Harvard Defeats Penn Easily

After pulling off a dramatic 22-point comeback Friday night in order to ensure victory, the Harvard women’s basketball team knew that it could not afford to fall into the same hole against Penn on Saturday night. The Crimson (15-8, 7-2 Ivy) came out strong and finished even stronger on both ends of the court against the Quakers (6-17, 3-6 Ivy), taking the motivation from its last game and jumping out to what was as high as a 21-point lead in the second half. When the final buzzer sounded, Harvard came out with a much more comfortable 69-54 win.

Once again, the offensive production of the Crimson’s starting five took center stage, as they scored 63 of the team’s 69 points. For the seventh time this season, sophomore Emma Markley, the team’s leading scorer, had a double-double, posting a team-high 23 points and 14 rebounds, finishing strong inside on offense and dominating the boards.

Freshman Brogan Berry and fellow guard senior Emily Tay had tremendous nights of their own as well, making sure that the momentum of the game stayed with Harvard, while putting the pressure on a Penn team that could not seem to keep up.

Berry was the only Crimson player to make a three-pointer, sinking 3-of-4 from downtown. She was well aware of her range, utilizing the step-in jump shot very often. She finished with 19 points, one assist, and three steals.

Tay’s crossovers, spin moves, and reverse layups pumped up the crowd, while her awareness of each player’s position on the court was impressive. She finished with a 9-1 assist-to-turnover ratio and 14 points of her own.

“Our guards can beat their guards and could have gone up against them all night,” coach Kathy Delaney-Smith said. “Our guards have been our scorers, especially when they were triple-teaming Emma Markley in the first half. I thought we had the advantage there.”

Berry also notes how the Quakers’ focus on Markley helped her and Tay get into a rhythm.

“Our bigs had a great night tonight, so they were bringing the defense in, and they just opened things up for us at the perimeter,” Berry said. “It was all a team effort, and it just came with the flow of the game.”

But perhaps the most important story of the night was Harvard’s play on the defensive end of the floor. It was its mediocre defensive first half against Princeton that had caused the team to fall so far behind on Friday night. Saturday, the Crimson was looking to start with the same intensity with which it had finished the night before. Harvard smothered the interior and the paint, and Penn was unable to drive to the basket.

Still, the Quakers were able to stay in the game with their outside shooting.

“We were struggling to get the shooters out of their range or out of their groove,” Markley said.

After the Crimson took a 47-29 lead midway through the second half, Penn attempted to mount a comeback, going on an 11-0 run. The Quakers’ Carrie Biemer made a layup and then sank three consecutive jumpers from beyond the arc, cutting the Crimson’s lead down to 7.

“Biemer is a really impact scorer,” Delaney-Smith said, “As soon as she gets daylight, she scores.”

This would be the closest that Penn would be able to get in the second half, as Harvard ended the game on a 10-4 run.

That the Crimson was able to put in this type of performance without its injured co-captain Niki Finelli made the night all the more impressive.

“I thought it was a tremendous team effort,” Delaney-Smith said. “Sometimes when you lose a player the caliber of Niki Finelli, who’s one of the consistent double-figure scorers for us, it sets you back on your heels. So I was pretty proud that we played for her instead of worrying about her. I thought the young kids stepped up big tonight.”

With only five games left to play in the season, the Crimson understands that defense will be key if it is to win the Ivy League title.

“Great defense by everyone gives you that spark on the offense,” Markley said

The team hopes that this great defensive and offensive spark transfers to Friday’s game in New York, where they seek to repay Columbia for the loss at Lavietes. Harvard takes on the Lions at 7 p.m. on Friday.