SIDEBAR: Success Depends on Defense

In regards to the adage that defense wins championships, the Harvard women’s basketball team has a ways to go in this young Ivy League season.

The Crimson’s 91-76 loss to archrival Dartmouth at Laivetes Pavilion on Saturday was an educational one for an inexperienced Harvard squad. For about 25 minutes, the Big Green decimated a Crimson zone defense that left gaping holes on the perimeter and rotated poorly on the low block. But for the final 15 minutes, Harvard (4-10, 0-1 Ivy) switched to an aggressive man-to-man defense that forced Dartmouth (8-3, 1-0 Ivy) away from the three-point line and kept the Big Green off of the offensive glass.

That first half, however, was all too indicative of a disturbing trend for this year’s Harvard squad: the Crimson has rarely put together a dominant half on both ends of the floor this year. Save for solid wins over Rhode Island and Colgate, Harvard has been sluggish putting the ball in the basket or stopping the other team from doing the same.

“We played as young and as scared as I’ve ever had a team [play],” Harvard coach Kathy Delaney-Smith said. “We couldn’t have been weaker or more conservative.”

But when the Crimson faced a near 30-point deficit early in the second half, the Crimson switched to a high-pressure man-to-man defense that kept Dartmouth closer to halfcourt and away from the three-point line. After the Big Green nailed nine-of-16 first-half three-pointers, Harvard held them to just five attempts from the arc in the second frame. The halftime adjustment to the man-to-man helped Harvard close a one-time rout to an eight-point deficit after a 30-8 run.

“I think the man [defense] really let us put pressure on the ball,” freshman forward Katie Rollins said. “You know exactly who you’re guarding—[you can] find your man to box out and by boxing out and getting those quick outlet passes our offense came a lot quicker and made the pace and tempo of the game to our liking.”

The Crimson’s first half struggles, however, put the game out of reach before the halftime buzzer even sounded. The intensity of the man-to-man in the final 15 minutes only emphasized further just how permeable the Crimson’s zone was in the first half. The best perimeter team in the Ivies, Dartmouth began the game 4-of-5 from the arc and kept heating up throughout the opening frame. By halftime, the Big Green’s Jeannie Cullen—who was a combined 9-of-18 from three point range in last year’s two conference games against the Crimson—had already nailed five three pointers and had 17 points.

“[I told them] how many do you want them to get before you guard them?” Delaney-Smith said.

Dartmouth completely destroyed the Crimson’s zone defense in the first half, swinging the ball to find the open shooter before Harvard could react and using cross-court skip passes to exploit the holes on the perimeter. When Harvard did close out in time to prevent yet another dagger from beyond the arc, Dartmouth’s guards fired an entry pass to the low-post for forward Sydney Scott.

By the break, Scott had 14 points on four-of-four shooting and a six-of-seven clip from the line. As a whole, Dartmouth shot 53.6 percent from the floor in the first half and was nine-of-16 from the three-point line. Harvard posted a respectable 46.4 percent clip, but all the damage was done on the defensive end. Dartmouth’s 48 first-half points are the most the Crimson has given up on the year.

“We should have been able to put more pressure on them from the get go,” Delaney-Smith said. “I think they struggle with pressure, but they’re so smart. They connect with each other so well.”

But the Crimson’s man-to-man defense worked, even if Harvard came up well short of an upset bid over the preseason unanimous favorite. Dartmouth was rattled during the Crimson’s second half tear, unable to find shots or corral defensive rebounds as the Big Green did consistently in the first half. “You know what it is? It’s the type of nothing-to-lose mentality which was our intention in starting the game,” Delaney-Smith said of the Crimson’s second half performance.

And if Harvard puts together 40 minutes like those last 15 at Lavietes on Saturday, yet another March showdown between Dartmouth and Harvard will live up to its billing.

—Staff writer Aidan E. Tait can be reached at atait@fas.harvard.edu.