W. Hoops Erases Doubts With Sweep

If the Harvard women's basketball team had any lingering doubts about its ability to compete in the Ivy League, it quashed them this past weekend.

In home games against Cornell and Columbia, Harvard (7-11, 4-1 Ivy) overcame moments of insecurity to win against two scrappy teams. On Friday, the Crimson topped Cornell (9-10, 2-4) behind a career-high 21 points from freshman forward Tricia Tubridy. The next night, Harvard beat Columbia (5-13, 3-3) in a slow, foul-plagued game by hitting 35 out of 40 free throws--26-for-27 in the second half--and by effectively shutting down Columbia star Shawnee Pickney.

"This is what we were waiting for all December," Tubridy said. "We knew we were this good and it was a matter of time before we started showing it on the court."

Harvard enters Friday's contest against league-leading Penn having won six of its last seven games, including its last three contests. Following a 1-11 start, the Crimson now appears capable of challenging the Quakers, who are riding an 11-game winning streak behind the play of defending Ivy Player of the Year Diana Caramanico. Like Harvard, Penn got off to a slow start, going 1-5 in its first six games.

"Penn statistically is connecting well," said Harvard Coach Kathy Delaney-Smith. "They play five players who are connecting. Our job is to control Caramanico."

Harvard 78, Columbia 53

Columbia senior forward Shawnee Pickney entered the weekend as the reigning Ivy League Player of the Week, averaging 14.8 points and 6.8 rebounds on the season. She played like a star the night before when she scored 24 points and grabbed eight rebounds in a win over Dartmouth in which she surpassed the 1,000 point plateau for her career.

Against Harvard the next night, however Pickney misfired shots from all areas, got frustrated, pouted and, finally, sat on the bench with a towel over her head. Harvard's defense held her to 11 points on remarkably awful 3-for-27 shooting (11 percent), including 1-for-11 from beyond the arc.

Pickney completely fell apart in the second half, missing all 15 of her shots.

"I think she got open shots that we should not have let her have and we were fortunate they didn't go in," said co-captain Melissa Johnson. "Obviously she shoots without a conscience."

And, as Pickney goes, so go the Lions.

After falling behind 4-2 with 16:42 to go in the first half, the Crimson regained the lead and never let it get closer than five points the rest of the game.

Senior guard Lisa Kowal gave the Crimson its biggest lead of the first half when she drove along the right baseline and put the ball in for a 20-9 lead with 6:57 to play. The Crimson entered the half with a 31-23 lead on a lay-up from Tubridy with six seconds left.

Although both teams combined for 19 fouls in the first half, the second half would be even slower as Columbia began fouling early and often in route to racking up 17 team fouls in the half and fouling out three players.

The first Crimson score after the break was representative of the Crimson's half. At the 18:11 mark, Tubridy took the ball in for a lay-up and was fouled by Columbia sophomore guard Megan O'Neill. Tubridy, whose older sister was a Columbia star, strode to the line and calmly sank the free throw. Harvard was able to score almost at will in the second half, and the team often had the chance to ice the cake at the foul line.

Columbia's Megan Bramlette hit a jumper in the lane at 13:47 to bring the Lions within five at 36-31, but the Crimson went on a 20-6 run over the next 8:41 to put the game away. Beginning around the 9:00 mark, the Lions hacked their way into oblivion, sending the hot-shooting Crimson to the line repeatedly.

With almost everyone getting the chance to play, Harvard extended its lead to 70-45 with 2:34 left, and the Crimson would have had a 78-49 win had Columbia freshman guard Cassie Beierle not hit a three pointer with seven seconds left in the game.

The Crimson's 78 points were a season-high, as were the team's 35 free throws.

Freshman forward Hana Peljto, who is enjoying her newfound role as the first player off the bench, paced the Crimson with 14 points and nine rebounds in 18 minutes.

"She's our statistical leader," Delaney-Smith said. "To not start your statistical leader and have her come off the bench is very much a luxury. I like her there. She is happy with that role."

Junior forward Katie Gates also had 14 points while grabbing eight boards. Johnson had nine points and eight boards while Kowal chipped in with eight points.

Freshman guard Adrionna Fike led Columbia with 12 points.

The Crimson controlled the boards in the game, winning the battle 47-22. Columbia turned the ball over fewer times than the Crimson, however, 20-14.

Harvard 61, Cornell 58

To hear Delaney-Smith tell it, Harvard stole the game away from Cornell Friday night.

"Honestly, we are all not happy with last night's game," Delaney-Smith said Saturday. "Cornell is pretty decent. They are a very dangerous offensive team. We let their defense bother us."

The Crimson scraped by, though, led by Tubridy's explosive game on both ends of the floor. Quickly becoming a key component of the Crimson attack, she finished with 21 points and eight rebounds.

"Tricia Tubridy saved our butts last night," Delaney-Smith said. "She came up really, really big. Tricia does a lot of things that don't show up in the stats columns."

Harvard started the game strong enough, jumping out to a 14-6 lead over the first six minutes on three-pointers by Tubridy and junior point guard Jenn Monti, who was battling a sprained ankle. By halftime, the margin was still eight, 29-21, after Harvard went on a six-minute scoring drought before Peljto hit a lay-up and foul shot with 13 seconds left.

In the second half, while Harvard's offensive woes continued, Cornell slowly whittled away the Crimson lead and took a 30-29 lead four minutes into the half. At that point, Harvard had managed just three points over 10 minutes.

It was back-and-forth from there, as Harvard crawled back to a 47-42 lead on a Peljto three-pointer from the top of the key with 10:33 to go. Cornell took a 51-49 lead with 7:44 left after Tubridy and Sarah Johnson committed fouls. Two-and-a-half minutes later, the game was tied for the fourth time, 53-53.

Tubridy broke the tie with 2:30 remaining, and the Crimson managed to hold on in the end. Up 60-53 with 35 seconds left, the Crimson staved off the Big Red three-pointer-and-foul strategy. A putback by Cornell junior guard Breean Walas as the buzzer sounded provided the final margin.

Peljto joined Tubridy in double-digits with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Monti had nine assists.

Karen Force, a freshman guard, came off the bench to pace the Big Red with 15 points. Walas had 13 points.