Crimson Reclaims Ivy Title But Fails To Return to NCAAs

On paper, it was a success.

The Harvard women’s basketball team won its second consecutive Ivy League title in 2008—the 11th in the program’s history and third in the last four years—but ultimately, the season was incomplete. After controlling its own destiny for an outright title in the league’s final weekend, the Crimson wound up sharing the conference crown with Dartmouth and Cornell and falling in an Ivy playoff—and losing out on a return trip to the NCAA tournament.

“Our ultimate goal was to get back to the tournament,” departing captain Lindsay Hallion said. “We had a lot of successes during the season, but we didn’t achieve that goal, and that was pretty disappointing.”

On March 1, everything was going right for Harvard. The Crimson honored its three seniors—Hallion, co-captain Jessica Knox, and Adrian Budischak—with a 51-48 thriller over Cornell that broke the tie between the two teams at the top of the Ancient Eight standings. A loud and proud Lavietes Pavilion crowd chanted “Ivy champs!” as the team moved into the league driver’s seat: with wins in its next two games at Brown and Yale, Harvard would win the title outright and return to NCAAs.

“I just remember it was so loud in the gym, my heart was pounding,” junior forward Katie Rollins said. “I remember thinking, ‘It doesn’t get much better than this.’”

It got better the following Friday, when the Crimson beat the last-place Bears to deliver coach Kathy Delaney-Smith’s 400th career victory and move one step closer to the outright title. But the next night at Yale, everything came crashing down. Harvard held a one-point halftime lead, but the Bulldogs stayed in it, using a 6-0 run in the final five minutes to seal the upset.

“Nothing compares to that,” Delaney-Smith said.

The euphoria of the Cornell victory had long lost its luster. The three-way tie atop the league standings meant that Harvard had to take on the other two teams in a playoff to determine the league’s representative in the NCAA tournament.

Facing off against the Big Green in New York City, Harvard fell behind by 18 points in the second half and, despite pulling to within four with a minute to play, couldn’t come all the way back in a 68-62 defeat. Junior Emily Tay (an All-Ivy First Team pick) led the team with 22 points, and Hallion added 18 in her final collegiate game.

Cornell went on to represent the league in the Big Dance, and with the loss, the Crimson was left wondering what to make of its season—it had accomplished its goal of a repeat title, but couldn’t quite call the season a success.

“Too many games, we beat ourselves,” Rollins said. “We shouldn’t discredit the championship, but we have higher goals.”

The season’s heartbreaking finish overshadowed a year full of high points and success stories. Budischak, hampered by injuries in her first three years, won a starting spot with tenacious rebounding. Rollins finally reached her potential as one of the league’s premiere post players, scoring 20 points or more in three straight games in February. A talented freshman class worked its way into a mix of established veterans, with Emma Markley providing instant offense off Delaney-Smith’s bench. At the top, the three seniors pulled everything together.

“There were years when they didn’t get off the bench, and they’ve worn so many hats here,” Delaney-Smith said of her graduating class. “To finish it off by hanging on and winning a title is a testament to their strength and determination. I use them in every talk I give.”

Starting in November, the Crimson will have to get by without Hallion’s grit and pull-up jumper, without Knox’s defense, without Budischak’s effort on the boards—and work has already begun. The rising senior class contains a trio of consistent scorers in Tay, Rollins, and captain-elect Niki Finelli, with veteran forwards Emma Moretzsohn and Liz Tindal ready to play big roles.

“We have all the tools we need,” Delaney-Smith said. “This team is highly motivated right now.”

The motivation grows from the familiar feeling of a trip to the NCAA tournament, but also from the fresher sensation of coming so close but winding up so far from postseason action this time around.

“Now that I’m looking at it from an outsider’s perspective, the most valuable thing to realize is that you can’t let down for even one game in the Ivy League,” Hallion said. “A few miscues in that Yale game changed our season from a big success to a disappointment. That will really resonate when [my teammates] step on the court next year.”

—Staff writer Emily W. Cunningham can be reached at ecunning@fas.harvard.edu.