Women's Basketball Host Penn and First-Place Princeton in Pivotal Match-up

Photo courtesy of Gil Talbot.

Game Notes

The Particulars
Harvard closes out the Ivy League season with three games at Lavietes Pavilion. The Crimson hosts Penn and Princeton Friday and Saturday and welcome Dartmouth March 9.

Follow From Home
Greg Kadetsky will have the call for the Crimson Friday and Saturday night. Click on the audio link above for more information on how to watch and listen to the Harvard women's basketball team this weekend.

Scouting the Crimson
The Crimson sports an 18-7 overall mark and a 9-2 Ivy League record and has won nine of its last 10 games. Emma Markley continues to lead the team with 14.2 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game. Victoria Lippert is second in scoring with 13.0 points per game. Brogan Berry paces the team in assists with 5.7 per game and is third in scoring with 12.2 ppg.

The Crimson is shooting 43.3 percent from the field, which is second in the league and 39th in the nation. Harvard shoots a league-best 38.0 percent from beyond the three-point line and a league-best 73.7 percent from the charity stripe. The Crimson’s 69.9 points per game is second best in the league.

Last Time Out
Harvard beat rival Yale, 68-60, to win its seventh game in a row and fourth straight against the Bulldogs. Three Crimson players reached double figures in scoring with Victoria Lippert leading the way with 16 points and 11 rebounds for her third collegiate double-double.

Lippert was 6-for-14 from the field and 4-for-4 from the charity stripe. Brogan Berry added 13 points, five assists and four rebounds. Emma Markley put up 11 points and grabbed seven boards, while Alemany collected a career-high six steals.

Harvard led by as many as 26 in the second half after holding the Bulldogs scoreless for almost 10 minutes in the first frame. The Crimson shot 54.5 percent in the first 20 minutes of play and managed 43.3 percent from the field for the game.

A Winning Season
Harvard has already secured its 24th winning season in program history and 20th under head coach Kathy Delaney-Smith. This is the fourth season in a row with a record of .500 or better and eighth since 2000.

Home Sweet Home
The Crimson returns to Lavietes Pavilion after four road contests. Harvard is 10-0 at home this season and has its final three contests of the season left to play at Lavietes Pavilion. The Crimson has not gone unbeaten at home since 1997-98 season when Harvard won all 13 games.

20 Win Plateau
Harvard is just two wins away from its 20th victory of the season. The Crimson has 20 or more wins in one season eight times in program history. Harvard last accomplished that feat in the 2004-05 season.

Moving On Up
Brogan Berry has 143 assists entering the weekend which is tied for ninth on the Harvard single season assists list. She needs two more to move into eighth. She is also tied for 10th on the all-time career assists list with 243 handouts, she is 20 assists away from moving into ninth.

Harvard Single Season Assists List
1.    Jennifer Monti    178
2.    Heidi Kosh         152
3.    Jess Gelman      152
4.    Jennifer Monti    152
5.    Emily Tay          151
6.    Maura Jealy       150
7.    Emily Tay          147
8.    Jess Gelman      144
9.    Emily Tay          143
       Brogan Berry     143

Postseason Action
Harvard, with a three-game lead over third-place Columbia, is guaranteed postseason play. The Crimson, who is still in the hunt for the Ivy League title, could play in the NCAA tournament or the Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT). Harvard has made it to postseason play seven times including six trips to the NCAA tournament. The Crimson has played in the postseason four of the last five years, including a trip to the WNIT last year.

Gone Streaking
Harvard’s seven straight wins is the most wins in a row by a Crimson time since Harvard won 12 straight in 2007.

Rookie Honored
Victoria Lippert was named Ivy League Rookie of the Week Feb. 28. This is the fourth rookie of week selection and third in a row. The newcomer from San Diego, Calif., posted her third double-double of the season in a 68-60 win over Yale.

Lippert recorded her third collegiate double-double of the season leading Harvard with 16 points and 11 rebounds against Yale. Lippert also had three steals, two assists and a block in the win over the Bulldogs. Against Brown she had eight points, four rebounds and an assist.

Since We Last Met the Quakers
Penn is still looking for its first conference win of the season after coming close Saturday against Cornell. The Quakers led 31-30 with 12 minutes to play against the Big Red but was unable to hold on. The Quakers enter the weekend with a 1-24 overall mark and 0-11 Ancient Eight record. 

Sarah Bucar, Kim Adams and Caitlin Slover pace the team in scoring with 7.8, 7.3 and 6.6 points per game, respectively. Jess Knap leads the team on the boards with 6.8 rebounds per game.
 
The Penn Series
Harvard has won 12 in a row against the Quakers and leads the series, 43-21. The Crimson is 23-10 at home against the Quakers. Penn has not won at Lavietes Pavilion since Feb. 6, 2004.

Since We Last Met the Tigers
Princeton is 7-0 since beating the Crimson in New Jersey last month. The Tigers sport an 11-0 conference mark and a 23-2 overall record. The team leads the league in scoring with 71.8 points per game and defense, holding its opponents to just 51.8 ppg.

Rookie Niveen Rasheed leads four Tigers in double-figures with 15.4 ppg. She is also the team’s leading rebounder with 8.7 boards per game. Addie Micir, Lauren Edwards and Devona Allgood average 13.0, 12.8 and 11.0 points per game, respectively. The Tigers are shooting a league-best 44.9 percent from the field.

The Princeton Series
Harvard leads the all-time series with the Tigers, 37-28. The Crimson had won six in a row before falling to Princeton Feb. 5. The last time Princeton won on Harvard’s home court was Feb. 25, 2006. The Tigers have not swept the Crimson since the 2006 season.

On the Bench
Kathy Delaney-Smith, the winningest coach in program history, is in her 28th season on the bench for the Crimson. Delaney-Smith, who has led the Crimson to 11 Ivy League titles, recorded her 400th career victory with a 68-47 win over Brown on March 7, 2008. She sports a 437-306 record 25 games into her 28th season.

Assistant Coach Bri Fecteau is back for her seventh season, while Kelly Finley returns for her second. She served as a volunteer assistant in 2008-09. Todd Earl, another Colorado State graduate, joins the staff as a volunteer coach this season.