W. Basketball Steamrolls Quakers

Appropriately enough, the seniors on the Harvard women’s basketball team dominated Saturday’s Senior Night.

The Crimson (19-7, 11-2 Ivy) rode a wave of euphoria to a 92-71 victory at Lavietes Pavilion, rising above a physical Penn team (15-12, 8-6) and setting up the first of two possible Ivy League championship games tomorrow night against Dartmouth.

The tone was established early with a sequence of passionate tributes to the Crimson’s senior class—Rochelle Bell, Katie Murphy, and Reka Cserny.

With Bell—who has missed the entire season with a torn ACL—watching from the bleachers, the two healthy seniors posted memorable performances.

Murphy equaled her second-highest scoring output of the season with 12 points, and Cserny established a new career high, pouring in 34.

The Quakers bogged down the game with 26 fouls, 17 of which came during a brutal second half.

“I thought the game was disrupted by the amount of calls,” Harvard coach Kathy Delaney-Smith said. “It wasn’t a fun, exciting game for fans because of all the calls.”

Regardless of the fouls, the game’s ramifications in terms of the greater league picture ensured that the contest would surely be exciting for Crimson fans.

Harvard entered the evening trailing only Dartmouth in the Ivy League standings and needing to win its two remaining games to earn at least a share of the title—and force a potential one-game playoff with Dartmouth for an NCAA berth.

The last time the Crimson met Penn, Harvard eked out a 54-51 victory on the road, relying on its defense to seal the deal in the waning moments of the game.

And Saturday night, once again, the Crimson’s defensive effort was essential to the team’s success.

Harvard had 15 steals—led by junior point guard Jessica Holsey, who recorded six—and the Crimson scored a whopping 40 points off 26 turnovers.

Just as the opportunistic Crimson made the most of its forced turnovers, it also took advantage of the tightly officiated game, draining 26-of-33 from the charity stripe.

Junior guard Laura Robinson made the most of the parade to the free-throw line, coming in off the bench and making five on her way to 13 points in 22 minutes.

Cserny appeared to be one of the Quakers’ favorite targets, earning 14 trips to the free-throw line. Even when the game was out of reach, the Quakers’ fouling did not subside.

“We knew they were going to be physical, but I still had no idea why they wouldn’t stop fouling,” Cserny said. “It didn’t make any sense. But it was good that it didn’t bother us. We stayed strong with the ball and were waiting for the calls. That’s what we expected.”

Cserny was the unquestionable star of the show on Saturday, and, from the moment her native Hungary’s national anthem played from the loudspeakers before the start of the game, the crowd might have guessed she was headed for a special evening.

Cserny delivered her sixth career 30-point game, shooting a blistering 11-of-15 from the field.

Making the night even more memorable was the fact that Cserny’s mother, Eva, was on hand to watch her daughter make history.

“She usually comes for every Christmas and sees two or three games, except for this year,” Cserny said. “This is the first time she’s seen me play this year.”

Unbeknownst to the Crimson, as it was celebrating its hard-earned victory over Penn, Dartmouth was keeping pace, holding serve at home against Princeton to improve to an Ivy League best 12-1.

The momentous events of the weekend set up an impending showdown between the two Ivy League heavyweights tomorrow night.

If Dartmouth wins, it will earn an outright title and automatic NCAA tournament bid. If Harvard wins, however, the teams will be Ivy League co-champions and play this weekend for the chance to go to the tournament.

“What a perfect senior weekend. Not perfect, because everyone didn’t get in the game, but right now, I don’t think anyone cares,” Delaney-Smith said. “Right now, we just need to get a part of the title, or get the title. That’s our mission.”