AOTW: Cserny Clutch in Crucial Contests

Two games behind Dartmouth but still in the title hunt, the Harvard women’s basketball team could hardly afford a loss this weekend.

After the Big Green dropped a close game to Brown on Friday, each game became more important for the Crimson—and captain Reka Cserny helped Harvard take advantage, garnering her seventh and eighth double-doubles of the season in two crucial victories against Yale and the Bears.

On Saturday, Cserny silenced the raucous crowd at Brown’s Pizzitola Sports Center with 31 points and 13 rebounds in one of her best performances of the season. Harvard escaped Providence, R.I. with a key 77-69 win, due largely to Cserny, who played all 40 minutes.

Point guard Jessica Holsey lavished praise on her outstanding teammate.

“Reka,” she said, “had so much fire and passion in her game. She did everything she simply could have done.”

After the Bears snatched a 64-61 lead with 4:34 remaining in the game, Cserny started an 8-0 Harvard run with a free throw. The streak gave Harvard a 69-64 lead, and the Crimson never looked back. In the waning seconds of the game, as the Bears resorted to fouls, Harvard nailed eight free throws, four of which were Cserny’s.

“She showed a lot of senior leadership,” said Delaney-Smith. “She was great, because it’s hard to play under that kind of pressure.”

Delaney-Smith also pointed to the rowdiness of the arena, noting, “Every time Brown got momentum, the place shook.”

While other players may have lost their focus, Cserny zeroed in on her goal, much as she has done all season.

At New Haven, Conn., on Friday, Cserny showed that she can control both sides of the court.

Although she played only 26 minutes, Cserny notched 15 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 steals, and the Crimson held the Bulldogs to only 30 points.

That was the fewest points allowed by Harvard since it held Eastern Nazarene to 28 points in 1979.

Harvard’s stifling defense, led by Cserny, held Yale to 17.2 percent shooting on the night.

“She was tremendous offensively,” Delaney-Smith said of her captain, “but she was equally tremendous defensively.”

Cserny’s dominance is nothing new to her teammates or Ivy League opponents. She has been a first-team All-Ivy player for the past three years and will undoubtedly receive the honor again this year.

The Ivy league’s leading scorer, Cserny is averaging 20.7 points per game and is recognized as one of—if not the—best Ivy players. Cserny earned the league’s Player of the Week yesterday, the fourth time this year she has received the honor.

Junior point guard Laura Robinson said Cserny, who shot 9-of-14 on Saturday, is “no doubt” the best player in the league. “It’s not like she’s taking bad shots either,” Robinson said.

Delaney-Smith took it a step further. “Reka is one of the best players in the country,” she said. “She’s been unstoppable all season.”

Harvard hopes that Cserny continues her mastery throughout the next week, as it closes out the season with three league games.

After Princeton and Penn visit this weekend, Harvard will face Dartmouth on a week from today, in a game that could decide the league title.

“If we win the next three games,” Cserny said, “we’re going to be Ivy champs.”

—JULIE R.S. FOGARTY