December 21, 2010

Harvard Hosts Sacred Heart in Return to Court Wednesday Afternoon

Photo of Lindsay Louie courtesy of Gil Talbot.

Complete Game Notes

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Particulars
Harvard plays its third home game of the season and second straight when it hosts Sacred Heart Wednesday afternoon. It will be the first game for the Crimson in 12 days.

Follow from Home
Can't make it to Cambridge on Friday, watch and listen to the game on GoCrimson.com. Visit the multimedia center for more details or click on the audio link above. Games can be watched live or On Demand. Live statistics will also be available.

Last Time Out
Harvard downed New Hampshire, 96-63, Dec. 10. The Crimson shot a season-high 11 three-pointers and a season-best 51.4 percent from the field.

Brogan Berry was nearly perfect from the field making 8-of-9 field goals and hitting all five shots from the charity stripe for a season-high 22 points. Christine Clark scored a career-high 18 points on a 6-for-11 clip. Victoria Lippert added 13 points, while Miriam Rutzen pulled down a career-high nine rebounds.

Final Exam
This is only the second year of change in the academic calendar where Harvard students take final exams before winter break. This year marks the first time the Crimson will play a game the day after exams end and before the winter break.

Home Sweet Home
The Crimson, which is 2-0 at home this season, posted a 12-1 record at Lavietes Pavilion in 2009-10, which was the best home record since going unbeaten in 1997-98.

A History Lesson
Wednesday's game is only the fourth meeting between the two teams in program history and second at Lavietes Pavilion. Harvard won the first two meetings in the series in 1999. The teams met Jan. 3 and Nov. 2 of that year. The Pioneers won the last meeting, 92-77, in Fairfield.

The History Book Says
Harvard owns a 17-11 record against teams from the Northeast Conference. Central Connecticut State (8-4) and Quinnipiac (1-3) are the only other schools from that conference the Crimson has faced more often.

Conference Kudos
Brogan Berry earned her first solo Ivy League Player of the Week honor of 2010-11 Dec. 13, and her first outright, after a pair of standout performances last week.

The junior guard led the Crimson with 22 points on an 8-for-9 performance from the floor. She also chipped in five assists, four steals and four rebounds in the Crimson win. She led the Crimson with 15 points and five rebounds at Florida to average 18.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.5 steals per game last week.

Unbeaten When...
Harvard is unbeaten when scoring 70 or more points, allowing between 50-59 points, leading at the half, when it shoots better than 50 percent from the floor, when it has more assists, when it is shooting 35 percent from downtown, on Friday nights and against the America East.

Putting the Puzzle Together
Harvard had quite a game against New Hampshire (Dec. 10) with its best shooting performance from the field (51.4), three-point land (64.7) and the free throw line (86.7) of the season.

The Crimson had the second most rebounds (42) and second most assists (19) of the season, while taking away the most steals (11) and committing a season-low nine turnovers.

Margin of Victory
Harvard's 33-point win over New Hampshire (Dec. 10) was the largest margin of victory for the Crimson since a 34-point win (91-57) over Yale March 7, 2009.

Gone Streaking
Harvard was won 11 straight non-conference games at home dating back to the 2008-09 season.

The Three-Point Touch
Harvard nearly broke the school record for three-point percentage against New Hampshire (Dec. 10), coming one missed three away from beating 66.6 percent against Brown in 1991 (minimum 10 made). Harvard went 11-for-17 against the Wildcats from downtown for a 64.7 clip.

Career Night
Christine Clark scored a career-high 18 points and Miriam Rutzen brought down a career-high nine rebounds against New Hampshire (Dec. 10). It was also Rutzen's first collegiate start.

Five for Fighting
Harvard has had three different starters through eight games this season. Brogan Berry, Christine Matera, Christine Clark, Victoria Lippert and Emma Markley started the first six games. Jasmine Evans, Matera, Clark, Lippert and Markley were the first five on the court at Florida (Dec. 7) and Berry, Matera, Clark, Miriam Rutzen and Markley were the starters against New Hampshire (Dec. 10).

Players Honored
11/15 Brogan Berry POW
11/22 Christine Clark ROW
12/6 Christine Clark ROW
12/13 Brogan Berry POW