Women's Hoops Riding the Rollercoaster

The Harvard women’s basketball team has literally had a season of ups and downs.

The Crimson (5-3) has alternated wins and losses over the past seven games after starting the campaign with an encouraging win at Maine. Harvard then traveled to the Navy Classic where the Crimson won the first game against Oral Roberts and then dropped its matchup against host Navy. The road trip continued—this time in-state—as Harvard paid a visit to Boston University and snapped out of the one-game losing streak, only to return to it at Holy Cross. Finally, the Crimson enjoyed home-court advantage for the first time this year on Dec. 3 with a comfortable victory over Hartford. But four days later, an aggressive Florida squad handily beat Harvard, which was on the road once again. Yesterday’s home win over New Hampshire followed the same “rollercoaster” pattern that has yet to end.

So should you bet that the Crimson will lose against Sacred Heart (4-4) 11 days from now? History says maybe you should. A year ago, the Pioneers demolished Harvard, 92-77, led by then-freshman Kiley Evans, who scored 24 points. Funny thing is, this season, Sacred Heart has also alternated wins and losses over the last six games. The latest result for the Pioneers was a victory at Yale, meaning—if you believe in this scheme—that the next couple of games should result in a loss against Siena and a win against Mount St. Mary’s. So when Sacred Hearts travels to Cambridge for its matchup against the Crimson on Dec. 22, both teams are due up for a double dose of loss.

Let’s focus on some real statistics. If Harvard wants a shot at winning, the Crimson will need to shoot well consistently. In its three losses this season, Harvard averaged a dismal 34.3 field-goal percentage—a stark contrast from the near-50 percent shooting averaged in its five wins. The Crimson was also outrebounded, an aspect of the game that Harvard has been trying to improve since the start of preseason. With Sacred Heart putting all four players who scored in double-digits last year on the court, the Crimson will need to come out gunning and rebound well in order to finally press the stop button on this long rollercoaster ride.