Women's Basketball Travels to New York for Ivy Matchups
Freshman Miriam Rutzen scored a career-high nine points in win over Yale (photo courtesy of Gil Talbot).
The Particulars
Halfway through the Ivy League season, Harvard stands second in
the conference standings with a 5-2 overall mark. The Crimson
travels to New York this weekend to begin the second half of
conference play with the hopes of closing in on first-place
Princeton.
Scouting the Crimson
Harvard, the winners of five of the last six and three straight,
looks to pick up key wins on the road this weekend in New York.
Emma Markley paces the Crimson in scoring (14.7 points per game)
and rebounding (7.1 per game), while shooting a solid 44.7 percent
from the field. Brogan Berry is second on the team in scoring with
12.5 ppg and leads the team in assists with 6.2 per game.
Harvard averages 69.7 points per game, while allowing 65.3 ppg.
The Crimson is shooting 42.7 percent from the field, 37.9 percent
from three-point range and 73.9 percent from the free throw
line.
Last Time Out
Harvard held off a pesky Brown team in a 66-51 victory Saturday
night to complete the weekend sweep. Victoria Lippert led three
Crimson players in double figures with a career-high 27 points.
Emma Markley added 17 points and pulled down seven rebounds and
Christine Matera scored 12 points. Jackie Alemany recorded 10
rebounds on the night to lead all players, while Brogan Berry
grabbed eight rebounds and handed out seven assists.
The Crimson turned a 29-23 halftime lead into a 37-27 lead early
in the second half. Brown closed the gap and eventual pulled to
within six points, but a 17-8 run to close out the game allowed
Harvard to pull away and preserve the victory.
Points in the Paint
Harvard scored 56 of its 88 points against Yale (Feb. 12) in the
paint. That’s 63.6 percent of the scoring under the basket
for Harvard’s best percentage of the season. The second best
showing of the season was against Navy, when the Crimson had 40 of
its 71 points scored in the paint.
Rookie Honored
Victoria Lippert was named Ivy League Women’s Basketball
Rookie of the Week Feb. 15 after leading Harvard to a weekend sweep
of Brown and Yale. The starting guard averaged 24.0 points, 3.5
rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.0 blocks per game and shot 67.9 percent
from the field, 60.0 percent from downtown and 1.000 percent from
the free throw line. She scored a game and career-high 27 points on
a 9-for-15 effort from the field and a perfect 7-for-7 performance
at the free throw line against Brown. She posted a game-high 21
points, three rebounds and three assists in win over Yale.
When Brogan Berry Has…
Nine assists in a game, the Crimson is 3-1.
Eight or more, the Crimson is 5-1.
Seven or more, the Crimson is 12-2.
Moving On Up
Brogan Berry has 130 assists entering the weekend which ranks 10th
on the Harvard single season assists list. She needs 14 to move
into ninth. She also only needs 13 helpers to earn a spot on the
Harvard career assists list. She has 230 career handouts heading
into the weekend.
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
10. Brogan Berry
130
Pour on the Points
The Crimson scored 88 points against Yale (Feb. 12). It marks the
fourth time this season Harvard has posted 80 or more points.
Harvard is 4-0 when scoring at least 80 points.
The Double-Digit Scorers
Emma Markley has scored in double figures in 17 of Harvard’s
21 games, including 14 of the last 16 contests. Brogan Berry has 14
games in double figures, while Victoria Lippert and Christine
Matera have 11 each.
Harvard vs. the New York Ivies
Harvard holds a 98-13 overall record against Columbia and Cornell,
including a 57-2 mark at Lavietes Pavilion. The Crimson is 47-2 all
time versus Columbia and is 51-11 against Cornell.
Since We Last Met the Big Red
Cornell picked up his first conference win of the season with a
59-52 win at home against Penn. With the win, the Big Red improved
to 1-7 in Ancient Eight play and 6-15 overall. Allie Fedorowicz
continues to lead the team in scoring with 12.6 points per game.
Clare Fitzpatrick and Virginia McMunigal have contributed to the
offense with 9.4 and 9.0 ppg, respectively.
Cornell averages 58.0 points per game and is shooting 36.4 percent
from the field.
The Cornell Series
Harvard has more wins against Cornell than any other school it has
faced. The Crimson is 51-11 all-time against the Big Red. Harvard,
who has won four straight and 11 of the last 12, has lost all 11
games to the Big Red on the road.
Since We Last Met the Lions
Columbia has gone 3-2 in its five meetings since falling to the
Crimson, 73-55 at Lavietes Pavilion. The Lions defeated Dartmouth,
Brown and Penn and fell to Princeton at home and Yale on the road
to stand at 14-8 overall and 5-3 in conference action.
Judie Lomax is one of three Lions to average double-digit scoring
with 18.8 points per game and 13.9 rebounds per game.
Kathleen Berry posts 11.5 ppg., while Lauren Dwyer averages 10.6
ppg. Columbia is shooting 41.1 percent from the field, 34.8 percent
from downtown and 66.8 percent from the free throw line. The Lions
average 66.0 ppg. and allow 61.6 ppg. Columbia leads the league in
steals (9.1 per game) and offensive rebounds (26.5 per game).
The Columbia Series
Harvard holds a 48-2 lead in the all-time series that began in
1980. The Crimson and Lions split the series last season with each
team winning away from their home court. Harvard’s two losses
(the other Feb. 12, 1999) were both at Lavietes Pavilion.
February Factoid
Harvard is 165-67 in the month of February under head coach Kathy
Delaney-Smith. The Crimson has gone undefeated in the second month
of the year six times, with the most recent coming in 2007 (8-0).
Nationally Speaking
Emma Markley ranks 15th in the nation in blocks per game (2.6).
Brogan Berry ranks ninth in the nation in assists per game (6.2)
and fourth in assist/turnover ratio (2.71). Berry is 37th in free
throw percentage (.854) and Christine Matera is 33rd in three-point
field goals per game (2.7) and 35th in three-point field goal
percentage (41.8).
Harvard is 36th in free throw shooting percentage (.739) and 16th
in three-point field goal percentage (.379) and 25th in three-point
field goals made (7.2).
League Leaders (as of Feb. 9)
Brogan Berry leads the league in free throw shooting (.854),
assist/turnover ratio (2.7) and assists (6.2). Emma Markley paces
the conference in blocks per game (2.6) and Christine Matera leads
the Ivies in three-point field goals made (2.7).
The Offense
Harvard ranks second in the Ivy League in scoring offense with
69.7 points per game. The Crimson leads the Ancient Eight in free
throw percentage (.739), blocked shots (5.0 per game), three point
field goal percentage (.379) and three-point field goals (7.2 per
game).
Scoring Threats
Harvard has four players who average 10.0 points per game or more.
Emma Markley leads the team with 14.7 ppg, followed by Brogan Berry
with 12.5 ppg., Victoria Lippert with 12.1 ppg., and Christine
Matera with 11.2 ppg.
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 433-306 record 21 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.
