Patriot League Foe First on Deck for Harvard

The women’s basketball team seeks to redeem Saturday’s tough road loss, in which the Crimson defense broke down to allow two University of Vermont shooters 20-plus points apiece, with a stronger showing against Holy Cross at home tonight.

“Holy Cross is a confident team that works hard, is well-coached, and they’re going to come at us,” said Harvard coach Kathy Delaney-Smith. “If we play any semblance of the defense we played [Sunday against Vermont], I would pick HC by twenty.”

Holy Cross faced the University of Vermont in the Crusader’s season opener at home, falling 54-44.

In the Crimson’s last time out at home, co-captain Linsday Hallion shined, grabbing 14 points in the second stanza and leading her team to a rare victory against cross-town rivals, Boston University for the first time in three years.

Holy Cross will travel to Cambridge after a two week break in play. In their last showing, the Crusaders fell to Boston College, 77-58. The Eagles have topped Holy Cross in the teams’ last 10 straight meetings.

For the Crusaders, senior guard Laura Aloisi is the shooter to watch as she coasts into Cambridge hot off a season-high 15 point game, sinking five shots from distance.

“Holy Cross is a huge game for us, we’re playing at home, they’re very similar to Vermont in their style of play, their scrappiness and ability to run the floor,” junior guard Niki Finelli said. “So we need to bounce back from this and come out strong.”

Looking farther ahead, the team is set to travel to Atlanta, Ga. for the GT/Marriot Atlanta Holiday Tournament. The Crimson is slated to face Kennesaw State (KSU) Dec. 29, then Georgia Tech and Chicago State in a double-header the next day. These matchups will close out the non-conference portion of Harvard’s season, priming the team for Ivy play, in which the squad will seek to defend the Ancient Eight title starting against Dartmouth less than a week later.

Recently, KSU snapped a four game losing streak with a 27-point win over Charleston Southern University in which it posted a season-high shooting percentage of 47.6, a coup for the team that had previously had trouble finding the bottom of the net. The low light of the squad’s season came in a 17-0 start for Austin Peay against it on the first of this month. The nine scoreless minutes to open the game doomed the Georgian team to its third loss in a row. The Owls will not play between now and the Harvard matchup.

Georgia Tech posted a 44-point second half to come from behind and defeat Mississippi State, thanks in part to senior forward Janie Mitchell’s 23-point game, her forth 20-plus point game on the season. This marked the Yellow Jackets sixth victory in program history over a Southeastern Conference opponent. GT’s arsenal holds a second shooting threat in senior guard Chioma Nnamaka, who has scored double digits in eight of nine games this season.

Rounding out the tournament’s lineup of formidable opponents is Chicago State. The Cougars fell to undefeated DePaul 91-59, despite double-double heroics by junior guard Jasmin Dixon.

Over the season thus far, rebounding has been the chink in the Crimson’s armor, though in the last time out, freshman Claire Wheeler snatched seven on the glass in just eight minutes of play. If the Harvard women can step up the defensive work and immobilize key opponent shooters, Harvard’s strong offense should be able to carry the wins home. The Crimson’s top three shooters all rank in the top 10 in league scoring. Hallion, Finelli and junior guard Emily Tay currently rank fifth, ninth and 10th, respectively.

“It’s an intangible thing, but I think we need to play with a more confidence, almost cockiness,” Hallion said. “When you have that confidence, everyone feels better, it’s more fun, and that makes better things happen for you. The last three games we want to play with more of that swagger.”

—Staff writer Elizabeth A. Joyce can be reached at eajoyce@fas.harvard.edu.