described how, considering the large point gap, it could have been easy for the Big Green to “pack it in,” but the team fought until that very last buzzer.
“I am really proud of the fact that our players didn’t give up,” Cimino said.
Tahira Muhammad ’28, who was on the starting lineup for the first time in her Dartmouth career, hit a last-second shot right at the buzzer. Both Ozel and Cimino praised Muhammad’s effort on the court and positive energy on the team this season, and how ready she was for this important moment in her basketball career.
“She is one of our hype-women on the team,” Ozel said. “Whenever she gets on the court, she delivers whatever we ask from her, and for me, it’s great to see my teammates come on the court and … help us achieve what we want to do.”
Notably, Cimino highlighted how the team achieved “small goals…within [their] program” on Saturday that did not appear on the scoreboard. For example, the Big Green only fouled the Lions nine times. Dartmouth found the charity stripe 19 times compared to Columbia’s six.
“I felt we did a good job staying disciplined and not fouling,” Cimino said.
The Big Green prepared this week for the Lions’ intense, full-court press. Although they struggled initially, Muhammad highlighted how the team was able to “get it over half court” and create some shooting opportunities.
“Maybe [our shots] didn’t fall, but we were able to break that press and get shots that we wanted,” Muhammad said.
Looking forward, the Big Green has just three games left in the season, including a home game against Princeton University this Friday and another against University of Pennsylvania on Saturday. The Saturday game is also Senior Day, which will celebrate the seniors on the team as their final season winds down.
“We want to get that win at home, and for the next three games we want to end on a good note,” Ozel said.