W. Basketball Looks to Clinch Ivy Championship

For the second year in a row, Cornell is playing in a game where a share of the Ivy crown may be determined. However, for the second year running, the Big Red will only be playing the role of spoiler.

With only four games left in the regular season, the Harvard women’s basketball team has a chance to clinch the Ivy title. The Crimson (18-4, 10-0 Ivy) hosts Cornell (9-14, 3-7) at 6 p.m. in Lavietes Pavilion tonight. A win would ensure a piece of the crown, and a second victory over Columbia tomorrow would clinch it.

Harvard can also claim the Ivy Championships if second-place Brown (13-10, 7-3) loses to Penn tonight. The Bears beat the Quakers 83-72 on Feb. 15.

But before Harvard begins counting the days until NCAA seedings are announced (Mar. 16), the Crimson has to get by a Cornell team with nothing to lose and revenge on the mind.

Last year, Harvard defeated Cornell in double-overtime, 77-75, to clinch a share of the Ivy League title. And on Feb. 15, Cornell fought back from a 17-point halftime deficit to knot the game at 69. Baskets from junior foward Hana Peljto and sophomore center Reka Cserny pushed Harvard ahead for good, as the Crimson went on to win 77-71.

“[Cornell] played us close last time,” junior point guard Bev Moore said. “We know they’d like nothing more than to come in and upset us in our own gym in the weekend when we think we can clinch.”

Though Cornell lost, the Big Red dominated the Crimson on the boards. Cornell outrebounded Harvard 35-19 in the game, a statistic the Crimson would love to reverse tonight.

In addition to working on boxing out and crashing the boards in practice, Harvard has also been watching tape of the last meeting and working on defending Cornell’s set offenses.

“[Cornell] ran a few offenses last time that we kind of had trouble with, especially in their zone offense,” Moore said.

Focusing on defensive adjustments, particularly in the paint, the Crimson will also concentrate on containing junior guard Karen Force, who tallied a whopping 27 points against Harvard in Cornell’s earlier loss.

“The main focus this weekend is defense,” Moore said. “Our offense has been pretty solid, everbody on the team’s a scorer. The offense is going to be there, the defense is the winner.”

Though the momentum of the Crimson’s 12-game win streak cannot be matched, the Big Red’s sweep last weekend raised eyebrows as Cornell beat Brown 78-59 and then defeated Yale. The Bears gave Harvard a run for its money on Feb. 7 and the Big Red’s big upset makes the Crimson’s task more formidable.

As the preseason favorites and defending league champions, Harvard has been continuously concerned about losing focus against Ivy League competition.

“Generally, I would say that’s my big fear,” Harvard coach Kathy Delaney-Smith said. “In all the teams I’ve had over my years here, that’s been very problematic. I have to compliment this team as one of the best teams I’ve ever coached in their desire and their preparation for games.”

Harvard will get a boost this weekend with the return of freshman point guard Jessica Holsey, who has been out for two weeks with a shoulder injury.

However, though the Crimson beat Columbia (10-13, 3-7) 90-62 on Feb. 14, taking two may not be a walk in the park.

“Believe it or not, the fact that we beat them by so much is scary because that’s the situation where a team tends to relax,” Delaney-Smith said. “I’m afraid of Columbia. [The win] was a tremendous team effort. Ironically, we thought Columbia was a better team than Cornell.”

The Lions’ offense is keyed around junior guard Sue Altman, a transfer from Holy Cross who has given Columbia an immediate boost, scoing 16.5 points per game. Altman scored 33 points against the Crimson, but Peljto countered, tying her career-high with 36 points and missing the school record by three.

Harvard benefits from the Lions’ matchup problems, as Columbia struggled to cover the Crimson’s dominant forwards in the last meeting.

“In the Columbia game, it seemed like everything was just clicking for us,” Moore said. “We definitely need to try to do the same things, mainly just doing a great job in the defensive end.”

With a three-game cushion at the top of the Ivy ladder, the final home games this weekend could—and perhaps should—wrap up another Ivy League title and NCAA tournament berth for the Crimson.

—Staff writer Jessica T. Lee can be reached at lee45@fas.harvard.edu.