Sports Roundup: Freshmen Add Promise to Dartmouth Basketball

It's normal for wide-eyed freshmen to come to a college athletics team, learn the system, and take a while to adapt to the level of play at Division I college basketball. Luckily for both the Dartmouth men's and women's basketball teams, this year's rookies are quick studies.

For the women's team, center Elise Morrison has emerged not only as one of the best freshmen in the Ivy League but as one of the top players overall. Morrison leads the Big Green in scoring, rebounding, blocked shots, and field goal percentage. Through mid-January, she was tabbed Ivy League rookie of the week five times and also named Ivy player of the week once.

Morrison says she felt she could come in and contribute but did not expect to be so effective early in her career. "Coming in this year, I was hoping to just get some minutes and be a body in the low post for the team," she says. "I hadn't even thought that I could have played so well so quickly."

Morrison's teammates have helped her with the elements of the college game and have understood when she does make a freshman mistake. "When I make mistakes, they just tell me to keep my head up and to learn from what I did wrong," she says. "[Co-captains] Jamie [Librizzi '04] and Sam [Burnham '04] have been great at helping me adjust my game for this level."

Morrison leads the Big Green with 18.3 points per game and 8.9 rebounds per game. She posted a career-high 32 points and had 12 rebounds in the Big Green's 93-88 win over Harvard on January 10 as Dartmouth snapped the Crimson's 26-game Ivy conference winning streak. In that game, freshman Ashley Taylor finished with five points, five rebounds, and five assists. Taylor has started 10 of the Big Green's first 12 games and is second on the team in assists and third in rebounds. She also made a splash as Ivy rookie of the week when she received the honor on December 23 after posting a career-high 18 points against Florida International. Classmate Fatima Kamara '07 is fifth on the Big Green with 6.6 points per game and posted her career-high of 18 points January 2 at Siena.

"We have such a young roster, with eight freshmen and sophomores, that we need the contributions of the younger players to succeed," says head coach Chris Wielgus. "So far, they have been up to the challenge."

The men's basketball team suffered through injuries and close losses early in the season, but the play of freshman Leon Pattman has been a constant. Pattman won Ivy League rookie of the week honors on December 23 and January 5. He helped lead the Big Green to an overtime victory at Maine on December 16 with a career-high 19 points and scored a team-high 16 points in Dartmouth's 60-57 loss to Lehigh on December 20.

Two weeks later, Pattman scored 16 points to lead Dartmouth past rival Harvard, 56-54. He posted 16 points and a career-high 13 rebounds in a 60-52 loss to Holy Cross on January 6. Pattman averaged 11.5 points and 4.3 rebounds per game in mid-January.

"I didn't know if I could contribute right away, but with the injuries, everyone had to step up his game," Pattman says.

Head coach Dave Faucher says, "Leon has established himself as one of the top freshmen in our league. He's become a big-time player for us."

Opposing coaches have noticed Pattman's ability as well, and one even believes Pattman could compete with the elite of college basketball.

"He is really good. He can play Big East," Holy Cross head coach Ralph Willard says. "He's got the inside game. He's got the outside game. He's got great hops and a smartness to him. When he builds up the right hand a little bit, he's going to be a house to stop."

Hockey Teams Heat Up the Ice at Thompson
The ice at Thompson Arena has stayed cold, even though the Dartmouth Big Green hockey teams were on fire in the first half of the 2003-04 season. The women's team has been nationally ranked no lower than third, while the men's icers broke into the rankings on November 11 and have held a spot in the USA Today poll ever since.

The women's team put an exclamation point on the first part of its season with a 2-1 win at rival Harvard January 11. Senior Sarah Clark scored two third-period goals to lead the Big Green to the victory. Freshman Christine Capuano made 37 saves in the game, and improved her record to 4-0. For their efforts, Capuano was named USCHO Defensive Player of the Week and Clark was runner-up for Offensive Player of the Week. Sophomore Gillian Apps has already recorded two hat tricks and earned two ECAC player of the week awards.

Dartmouth men's hockey spent much of November and December on the road. The Big Green played nine straight games away from home and posted a 3-2-4 record. Dartmouth's road schedule included a sweep of Yale and Princeton, and the Big Green won the Sheraton Banknorth Classic at the University of Vermont. Through mid-January, sophomore Hugh Jessiman led the team with 20 points, while junior Lee Stempniak posted 18. Grant Lewis is among the nation's leaders in points by a freshman with 15.

Winter Sports Seasons in Full Swing
The Big Green season for men's and women's track and field, swimming and diving, and squash got off to a fast start.

The men's and women's track and field teams competed at the Dartmouth Relays January 9-11. The Big Green women won the 26-team event, while Dartmouth's men finished second. Senior Mustafa Abdur-Rahim qualified for the NCAA indoor track and field championship in the heptathlon.

Both the men's and women's swimming and diving teams defended their titles at the Rhode Island Invitational January 10-11. The men's team also defeated Brown and Navy on November 22 to sweep a double-duel meet for the first time in the program's history. The men's squash team began with a perfect 4-0 start, while the women's team won its first three matches.

By Matt Dougherty

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