SMU beats Dartmouth

[PonyPower]

Just got back from Moody. My thoughts:

1. Christine Elliott isn't even scratching the surface yet. She's not going to be good - she's going to be great.
2. Jillian Samuels is back. Hit 4 three-pointers tonight.
3. Delisha Wills is back. She made people look silly defending her until they doubled her.
4. Had no idea Dartmouth could shoot like that. The were drilling 3s even when we actually chose to simulate "perimeter defense."
5. I hate to agree with GSPatton, because ... well, because he's Patton ... but LaShandra Hill is going to be very good. GSP used to yap about how fast she is, and what do you know - he got one right. Dartmouth isn't a fast team, but there have been several teams that don't have anyone who can stay with her.
6. Alice Severin is maybe the best defender I've ever seen at SMU.
7. Morgan Shell has real promise. Even when she doesn't score, she seems poised and seems to know what to do with the ball and where to be. She was great against UNT, and will help this team.

Nice win. Dartmouth was much better than I thought they'd be. Looking forward to taking Friday off to go down to Padre Island for the tournament this weekend.

Go Ponies!

[Peruna88]

I wish I could take Friday off and go to Padre also.

[George S. Patton]

The girls and I will get to the games in January. Just tough between November and December with their school and extra curricular activities.

Looking forward to watching Elliott.

I love it when people admit it when I'm right. I'm more right about a lot of stuff than many of you care to admit.

And the difference between Monday night at Moody and Tuesday night at Moody -- one team knew how to finish. The other didn't. Coaching, my friends. Coaching.

[PonyPride]

Jillian Samuels is back. Hit 4 three-pointers tonight.

Actually, she hit five - tied her career high.

[jimhagle]

Once again barely getting by Dartmouth is not a good win-what is up with this team? Is it feeding off the men's team vibe?

[CA Mustang]

Once again barely getting by Dartmouth is not a good win-what is up with this team? Is it feeding off the men's team vibe?

True, their record isn't good, but they have played only one home game all season. http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/womens-bas ... /teams/dac

From the game summary, it sounded like their three point shooting was hot which kept them in the game. If they give Arkansas a game tomorrow, then they probably are tougher than we think they are.

[PonyPride]

Exactly - they were a little reminiscent of the Princeton men's teams during the Pete Carril era ... small, slow players who pass the ball constantly in an effort to lull the defense to sleep and then hit a backdoor cut or drill a three. There's no question SMU was the better team, but that Dartmouth team, when shooting well, can beat some good opponents.

No, not feeding off anyone's vibe - learning how to find a go-to player after looking for Dodds and Gross and Cobb and Shepherd for the last four years. There's some talent here, and they'll be competitive in most games from here on out, and will win their share. The improvement just from the beginning of the season until now has been considerable. They have a long way to go, but they're on the right track.

[The XtC]

[quote="jimhagle"]Once again barely getting by Dartmouth is not a good win-what is up with this team? Is it feeding off the men's team vibe?[/quote]

Dartmouth took Michigan State to overtime earlier this year, when MSU was ranked #21. Over the last 4 years, Dartmouth has been to the post-season 3 times, 2 NCAA tournaments, and 1 NIT. They're a solid program.

I stole this from the Dartmouth website, it's from their pregame notes and describes their schedule:
"Not only has Dartmouth played a solid schedule, but so have its opponents. The Big Green’s strength of schedule rating was as high as 4th in the nation last week though the win against Stony Brook dropped it to 38. The ranking has been bolstered by its opponents wins and losses, many to top-25 teams. As of today, all of Dartmouth’s opponents except for Stony Brook have winning records.
St. John’s leads the way at 8-1, losing only to #10 Baylor while Michigan State (6-4), which ranked as high as 21st nationally, lost to #14 Notre Dame and Georgia Tech. Hartford (5-5) has played a tough schedule, with an upset over #5 Duke and losses to DePaul, George Washington #18 Ohio State and #12 Louisville. Temple (5-3) counts #15 Rutgers, #20 Auburn and Florida State as its losses. Since losing to Dartmouth, Delaware (5-3) has won three-straight."

Dartmouth is the type of team we need to be playing, a respectable team with a shot at post-season play, and in the top-100 of the RPI, but still beatable. The type of team that will push your team hard, and looks good on the final resume, but is still beatable.

The fact that it was a homecoming for some of their players and fans, and they brought a decent crowd, was an added bonus.

[Vitale]

Dartmouth is the type of team we need to be playing, a respectable team with a shot at post-season play, and in the top-100 of the RPI, but still beatable. The type of team that will push your team hard, and looks good on the final resume, but is still beatable.

Nicely put and absolutely right.
Nice crowd, considering the sub-arctic temperatures.