Delaney-Smith Announces 2012-13 Women’s Basketball Schedule

The Crimson will play 11 games at Lavietes Pavilion where it went 8-4 a year ago (Gil Talbot).

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CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard women's basketball coach Kathy Delaney-Smith has released the team's 2012-13 schedule which features eight opponents who appeared in last year's postseason and 11 home dates at Lavietes Pavilion.

"I am very excited to play such a strong non-conference schedule and I think the Ivy League will have one of its strongest years ever as well," Delaney-Smith commented. "We return a very veteran team combined with some pretty exciting newcomers. If there were ever a year to step up, this is it!"

Harvard is coming off an 18-12 season in which it became the first program in Ivy League history to advance to the WNIT second round when it defeated Hofstra, 73-71. The Crimson's 18 wins marked the fifth straight year the program had won at least 18 games, while its 9-7 road record was the team's best since going 10-5 in 2008-09. Harvard has appeared in the postseason in three of the last four years.

The Crimson returns 12 letterwinners from last year's squad including All-Ivy League first team selection Christine Clark and second team All-Ivy pick Victoria Lippert. Lippert currently ranks 14th in school history with 1,108 points, while Clark is poised to become the 17th member of Harvard's 1,000 point club with 796 career points. Also returning are senior co-captains Emma Golen and Miriam Rutzen, and senior Elle Hagedorn.

The lineup will be bolstered by the return of junior Jasmine Evans and the addition of Temi Fagbenle, AnnMarie Healy, Kit Metoyer and Shilpa Tummala. Evans missed last season due to an injury after appearing in 27 games in 2010-11. Fagbenle, who starred for Great Britain at the 2012 London Olympics, was the No. 13 recruit in the nation a year ago according to ESPN and will make her Crimson debut after sitting a year in residency. Tummala, meanwhile, was ranked No. 69 by ESPN in the class of 2016.

Eight of Harvard's 2012-13 opponents played in the postseason a year ago, including NCAA Tournament participants BYU, Michigan, North Dakota State, Princeton and San Diego State. The Crimson will also take on WNIT champion Oklahoma State, as well as WNIT participants Boston University and Hofstra.

The Crimson will open its season playing five of six games on the road, beginning with a pair of contests at North Dakota State (Nov. 9) and North Dakota (Nov. 11). Harvard's home opener will take place Nov. 16 against BYU before the team heads down the pike to meet Holy Cross on Nov. 20. The Crimson will head west again following the Thanksgiving holiday to play at Michigan (Nov. 23) and Eastern Michigan (Nov. 24).

New Hampshire will visit Lavietes Pavilion on November 28 to close out the month, while a WNIT rematch between Harvard and Hofstra (Dec. 1) will kickoff December. The Crimson will then play host to Providence Dec. 4 and will play at Boston University (Dec. 10) before taking a two-week break for finals.

Harvard returns to action Dec. 28 when it faces Oklahoma State at the San Diego Surf 'N Slam hosted by San Diego State. The Crimson will face either San Diego State or Southern Methodist in the tournament's second round, Dec. 30.

Harvard will wrap up non-conference play after the New Year by hosting UMass (Jan. 2) and visiting Rhode Island (Jan. 6).

Ivy League play gets underway with the Crimson and Dartmouth squaring off twice in a two week span. Harvard will host the conference opener Jan. 12 with the Big Green hosting the return game Jan. 26. Harvard continues on the road the following week with trips to Yale (Feb. 1) and Brown (Feb. 2).

Cornell (Feb. 8) and Columbia (Feb. 9) are up next for the Crimson at home with visits to Penn (Feb. 15) and Princeton (Feb. 16) the following week. Harvard will conclude its home schedule with four straight games at Lavietes, playing host to Brown (Feb. 22), Yale (Feb. 23), Princeton (March 1) and Penn (March 2).

The regular season comes to a close with the Crimson visiting Columbia (March 8) and Cornell (March 9).

Season tickets are on sale now and can be purchased online by clicking here.

All 11 games scheduled to be played at Lavietes Pavilion can be seen live online through GoCrimson.com or can be accessed On Demand approximately two hours after completion. One-year subscriptions are available for $49.95 and allow access to every home event streamed by the Crimson, including football, men's and women's basketball and men's and women's hockey. For more information or to sign up today, click here.

2012-13 Women's Basketball Schedule