Crimson Hopes to Upset the Quakers

Losing just one player to graduation following its perfect run to the Ivy League championship, things looked bright for the next year of Harvard women’s basketball last March.

But after several disappointing losses and with just three games left on the slate, the Crimson no longer entertains NCAA tournament hopes like in the 2002-03 campaign. Despite that disappointment, Harvard can still play a pivotal role in deciding which teams make it to the “Big Dance” since it plays Ivy-leading Penn and Dartmouth in two of the next three games.

“If you can’t be the winner, the next best thing is the role of the spoiler, and we’re embracing it,” co-captain forward Tricia Tubridy said.

Harvard (13-11, 6-5 Ivy) will get its first chance to ruin a team’s postseason chances tomorrow night, when it travels to Philadelphia to take on the Quakers (16-9, 10-2), who are currently in first place in the conference.

But knocking off Penn will be difficult, especially after the Quakers squeaked out a 73-72 win earlier this year in a major confidence-building thriller.

Penn is led by guard Jewel Clark, whose nearly 20 points per game is second in the league only to the Crimson co-captain

Hana Peljto and her 23.8.

Peljto is second overall for scoring in Division I and was named a First-Team Academic All-American yesterday.

But as history has proven, the Crimson must contain more than just Clark, who scored a mere nine points in the last meeting, while the Quaker bench outscored Harvard’s 41-4.

“There will be a lot of focus on Jewel Clark and defending her on the post, but we also have to get out to the shooters,” Tubridy said.

Before the Crimson concerns itself with ruining other’s Ivy title hopes, it will face Princeton (6-19, 3-9) this evening at 7 p.m.

Harvard embarrassed the Tigers earlier this year with a 34-point win, and will look to repeat that success tonight.

“What it comes down to is that we are a much better team than they are and we want to beat them by a lot again,” said junior center Reka Cserny. “We want to finish the season strong and have a good feeling through spring and summer.”

The Penn and Princeton games will also give some of the more youthful members a chance to send off the veterans on a positive note.

“[The seniors are] the biggest motivation for us,” Cserny said.

For their part, the seniors also want to send a lasting message.

“Show them that you take it for what it’s worth and play hard until the end,” Tubridy said. “What it comes down to is we’re only really playing for ourselves and for each other.”

In its final game of the year on Tuesday night, the Crimson will play the Big Green, and depending on how things work themselves out this weekend, the team could find itself in the same spoiler situation that it will be in against the Quakers.