This Time W. Basketball Can’t Overcome Big Deficit

PROVIDENCE, R.I.—It followed the pattern precisely.

The Harvard women’s basketball team fell behind Dartmouth by a sizeable margin midway through the second half, and appeared to be primed to make a run.

That had happened on Jan. 8, when the Crimson went down 19 with 13:34 left in the game before mounting a frenzied rally to send the game into overtime, where it eventually lost by three.

That had happened last Tuesday night, when Harvard trailed by 15 with a little under 11 minutes remaining and went on a 29-6 run to topple the Big Green 70-67.

But on Saturday afternoon, with a trip to the NCAA tournament on the line, the pattern was broken.

“We had a lot of confidence,” captain center Reka Cserny said. “This time I think...our shots were not falling. And also we didn’t have the defensive stops that we could’ve fed off of. And that was a big difference in this game.”

Unlike Tuesday’s game, when the Crimson shot 55 percent from the field in the second half, Harvard shooters hit on only 32 percent of their attempts in the second frame. The difference, however, was just as much in the shooting as it was in the defending.

“I think they were prepared for that because in the first two games I think they were too comfortable when they were up by 15,” Cserny said. “I think this time, they focused more.”

The Big Green was indeed ready for a potential onslaught, and played much tougher than in the previous encounters, clamping down on defense and continuing to be aggressive.

“We were just looking to maintain what we had going,” Dartmouth center Elise Morrison said. “Last time we played them we had an extreme letdown. I guess you could say we thought the game was over, that we had it in the bag.”

MANN YOUR BATTLESTATIONS

While Cserny found herself in foul trouble and junior guard Jess Holsey couldn’t get her runners to fall early on, junior forward Kate Mannering fueled the Harvard engine. The 6’1 Vienna, Va., native provided some much needed scoring, pouring in ten on 4-of-4 shooting in the first half.

She was also very active under the glass, especially on the offensive side, grabbing five rebounds in the period, two of which she put back for buckets.

In addition to the accumulation of stats, Mannering was able to bang down low, bring much-needed physical play, and the junior should be a centerpiece of the frontcourt next year.

BIG GREEN PLAYING BIG

Dartmouth guard Angie Soriaga and forward Krista Perry put in huge efforts for their squad. Soriaga was stellar on offense, leading all scorers with 22 points. She was especially deadly in the first half, when she poured in 16 to put Dartmouth up 12 at the intermission.

“She played really well,” Cserny said. “Even when we covered her, and we were on her, she hit her shots. There wasn’t really anything else we could’ve done, I guess.”

Perry had the unenviable task of guarding Ivy Player of the Year Cserny, a job which she found manageable.

“Krista Perry is a remarkable defender and she’s very much the heart of the team,” Dartmouth coach Chris Wielgus said. “She had the assignment to defend Reka and she knows how to defend her...We wouldn’t have been able to do anything without her.”

Cserny, who was averaging 21 points per game this year was limited to 15 points on 5-of-12 shooting.

“What Krista Perry does is flail,” Harvard coach Kathy Delaney-Smith said. “She didn’t get any of the calls but, you know, that bothered Reka. Took her out of her...and so hats off to Krista. She did a really nice job.”

—Staff writer J. Patrick Coyne can be reached at coyne@fas.harvard.edu.