W. Hoops Overtakes Dartmouth to Open Ivy Season

HANOVER, N.H.--For all the losses the Harvard women's basketball team has suffered this year, it is amazing how tough the Crimson can be to beat when it doesn't beat itself.

After averaging 22.5 turnovers on the season and 29 in its last two games, the Crimson (3-10, 1-0 Ivy) held itself to just ten giveaways against Dartmouth (1-10, 0-1) at Leede Arena on Saturday night. By not rushing itself and limiting its mistakes, the Crimson healed its one lingering sore spot and--thanks also to solid 45.8 percent shooting--was able to upend the Big Green 72-58 in the first game of the Ivy League season.

"We put a lot of emphasis on keeping our turnovers low," freshman forward Hana Peljto said. "At practice we work on it a lot and we get punished when we turn balls over a lot. It was definitely one of our goals."

Harvard, who has now won back-to-back games for the first time all season, got off to a 7-0 lead at the start of the first half and led 42-30 at halftime. The Crimson never trailed in the contest.

Peljto came off the bench to play 31 minutes and led all scorers with 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting. She also grabbed eight rebounds.

Not to be outdone, freshman forward Tricia Tubridy added 15 points and eight boards. Junior forward Katie Gates rounded out the Crimson's list of double-digit scorers with 11 points, including a pair of three-point buckets.

Dartmouth rallied for a short time early in the second half and managed to cut the deficit to as low as seven points four different times. But the Crimson would eventually get the lead back up to as much as 16 in the final seconds, as Harvard managed the clock and grabbed plenty of offensive rebounds. The Big Green, meanwhile, could not buy a three-point basket in its effort to trim Harvard's lead, connecting on just 2-of-18 from three-point range in the game.

"[Dartmouth] never gave up, they were scrappy, they made some big baskets," Harvard Coach Kathy Delaney-Smith said. "They just couldn't [keep] the lead below ten. I think slowing it down, using [all] 30 seconds on the [shot] clock, bothered them."

Both Harvard and Dartmouth had taken similar paths leading up to Saturday's match-up. Each team had been roughed up by a challenging slate of non-conference games--the two toughest schedules of any Ivy team--to start the season. During the course of those games, they both suffered more then their fair share of troubles with too many turnovers, too little defense, and too low shooting percentage.

But all of that became ancient history this weekend. Saturday's league opener presented both clubs with a chance to begin fresh, and the Crimson took full advantage of the opportunity. If the start of the Ivy campaign comprised something of a new season, the Crimson came out against the Big Green as something of a new team.

New and improved, that is.

"We're a totally different team now," Peljto said. "After Christmas, we had a great week of practice. We know the Ivy League [schedule] is more important than the games we've played and we're just going to go after everyone else."

Saturday's contest featured two of the league's finest young players in Dartmouth sophomore center Katharine Hanks, last year's Ivy

Rookie of the Year, and Peljto, who is a prime candidate for the award this season.

Hanks, who entered Saturday's game coming off two straight double-doubles, came up just one rebound

shy of a third one against the Crimson.

But as well as Hanks played, Harvard largely succeeded in containing her and Dartmouth point guard Sherrty Freeman, who entered the weekend as the Big Green's two leading scorers. Both Hanks and Freeman met their averages in terms of point production (15 and 10 ppg, respectively) but neither was able to break out for a big game.

Hanks actually got off to a blazing start, hitting on a perfect 5-of-5 from the floor in the first half. But she cooled off after the intermission, as the Harvard defense held her to just two field goals.

"We knew [Hanks] was a great player and we have to look for her all the time," Peljto said. "In the second half, she got into a bit of foul trouble [four fouls for the game] and we treated her well and played good defense."

With Hanks less a factor down the stretch, Dartmouth was forced to try to beat the Crimson by other means. But outside of Hanks and Freeman, the Big Green shot only 33 percent from the field, including a paltry 7-of-25 in the second half.

In fact, it was Harvard whose attack was most balanced and who displayed the most depth. The Crimson bench outscored the Big Green reserves 33-18, and outrebounded them by a 13-2 margin.

Much of that credit belonged to Peljto, but sophomore guard Bree Kelley also chipped one of her best performances of the year with eight points, five rebounds, and a pair of steals in 19 minutes. Her solid effort--which included 2-of-4 shooting from beyond the three-point arc--was reminiscent of her play last year when she earned All-Ivy Rookie Team honors.

"She did a great job," Delaney-Smith said. "She had been a bit off in terms of her effectiveness. She had a great week of practice and played two great games--she played great against BU as well. She's a gamer and I certainly thought that showed tonight."

Overall, the Crimson turned in what was perhaps its best all-around effort on the year. For all the good that came out of the team's convincing 70-57 victory over BU last week, Harvard could still not shake its penchant for turnovers, as they gave the ball away 28 times. On Saturday, however, the Crimson started down the road to eliminating that pesky problem altogether.

"We reset our goals after the first half of the season and one of them was turnovers," Delany-Smith said. "We didn't run any fast breaks tonight. We don't make good decisions when we run. We will be able to run by the end of the season, but right now cutting the turnovers down is key for us."

After Saturday's win, Harvard has opened its series Dartmouth with a victory in six straight seasons. If history continues to repeat itself, however, the Big Green could turn the tables in the two teams' second meeting of the season on Mar. 6, as it has done the past three years.

Delaney-Smith, for one, has other plans in mind.

"I won't let that happen again this year," she said.

Notes

Harvard co-captain Melissa Johnson started against Dartmouth but played only 12 minutes, including just four in the second half. Johnson, who missed time at the beginning of the season because of troubles with her knee, was visibly favoring her affected leg as she trotted up and down the court. She did grab four rebounds in the time she did see and frustrated Hanks defensively....

Johnson's sister, Sarah, was not dressed for Saturday's game because of heart palpitations. Delaney-Smith said that the younger Johnson would be ready to return to practice with the team today....

The entire Harvard women's team arrived at Dartmouth early on Saturday morning and made the thoughtful decision to help cheer on the men's team to victory in the first game of the weekend doubleheader.