February 28th, 2009: Dartmouth at Columbia

Dartmouth Big Green 63, Columbia Lions 61

Run, assholes, run! The Ivy League provides the drama that the Big East lacked.


After due consideration, and with the nagging need to wash the foul taste out of my mouth after the mess at St. John's, we headed uptown, where Columbia was hosting Ivy-leading Dartmouth. Turned out to be a much more interesting game. As this was an Ivy League matchup, I'll attempt to keep my diction as elevated as the Ancient Eight would demand, and I beg your indulgence if I fall short.

Levien Gym may be my favorite "gym that is clearly not in a discrete building" facility in the area (as opposed to "gym that is clearly in a discrete building", such as Carnesecca or Mack, and "gym that might be in a discrete building, but I'm not sure", such as LIU's court). s court). It balances the necessity of being small with a lot of the amenities of a larger arena, and does so with great practicality. The pleasing shade of blue might also have something to do with it. It looks like they've done some work with Levien since the last time I was there. The video board pleases me, and the fact that Columbia makes use of it makes it even better. I don't think any other team I've seen has an animated intro quite like Columbia's, with Roar-ee's run to the gym.

Senior Night for Christina Gordon and Katrina Cragg was very touching. It's a bit harder to get blue roses than red and white ones, so they had to be satisfied with Columbia-blue ribbons around their bouquets.

Anthem was by a nervous-sounding member of the dance team who eventually got over her nerves and gave a very pretty rendition.

Signs you might be at an Ivy League sporting event: the band's repertoire includes the theme from the original Tetris. I really liked them, and their trick of "slow counting" the clock- it actually worked on one play!

So, Dartmouth. They all seem to have very similar long, lanky, physiques- length, not breadth, is the key. Brittney Smith dominated the offense in the first half, and while she still got hers in the second, the other two major players for the Big Green that night stepped up next to her. Margaret Smith (her older sister, in case you were wondering; I know I have since they visited St. John's last year) didn't contribute quite as much. Koren Schram was quiet in the first half, but her shooting got hot in the second. Combine that with Darcy Rose's knack for getting to the line, and Dartmouth ran away with the second half. McFee, their last starter, really got taken out of the game by foul trouble. It's funny- it felt like Dartmouth was having their way inside, scoring in the paint and controlling the interior game, but statistically, Columbia outrebounded the Big Green and outscored them in the paint. (Of course, since free throws don't technically count as points in the paint, the disparity becomes a little clearer.) Rose swings a mean pair of elbows. Actually, most of the Dartmouth players do, though that may be a function of long skinny arms being bent in defense of the ball. Their long-range game got them right back into things at the beginning of the second half- Columbia seemed calm with a twelve-point lead, then Dartmouth uncorked three threes to put them right back in range, and from there it was nip and tuck right up to the end.

I got the sense that only one of Columbia's seniors starts on a regular basis, judging from rotation and minute allocation. Gordon acquitted herself well in her start, and Danielle Browne, who she displaced, was a real spark off the bench- if she's not careful, Nixon might think that's a good idea for next season, a la Candice Wiggins for the Lynx or Becky Hammon in 2000 for the Liberty. Sara Yee remains two pounds of crazy persistence in a one-pound bag, the kind of player I have a very soft spot for, especially when they hit big shots. There's something I like about Lauren Dwyer, but I can't quite put my finger on it. I can see how Judie Lomax started out at a Pac-10 school- she's tough and fearless, with good instincts for the ball. I can see why she would choose to move down several notches on the athletic totem pole, setting aside the obvious advantages of a Columbia education over an Oregon State education: at 5'11", she wouldn't survive as a power forward in a BCS conference, she doesn't have the speed or consistent outside shot to transition to an offensive wing player, and at least in the one game I saw, didn’t seem very interested in playing defense. Caitlin Stachon seemed a little too interested in adding degrees of difficulty to simple shots, which became important when the game got tighter.

And the game got tight in a hurry. The refs helped. Sorry, but a cross-check at midcourt on a stationary defensive player is not a block. The last play of the game was one of the more egregious lack of calls, though. Columbia, down two points, missed a shot, and a scrum developed under the basket. Pretty clear foul on Dartmouth- Darcy Rose, I think. No whistle. Then, as the buzzer goes off, they whistle a foul... on Judie Lomax, adding insult to injury (since Columbia was already in the double penalty). The referees conferred, decided not to call the foul on Lomax, and then ran out of the arena as fast as they could, with the Columbia crowd booing, hissing, and yelling at them, and the Columbia band chanting "Run, assholes, run!" Cowards!

I think we were sitting behind family or friends of one of Columbia's assistants. That makes me somewhat more relieved that we threw in our lot with the Lions, then, though it would have been uncouth to do anything but when we were sitting five rows behind the Columbia bench.

Watch this space for pictures; they should be up by the end of the night.