The Crimson will look to bounce back with a win Wednesday as
Harvard and BU renew the program's most-contested non-conference
series (Gil Talbot).
The Storyline
The Harvard women's basketball team will welcome Boston University
to Lavietes Pavilion Wednesday, Nov. 30 at 7 p.m. for the 27th
meeting in the all-time series between the Crimson and Terriers.
This local rivalry now matches Harvard's series with Northeastern
as the most-contested non-conference series in program history.
Harvard has won two straight over BU, and three of the last four,
to even the series at 13 wins apiece.
Fans can watch a live video stream of Sunday's game on
GoCrimson.com with play-by-play man Greg Kadetsky on the call by clicking here.
Last Time Out
The Harvard women's basketball team held a 13-point second-half
lead but was unable to secure the victory as Holy Cross battled
back for a 73-68 win Sunday at Lavietes Pavilion.
Christine
Clark scored 17 points to lead the Crimson, hitting 8-of-12
attempts from the floor while adding five rebounds, two assists and
two steals. Victoria Lippert
notched 10 points as Miriam Rutzen and
Missy
Mullins each tallied nine. Brogan Berry grabbed
a game-high eight rebounds and dished out four assists.
Harvard shot 45.5 percent for the game and outrebounded the
Crusaders 40-28, but Holy Cross turned 13 Crimson turnovers into 24
points and was a perfect 11-of-11 at the line to take the victory.
Four Crusaders finished in double-digits led by Alex Smith's
22.
Click here to watch highlights from Tuesday's
game.
Player of the Week
Christine Clark was named the Ivy League Player of the Week on
Monday after averaging 17.5 ppg and 7.0 rpg in a 1-1 week for the
Crimson. The sophomore turned in an 18-point, nine-rebound
performance in Harvard's 69-57 win over Rhode Island on Tuesday,
and followed it up with 17 points and five rebounds against Holy
Cross on Sunday. Clark did this while shooting 52.0 percent from
the floor and 88.9 percent at the line. This is her first player of
the week award from the conference after having been named rookie
of the week three times last season.
They're on Fire
Harvard leads the Ivy League in field-goal percentage and
free-throw percentage, connecting on 42.8 percent of its attempts
from the floor and 76.0 percent at the line. The Crimson has led
the league in free-throw percentage each of the last two seasons
while finishing second in field-goal percentage over that same
span.
Christine Clark (50.8) ranks third in the conference in shooting
percentage while Brogan Berry (41.5) ranks 10th.
Cleaning the Glass
The Crimson has outrounded its opponents in four of five games
this season, and held a double-digit rebounding advantge in each of
its last two contests. Harvard's 38.4 rpg rank second in the Ivy
League while its +5.6 rebounding margin is also good for
second.
Both Christine Clark and Miriam Rutzen are tied for fifth in the
conference with 6.0 rpg while Emma Golen ranks 15th
with 5.0 rpg.
Off the Bench
Harvard has received over 20 points of production off the bench in
its last two games, outscoring its opponents' benches by a margin
of 48-12. Elle
Hagedorn has accounted for 22 of the 48 points, including a
career-high 14 points last Tuesday versus Rhode Island.
Lavietes Love
Harvard has enjoyed a distinct home-court advantage since the
2008-09 season, posting a 31-7 record in that time including
three-straight wins in home openers. Harvard was 10-2 at Lavietes
last season and averaged 77.4 ppg.
Triple Threat
Returning All-Ivy selections Christine Clark, Brogan Berry and
Victoria Lippert are each averaging over 10 ppg and are among the
Ivy League's leading scorers. Clark has netted 18.0 ppg, which is
good for second in the conference, while Berry ranks ninth with
11.8 ppg and Lippert 11th with 10.8 ppg.
You Can Count on Clark
Christine Clark has scored in double-digits each game this season
and in seven straight dating back to last year. In 33 career games,
Clark has scored at least 10 points 26 times and has been limited
to under five points only once.
Career Day
Both Elle Hagedorn and Elise Gordon
recorded a career high in points in Harvard's win over Rhode
Island, with Hagedorn notching 14 points and Gordon 10. Missy
Mullins pulled down a career-best five rebounds against the Rams
and Emma Golen notched a career-high two steals.
Team Effort
All nine Crimson who saw action against Rhode Island scored at
least one point. Harvard had at least nine student-athletes score
at least one point 12 times last year, including a 96-63 win over
New Hampshire when 13 Crimson put points on the board.
Milestone Moments
Senior co-captain Brogan Berry became the 15th member of Harvard
women's basketball's 1,000 point club last season. Berry is
currently ranked 12th in program history with 1,130 points, needing
98 points to break into the school's top 10 and 250 points to enter
the Ivy League's top 30.
Berry also ranks fifth at Harvard with 420 career assists and is
18th in Ancient Eight history. This season she could join Emily Tay
'09 (1,263 pts., 514 ast.) as one of only two student-athletes in
program history to score 1,200 points and dish out 500 assists.
Her career free-throw percentage of 81.5 is good for ninth in the
Ivy League record book.
Click here to visit the Media Center on
GoCrimson.com to access Harvard's most up-to-date career
records.
Career Scoring (Harvard)
1. Allison Feaster '98 2,312
13. Brogan Berry '12 1,130
Career Assists (Harvard)
1. Jennifer Monti '02 558
5. Brogan Berry '12 420
Career Assists (Ivy)
1. Jennifer Monti '02, Harvard 558
18. Brogan Berry '12, Harvard 420
Career Free-Throw Percentage (Ivy)
1. Angela Soriaga '06, Dartmouth 89.9
9. Brogan Berry '12, Harvard 81.5
Player to Watch
Senior co-captain Brogan Berry, who has posted 15.0 ppg and 4.7
apg season, was featured on Graham Hays' list of mid-major players to watch on
ESPN.com.
Now Starting for Harvard...
Junior Emma Golen made her first career start at Iowa while senior
Brogan Berry made her 87th. Harvard has used the same starting
lineup for each game this season, which includes Berry (90 career
starts), Christine Clark (33), Victoria Lippert (51), Golen (5) and
Miriam Rutzen (17).
Welcome Back
The Crimson return three All-Ivy selections and a total of 10
student-athletes from last year's team which went 18-10 overall and
finished second in the Ivy League with a 10-4 conference mark.
Headlining that group is senior co-captain Brogan Berry, a
three-time All-Ivy honoree and first team pick in 2011. Victoria
Lippert has been named to the second team in each of the past two
seasons and Christine Clark was an Ivy League All-Rookie pick a
year ago. Each of the three finished among the top 10 in scoring in
the conference in 2010-11.
Starting Fresh
Harvard has welcomed five new faces to the team for 2011-12, a
recruiting class which was ranked 31st in the nation by ESPN. This
group includes guards Ali Curtis and Kaitlyn
Dinkins, and forwards Temi Fagbenle, Christine
Mansour and Erin
McDonnell.
"In my 30 years in the league I have had and seen some
extraordinary classes, and this one shoots to the top of the list,"
said Head Coach Kathy Delaney-Smith. "With the addition of the
Class of 2015, we are extremely excited to continue striving for
higher levels of success while building on the championship
tradition we have established here at Harvard."
On the Bench
Head Coach Kathy Delaney-Smith returns for her 30th season as the
head coach of the Harvard women's basketball program.
Delaney-Smith's 457 career victories make her the winningest
women's basketball coach in Ivy League history and she ranks second
only to Princeton's legendary coach Pete Carril (514) for wins by
an Ancient Eight coach. Under her guidance the Crimson has won 11
Ivy League titles, has made six trips to the NCAA Tournament and
has twice appeared in the WNIT.
Kelly Finley is in her fourth season as an assistant coach under
Delaney-Smith and will be joined on sidelines by first year
assistants Lindsay Hallion '08 and Juanise Cornell. Kristan Strout
returns for a fifth season as the program's director of basketball
operations.
Preseason Poll
With three returning All-Ivy selections and coming off an 18-10
season, the Harvard women's basketball team was picked second in
the 2011-12 Ivy League Preseason Poll. The Crimson, which has
finished second in the conference in each of the past three
seasons, received 117 points and garnered three of the poll's
first-place votes. Two-time defending Ivy League Champion Princeton
was tabbed first, receiving 133 points and 14 first-place votes,
while Yale (103) and Penn (68) rounded out the top four. Brown
(66), Columbia (52), Dartmouth (52) and Cornell (21) ranked fifth
through eighth, respectively.
2011-12 Ivy League Preseason Poll
1. Princeton (14) 133
2. Harvard (3) 117
3. Yale 103
4. Penn 68
5. Brown 66
6. Columbia 52
Dartmouth 52
8. Cornell 21
Captaining the Ship
Seniors Brogan Berry and Lindsay Louie were
chosen by their teammates as captains for the 2011-12 season. Berry
is a three-year starter and two-time team MVP, while Louie earned
the Harvard Pride Award following the 2009-10 season.
A League of Their Own
Four Crimson were named to the All-Ivy teams in 2010-11, the most
of any school in the conference. Brogan Berry was a unanimous first
team selection while Victoria Lippert and Emma Markley '11 were
named to the second team. Christine Clark was unanimously voted to
the All-Rookie squad.
Light Up the Scoreboard
Harvard's 71.4 ppg led the Ivy League in 2010-11 and ranked 39th
in the NCAA. The Crimson returned 64 percent of its scoring from a
year ago, including three of the conference's top 10 scorers.
Brogran Berry ranked second in the league with 13.9 ppg while
Victoria Lippert was fourth with 13.5 ppg. Christine Clark was the
eighth leading scorer in the Ivy League at 12.1 ppg.
Catch the Crimson in 2011-12
Harvard fans can watch each of the team's 12 home games in 2011-12
live online through GoCrimson.com. A women's basketball pass costs
just $59.95 and this year also includes audio broadcasts for the
team's games at Providence, New Hampshire and Brown. Click here to sign up today.
Inside Ivy League Basketball
"Inside Ivy League Basketball," an online radio show dedicated to
talking basketball in the Ancient Eight, launched Thursday, Nov. 10
on BlogTalkRadio.com. "Inside Ivy League Basketball" takes an
in-depth look at all the news and notes surrounding Ivy men's and
women's basketball on and off the courts. Click here to listen now.
