Harvard Heads to the Big Apple

New York City is universally known for its basketball talent. But when Harvard travels to the Big Apple this Friday to face Columbia, the Crimson is expected to have no problem picking up the win before traveling upstate for a Saturday night matchup with Cornell.

Harvard (9-6, 1-0 Ivy) boasts an all-time 47-2 record against the Lions (2-14, 1-1), while the Big Red (4-12, 1-1) hasn’t put up much of a fight either, falling in 51 of 62 contests against the Crimson.

Despite all of this, Harvard isn’t taking anything for granted.

“Anything can happen on any given weekend,” Crimson co-captain Christine Matera said. “We’re not really focused on whatever Columbia’s or Cornell’s record is; we just know that we need to come ready to play every game and take care of business this weekend.”

Last year, Harvard swept both opponents en route to a second-place finish in the Ivy League. Cornell landed on the opposite end of the spectrum—finishing next to last—while Columbia finished in the third spot thanks to victories down the stretch against perennial Ivy contender Dartmouth and up-and-coming Yale.

While Harvard enters this weekend’s contests with the same 9-6 record it possessed before squaring off against Cornell and Columbia last season, there is a major difference this year.

Last season, the Crimson entered the matchups with a blemish on its conference record, having been upset on the road by the Big Green in its Ivy opener. Harvard didn’t let the same thing happen this year on its home court, embarrassing Dartmouth, 82-49, at Lavietes Pavilion two weeks ago.

“We did gain confidence from the Dartmouth game because the Harvard-Dartmouth rivalry is hands down the strongest in women’s basketball in the Ivy League and has been for the past 25 years,” Crimson coach Kathy Delaney-Smith said. “Neither one of us ever killed the other… That generally does not happen, so it did give us confidence.”

Junior point guard Brogan Berry led the home team to victory, scoring 18 points to go along with seven assists and six rebounds.

Berry’s developing game has blossomed this season, as she leads the teams in points (14.5) and assists (4.3). She is also shooting a career-best 44.8 percent from beyond the arc.

In Harvard’s most recent matchup against Seattle last Saturday, the junior co-led her team in scoring, sharing the top spot with sophomore forward Miriam Rutzen. Rutzen had a career performance, scoring 16 points, grabbing 12 boards, and dishing out five assists.

The second-year player was introduced to the starting lineup earlier this season in replace of sophomore forward Victoria Lippert.

After the Crimson’s matchup with Dartmouth, Delaney-Smith stressed that moving Lippert out of the starting rotation was purely a strategic move to provide an offensive spark off the bench.

“[Sophomore Jasmine Evans] isn’t ready to be a scorer yet, but she will be. [Co-captain Jackie Alemany] is more of the blue-collar worker, and [Rutzen] isn’t a scorer for us—again, she’s a defensive player and rebounder,” Delaney-Smith said. “I was taking out three great scorers and putting in three non-scorers. So I didn’t have a sixth man that can do for this team what Victoria is doing.”

Though Lippert has seen a five-minute decrease in her playing time since last season, she is still second on the team in scoring, tied with senior forward Emma Markley at 12.9 points per game.

One of Markley’s best games a season ago came during Harvard’s 73-55 win over Columbia, as she nearly recorded a triple-double with 19 points, eight rebounds, and seven blocks.

In the second, more contested matchup with the Lions, it was Lippert who had an impressive showing, scoring a career-high 28 points to secure a Crimson win, 69-67.

Lippert was also successful against Cornell last year, scoring nine points and grabbing a team-high 13 rebounds in the first matchup and scoring 20 points the second time around.

This season, both Cornell and Columbia boast young squads, with each team featuring five rookies on its roster. The Big Red has just one senior guiding the team while the Lions have two.

“We don’t take anything for granted, and that’s what makes the Ivy League so interesting,” Delaney-Smith said. “In spite of not having strong win-loss records, I think both teams have some talented freshman that appear to be getting better and better each week. So we have to take care of our game and do well on the road.”

—Staff writer Brian A. Campos can be reached at bcampos@fas.harvard.edu.