W. Hoops Go Big, Deep This Year

Women's basketball Coach Kathy Delaney-Smith says this year's edition of the squad could very well be the best in the history of the program.

"To be honest, even though I've always been the eternal optimist, this is potentially the strongest team I've coached at Harvard," said Delaney-Smith, who is entering her 18th season as head coach.

Excuse me? The strongest team? As in stronger than the Allison Feaster '98-led team of two seasons ago when Harvard, the 16th seed, upset top-seeded Stanford on the Cardinal's home floor in the first round of the NCAA tournament?

Well, yes, it could be.

"I think that in the four years that I've been here, this team has the most potential," captain Laela Sturdy said.

After a disappointing season last year when the team went 10-15 with a 7-7 Ivy record, good for a tie for fourth in the league, things are looking up for the Crimson this year. Literally.

The Crimson have added five players, all taller than 6'. The biggest addition, 6'5 junior Melissa Johnson, is a transfer from North Carolina. Sarah Johnson, her sister, is a 6'4 freshman. On top of that, there is Kate Ides, a 6'2 freshman who Delaney-Smith calls "the most powerful, explosive player I think I have ever coached, including Allison Feaster."

"All three of those player have tremendous ability to score," Sturdy said.

Ides has three-point range on her shot, runs the floor well and has staggering strength.

"She can bench and lift more weight than any incoming freshman I have ever had, and most outgoing seniors," Delaney-Smith said. "When she sent us her summer program, we just thought she was lying and then she came here. This woman is the Charles Barkley of the country."

Another freshman, 6' guard Bree Kelley, could see some time at the point guard position this year.

"With our height, we could probably put five players above 6' on the floor, from the point guard to the center," Delaney-Smith said.

Add this to two seniors with something to prove and a strong sophomore class with significant game experience.

Captain Laela Sturdy (12.1 points per game, 5.3 rebounds per game last year) and senior classmate Courtney Egelhoff (8.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg) have both been derailed in the past by injuries. Sturdy's sophomore and junior seasons were cut short by injuries, stopping short two stellar offensive campaigns. Egelhoff, the team's top returning defensive player, has been battling a virus recently.

The sophomore class of forwards Katie Gates (6.2 ppg, 3.4 rpg), Lindsay Ryba (7.0 ppg, 3.1 rpg) and Sharon Nunamaker (2.2 ppg, 1.1 rpg), and guards Jen Monti (5.7 ppg, 2.8 rpg) and Laura Barnard (1.9 ppg, 1.1 rpg) were pressed into action last season when much of the team came down with whooping cough and other injuries. Delaney-Smith said they are no longer playing like freshman.

Quite simply, this could be the deepest, tallest, most complete women's basketball team Harvard has ever seen, even without an obvious go-to player like Feaster, the three-time Ivy League Player of the Year and current member of the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks.

"If someone gets into foul trouble or we have an injury, we are so deep in our shooters and in our front court that we should be able to survive that," Delaney-Smith said. "I can't imagine another team having as many options in the center position, for example. Melissa can play agressively, Sarah can play agressively, Kate Ides can play agressively, Laela can play agressively because if there is some bad officiating or anything like that, someone is going to step up and take over for us."

Delaney-Smith is just glad she isn't facing her team.

"This team is just deeper and taller," she said. "I don't know how you are going to play our height. If they were slow, then, okay, press us. But Jen Monti is a good ball handler. So do you pack in a zone to stop the height? Then we have enough shooters that if one is cold, two is cold, three is cold, we'll put four, five and six in. I don't think you can stop us."

There is no starting lineup yet, Delaney-Smith said. Every player has the chance to claim a spot in the lineup before the regular-season rolls around November 19 with a game in San Antonio against Stephen F. Austin and a game November 20 against Texas-San Antonio.

The biggest problem Harvard will face internally this year is "keeping people happy with game time," Delaney-Smith said. But that shouldn't be a problem if the players expend all their energy running the floor.

"We're actually running better than I thought," she said, "so I think there is a level of intensity as far as running the floor and a level of defensive intensity I feel now I can demand because I don't have to save any one player."

Delaney-Smith envisions frequently rotating players into the game, keeping fresh legs on the floor at all times.

"Basically, we have raised our expectations to 'This is the way we want you to run the floor and this is the way we want you to play defense. And so if you don't, then someone else will. And if you do, then you'll need the rest.' "

Harvard will stick primarily with its traditional man-to-man defense this year. But with the height, Delaney-Smith occasionally may bring in a few zone defenses.

"We are probably going to be playing more zone than we've ever played," she said. "It has to be an agressive zone. I don't like lazy, pack-it-in zones. I want agressive match-up zones, trapping zones."

Harvard will stick with the triangle offense it has used for four years. The offense, popularized by NBA Coach Phil Jackson, is difficult to scout because it is keyed by a pass. Wherever the first pass goes, the play follows, and each first pass keys a different set of cuts and screens. Delaney-Smith said she found out about the offense from the former Loyola head coach after losing to the Greyhounds in a game she feels she should have won.

Harvard flew the Loyola coach to Cambridge to teach the Crimson the offense, and when the two teams met the next season, Harvard won.

But Harvard's athleticism in spite of its size will allow the Crimson to play hard-nosed basketball, especially in the transition.

"We have a transition offense that I just love," Delaney-Smith said. "It compliments our inside game as well as our outside game. And I think if I were trying to scout our transition game, I would be very worried. It's a game that sets a lot of screens for shooters and puts one of our 6'5 kids on the block so that we either take the shot and we're in great rebounding position or we get it inside and open up shooters. That being said, it is an offense for a team that wants to control it a little more."

Last year was a down year for the Crimson. After four years with all-everything Feaster leading the way, the Crimson was reeling already. Add the loss of her supporting senior class, and the Crimson shouldn't have had a chance. But throw in whooping cough and a season-ending injury to Sturdy, the team's leading scorer at that time and the Crimson seemed lucky to go 7-7 in the Ivy.

"Not that I like losing seasons, but I always think there's a reason why you have one," Delaney-Smith said. "It needs to serve a long-term purpose. And because we have such a strong tradition of winning here. When we have a losing season, I think it only makes us better the following year because we're reminded about how we don't want that to happen again."

Injuries and illnesses, of course, the Crimson can do little about beforehand. But the players are in better shape before the season than they have been in the past, in large part because they are determined not to make this season a disappointment.

"I felt they worked really hard in the off-season," Delaney-Smith said. "I felt physically, aerobically and strength-wise, they were more prepared for the pre-season than maybe I've seen in the past. That even heightens your enthusiasm and your expectations for the season."

And Delaney-Smith has high expectations for this season. Another nationally-televised game on ESPN come March would be nice, but a few wins in the tournament would be even nicer. Both are possible, she said.

The Crimson is still feeling the positive effects of the television exposure two years ago.

Being on ESPN put Harvard on the national basketball map.

"[It has] changed our lives," Delaney-Smith said. "It is amazing at how the rich get richer because they are on TV or they have the media. I just think a lot of people were amazed that we were that competitive...I cannot even tell you how many people and emails and letters and comments we got about the work ethic, the team chemistry."

After being on television, Delaney-Smith was the one receiving calls about the triangle offense.

The added attention even translated into better recruiting.

"I think women pay attention to the philosophy of a program," Delaney-Smith said. "They're not just 'I want to play professional ball. I want to be a high scorer.' I think they look for the whole package. I feel we have that here."

But the television exposure didn't translate into respect among the Ivy League media voters.

In the preseason Ivy media poll, Harvard was picked to finish behind Penn, Princeton and Dartmouth.

"I thought they were totally wrong. I think if you look at our performance last year, it's not that surprising," Sturdy said. "In my opinion, they forgot to look at the addition of people like Melissa Johnson and our freshman class."

But Delaney-Smith will use the prediction to her advantage.

"I love it that we were picked fourth," Delaney-Smith said.

Now, Harvard, in the role of spoiler, is playing for respect, and respect can be the biggest motivator of all.

"None of that stuff really matters," Sturdy said. "It's kind of amusing and it will add fuel to the fire. We have a lot to prove to ourselves and to the rest of the league. It's now going to be up to us with our work ethic and the ability to put the team first."