Basketball '09
Sophomore At the Point
Few freshmen are given the responsibility of handling the ball with the game on the line. Even fewer freshmen take the last-second shot for their team. But Brogan Berry wasn’t just any freshman.
Against Dartmouth on January 10, Berry lit up the floor, knocking down 20 points in the first Ivy League game of her career. But the then-rookie’s turnover on the final possession rendered the occasion sour.
Another Run for the Crown
Still reeling from last year’s loss to Dartmouth on the final day of the league schedule, Harvard women’s basketball is determined to fill the holes that arguably cost it the Ivy title against the Big Green.
“We had some weaknesses on defense last year that we won’t have this year,” says junior co-captain Christine Matera. “We had the size last year and [Dartmouth] had the speed, and it ended up where the benefit was on their side.”
Gunning for the Number One Spot
The spotlight shined on the Harvard men’s basketball team last winter when the Crimson soundly defeated No. 17 Boston College by 12 points, on the road, two days after the Eagles had defeated eventual national champion North Carolina. But Harvard couldn’t live up to the expectations of stardom, as the Crimson faltered in Ivy League play and the program’s fifteen minutes of fame all but expired.
This year’s team hopes to return to center stage, but via another route—an Ivy championship.
Juniors Step Up a Year Early
Most successful college teams boast a few solid seniors to provide leadership and keep the team in check. The four seniors of last year’s Harvard women’s basketball team could do all this and more, and the Crimson rode these veterans to an 11-3 Ivy League record.
A loss to Dartmouth in the final game of last season took away the squad’s hopes of an Ivy League title, but Harvard received a berth in the NIT. The Crimson was unable to overcome St. John’s in the first round, and that 83-60 loss brought two campaigns to a close—the team’s season and the careers of its four seniors, leaving behind a very young Harvard team.
Jeremy Lin Takes One Last Shot
Beneath the hype of ESPN features and Around the Horn shout-outs, this is what celebrity looks like:
Wake up. Go to the gym. Train with former NBA head coach Bob Hill. Hit the weight room. Head back to the gym. Shoot roughly 500 jumpers. Repeat for six days. Even God rested on the seventh day, but this is gameday in the San Francisco Bay Area ProCity Summer League. Suit up for the South Bay Spartans.