W. Hoops Smothers Hanks, Dartmouth

After struggling with the nation’s best early in the season, the Harvard women’s basketball team can go into the exam break feeling much more at ease.

The Crimson (10-4, 2-0 Ivy) defeated Dartmouth (5-7, 0-2) 70-58 on Saturday for the team’s fourth straight victory and second win against the Big Green in a week.

The win came in Harvard’s first of 13 consecutive Ivy League games that will close out its season. The Crimson does not play again until Jan. 31, when it hosts Princeton at 6 p.m.

“This is one of the best defensive teams I’ve had in a long, long time,” Harvard coach Kathy Delaney-Smith said. “When we’re cooking on defense, we’re hard to beat.”

Indeed, the key to the Crimson’s victory was its ability to contain Dartmouth superstar forward Katharine Hanks. Hanks, a First-Team All-Ivy selection last year who currently leads the Ivy League in scoring with 20.8 ppg, went scoreless for the first 27 minutes of the game and finished with only four points on one-of-five shooting. Hanks has scored at least 30 points four times this season, but could never establish herself down low as Harvard’s 3-2 zone defense took away the interior pass all game.

“Hanks has better success against man-to-man than she does against the zone,” Delaney-Smith said. “We doubled her whenever she touched the ball in the paint and did a good job on her.”

Though the Big Green scored the game’s first three points, the Crimson tied the score on junior Tricia Tubridy’s three-pointer and would never trail again.

Junior Bev Moore, starting her third consecutive game at point guard, got things rolling for the Crimson in the first half. Nailing four outside jumpers, including two three-pointers, Moore led Harvard in the first half with 10 points on four-of-six shooting.

“I’m enjoying starting very much,” Moore said, a transfer student who sat out last year after playing for two seasons at Louisiana Tech. “As a fourth-year player, I don’t get nervous anymore. The pressure and responsibility that comes with being a point guard is something I enjoy.”

With the score tied 13-13, Harvard went on a 27-14 run spearheaded by hot shooting from an unusual cast. Moore, junior guard Dirkje Dunham and freshman Shana Franklin all nailed big three-pointers during the spurt.

“I think Dirkje’s doing a great job in a new role off the bench,” Delaney-Smith said. “I’m confident in Shana stepping up and taking a three...We have a lot of players who can put the ball in the basket that can supplement Hana [Peljto] and Reka [Cserny].”

It was Peljto, a junior, and Cserny, a sophomore—the Ivy League’s last two Rookies of the Year—who carried the Crimson in the second half.

Dartmouth cut Harvard’s lead to six, 45-39, with 13:49 remaining, but Cserny and Peljto scored 16 of the team’s final 25 points as Harvard cruised to victory.

Three lay-ups by Cserny, a Peljto jumper and a three-pointer by freshman guard Jessica Holsey helped push Harvard’s lead to 56-41 with 10 minutes to play.

Free throws by Peljto, who went 7-of-8 on the night from the line, and a 10-point, seven-rebound second half by Cserny closed the book on the Big Green.

Cserny finished the night with 16 points and 10 boards, her second double-double of the season, while Peljto led all scorers with 17 points.

“It was a great team effort,” Moore said. “We played good team defense and shut down Katharine Hanks. Overall, everyone felt great about the game.”

Moore did not score in the second half and finished with 10 points. Tubridy also reached double figures, tallying 10 points on 3-of-6 shooting, including two three-pointers.

“We’re not looking for any one player to step up,” Delaney-Smith said. “What we have to understand is how the world is going to play us because of Hana and Reka. If we make the extra pass, someone will eventually drain a three.”

The Crimson has been struggling with 20-plus turnovers a game, but improved against Dartmouth, only committing 14.

Losses—each over 23 points—to nationally-ranked Vanderbilt, Minnesota and Boston College and a disappointing 79-40 defeat at Rutgers earlier this season indicate that there is still room for improvement.

However, a strong Ivy League campaign will lead to increased confidence and, more importantly, another Ancient Eight championship and the accompanying automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

—Staff writer Alex M. Sherman can be reached at sherman@fas.harvard.edu.