Women's Hoops Extends Win Streak to Seven

Saturday was a night filled with Harvard-Yale basketball, as the men took on the Bulldogs at Lavietes Pavilion and the women traveled to New Haven to face their rival in the final road game of the season. The Crimson women’s team (18-7, 9-2 Ivy) improved its win streak to seven games with a 68-60 victory over Yale (12-14, 7-5).

The victory was a team effort, as three Crimson players—freshman Victoria Lippert, sophomore Brogan Berry, and junior Emma Markley—scored in double-digits. Harvard shot 44 percent from the field and outrebounded the Bulldogs, 40-31, in the contest.

The game got off to a competitive start—going back-and-forth for the first few minutes—until two consecutive jumpers by junior Jackie Alemany and sophomore Caitlin Rowland from beyond the arc gave the Crimson a 15-8 lead with 14:12 left to play in the first half.

Harvard then went on a 7-0 run, holding Yale scoreless for almost 10 minutes of play, and went into the half leading by 19.

The Crimson shot 55 percent from the field in the first half and 67 percent from three-point range, grabbing 21 rebounds and dishing out 13 assists as a team.

Lippert went 6-for-14 from the field and a perfect 4-for-4 from the free-throw line, notching 16 points and 11 rebounds for her third collegiate double-double. She also recorded three steals, two assists, and a block in a full 32 minutes of play.

“[Lippert] played tremendously,” said Harvard coach Kathy Delaney-Smith. “To have that stat line as a freshman is incredible.”

“[Lippert] was a beast on the boards tonight,” Berry agreed.

Berry added 13 points and four rebounds of her own in the win. She also had five assists, moving into 10th on the Crimson’s all-time assist list, tying Allison Feaster ’98 with 243.

“[Berry] had an unbelievable night,” Delaney-Smith said. “Every team is trying to take her out of the game, but she rose to the occasion tonight. She ran this team, and I had to play her for 32 minutes. I thought she was a tremendous floor leader.”

“It is part of my role as the point guard to make my teammates better and give them opportunities to score,” Berry said. “They are the ones who finish the plays.”

Markley put up 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds but was only able to play 12 minutes after getting into early foul trouble.

Delaney-Smith noted how proud she was that her young team was able to stay so poised with one of its leaders out for most of the second half.

Leading 59-34 midway through the second half, the Bulldogs went on a surge with two 9-0 runs to bring the Crimson’s lead down to 11.

With less than a minute left to play in regulation, Yale cut the lead to single digits at 66-58.

The Bulldogs’ comeback was unsuccessful, though, as two free throws from Lippert and a layup from freshman Miriam Rutzen clenched the win.

Rutzen finished with two points and a career-high nine rebounds. Alemany also set a career high in the game with six steals.

“I was thrilled with how we started,” Delaney-Smith said. “I was thrilled with how we dominated them, and I was thrilled with how we weathered the storm.”

With three games left to play in the regular season, Harvard looks to finish with victories versus Penn, Princeton, and Dartmouth—who defeated the Crimson in its earlier meeting this season—and receive a bid to a tournament.

“We had that loss to Dartmouth,” Delaney-Smith said, “but there are still three games. We’re going to go to a postseason tournament one way or another.”

—Staff writer Erika T. Butler can be reached at etbutler@college.harvard.edu.