The Storyline
The meat of Ivy League play is upon the Harvard women's basketball team, as the Crimson hits the road for the second half of the home-and-home against Dartmouth Saturday, Jan. 24. The game is set to tip at 6 p.m. at Leede Arena.
Last Time Out
Overcoming its largest deficit since 2009, Harvard women's basketball upended NJIT, 66-54, last Sunday at Lavietes Pavilion. Senior forward Temi Fagbenle paced all scorers with 22 points, but 20 points off the bench helped to rally the Crimson past the Highlanders. Senior captain Erin McDonnell added 10 points and six rebounds. Freshman forward Anna Lachenauer posted a personal-best nine points and seven rebounds in just 18 minutes. Senior guard Ali Curtis added nine points and four assists.
Trending
• A senior has paced the Crimson in scoring in 12 of the 15 games this season. Junior AnnMarie Healy has led the squad in three games.
• Temi Fagbenle has registered double-digits in 12 contests.
• The Crimson has knocked in five-plus threes in 11 games this season.
• Harvard has connected at a 75 percent or better clip from the free throw line in 10 games.
• Harvard's 22 wins in 2013-14 signaled the most since 2002-03.
• The Crimson sat at 19-3 last season when leading at the half. Harvard is 6-3 this season.
• Harvard posted an 8-0 record when allowing 59 points or fewer in 2013-14. Harvard is 2-1 this year.
• When scoring 80-plus points, the Crimson was 9-0 last season and 2-0 this season.
Scouting Dartmouth (10-5)
2014-15 RECORD: 10-5, 1-0 Ivy League
SERIES HISTORY: Harvard leads, 43-33
LAST MEETING: L, 76-61
LAST WIN: W, 77-59 (1/25/14)
Streak: L1
• Dartmouth held the second-best record of Ivy teams through the nonconference slate, putting together a 9-5 record. The Big Green head into the weekend on a five-game win streak, and 1-0 in Ivy play.
• Fanni Szabo and Lakin Roland return for Dartmouth, posting 17.9 and 14.1 points, respectively. Roland paces the Big Green with 9.5 boards per game. Dartmouth averages just 59.9 points per game.
• In her second year with the Big Green, Belle Koclanes posted a 5-23 record a season ago, but the team has doubled its win total halfway through 2014-15. Koclanes arrived in Hanover from American University, where she spent two seasons as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator.
• Harvard leads the all-time series with Dartmouth, 43-33. The Crimson has won eight of the last 10 against the Big Green, but fell two weeks ago by a 76-61 score. Junior AnnMarie Healy recorded a second-straight career night, but it would not be enough for the Crimson in the Ivy League opener. Healy tied her personal best with 20 points, adding a team-high 11 rebounds. Senior captain Erin McDonnell registered 19 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Senior forward Temi Fagbenle pulled down 10 boards, her seventh double-digit rebound effort this season.
Road to 1,000
Temi Fagbenle owns 964 career points through three seasons and is just 36 points away from her 1,000th career point. If Fagbenle continues her average, she will hit the milestone against Penn (Jan. 31). Beth Wambach is No. 18 all-time at Harvard in scoring with 1,026 points.
Board Machine
Temi Fagbenle sits at No. 10 all-time at Harvard in rebounding with 663 career boards. Beth Chandler (84-88) owns 697 and is next on the list.
It's Up, and It's Good
Harvard tied the record for consecutive games with at least one three-pointer against NJIT. The Crimson has made at least one three-point field goal in 172 consecutive games dating back to 2008-09. The previous streak began during the 1989-90 season and concluded in 1996-97.
Double Trouble
Temi Fagbenle, averaging a double-double with 14.3 points and 10.7 rebounds per game, has recorded 23 double-doubles over her career. Fagbenle has six double-doubles in 2014-15, most recently with 10 points and 12 rebounds against Chattanooga.
A season ago, Fagbenle recorded 11 double-doubles, the most since Hana Peljto (15) in 2003-04. Fagbenle posted five-straight games with 10-plus in points and rebounds (Dec. 7-Dec. 30), recording the longest consecutive streak of double-doubles since Peljto in 2003-04 (nine).
Hot-Handed Healy
After averaging 4.1 points as a sophomore, junior forward AnnMarie Healy has broken out this season, posting 13.1 points per game on 51.6 percent shooting. The Edina, Minnesota native has started 12 games – the first of her career – and is adding a personal-best 6.3 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.3 steals.
Let It Rain
Red hot from beyond the 3-point line, senior captains Erin McDonnell and Kaitlyn Dinkins are shooting 43.4 percent, averaging 3.7 makes per game. Dinkins has not attempted a field goal inside the arc this season, making 21-of-45. As a team, Harvard has made 7.1 threes per outing, with 36.9 percent of its shot attempts coming from downtown. Harvard ranks 52nd in the NCAA in three point field goals made per game.
This and That
• Harvard is 7-2 when shooting greater than 38% from the floor.
• Harvard is 5-2 when making eight or more threes.
• The Crimson has utilized the arc this season, as 36.9 percent of its shots attempts come from behind the 3-point line. Five players (McDonnell, Curtis, Dinkins, Metoyer and Tummala) average 3.2 or more 3-point attempts per game.
• The Crimson is 4-0 when recording 19 or more assists. Sixty-five (65) percent of its field goals this season have been assisted.
• Harvard takes 6.5 more free throws per game in wins than losses.
#Legend
The winningest coach in Ivy League basketball history with 525 career victories, head coach Kathy Delaney-Smith passed former Princeton head coach Pete Carril (514) for most wins by an Ancient Eight coach on either the men's or women's side a season ago. Delaney-Smith also eclipsed 306 career wins in the conference with her 300th coming against Yale Feb. 8.
Delaney-Smith, in her 33rd season at the helm of the Crimson, earned her 500th win last year, joining a group of 28 active coaches in Division I with at least 500 wins. She is also one of six active Division I head coaches to spend 32-plus years at one institution.
Boards on Boards
Through 14 games, Temi Fagbenle ranks first in the conference with 10.7 boards per game, pulling down 10-plus rebounds in two of the last three contests. Fagbenle stands 20th in the country in rebounds per game and 20th in defensive rebounds. A season ago, Fagbenle paced the Crimson in rebounding 17 times. A Crimson student-athlete has pulled down double-digit rebounds 13 times this season.
Help A Friend
Senior guard Ali Curtis has dished out five-plus assists seven times this season, most recently six against Chattanooga. The point guard holds 196 helpers over her career.
Hot Handed
Four Crimson players shoot greater than 40 percent (minimum two shots). AnnMarie Healy paces Harvard with a 51.6 percent clip from the floor and Temi Fagbenle is not far behind, making half of all her shots. Despite only taking threes this season, Kaitlyn Dinkins owns a 46.7 percent shooting average and fellow captain Erin McDonnell connects at a 42.4 percent clip.
Ivy League Digital Network
After an incredibly successful inaugural year that saw over 1,000 events streamed live, The Ivy League Digital Network has returned for 2014-15, providing fans with unprecedented coverage of the Ivy League.
Multiple subscription options are available to fans including school-specific and league-wide passes. To learn more about the Ivy League Digital Network or to sign-up today, please visit www.IvyLeagueDigitalNetwork.com.
Social Stream
Use the all new Social Stream on GoCrimson.com to stay connected with the Crimson on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram this year. The Social Stream brings the conversation from all three platforms into one convenient location, allowing fans of all Harvard Athletics teams to monitor the action in real time.
First to 600
Harvard recorded the 600th win in program history a season ago. Harvard was the first Ivy League school and first Division I program in Massachusetts to accomplish the feat. The Crimson was also the first Ivy program to 500 wins (Jan. 30, 2009 against Penn). The Crimson currently sits at 616-449.
Ivy Openers
Harvard sits at 23-18 all-time in Ivy League openers and 20-13 under head coach Kathy Delaney-Smith. Harvard has opened against Dartmouth in 15-straight seasons, with Harvard holding a 9-6 edge in those contests.
Opening Act
Harvard is 20-21 all-time in season openers and 17-16 under head coach Kathy Delaney-Smith. The Crimson had lost three-straight season openers before defeating Colgate, 68-53, on November 15.
Preseason Poll
Harvard earned one first-place vote and was picked third in the Ivy League Preseason Media Poll before the season. The rankings nearly mirror the final standings from last season, where the Crimson went 11-3 in conference play and finished one game behind first-place Penn.
Road Tripping
Last year, Harvard posted a 10-5 mark in true road games, its second-straight season with 10 road kills. The Crimson finished 13-6 overall when playing outside Lavietes Pavilion. The Crimson has posted winning records away from home over the last three seasons. Harvard is 4-5 away from Lavietes in 2014-15.
We The People
A pair of Harvard basketball alums recently won election to office in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as Charlie Baker '79 was elected as the state's new Governor and Maura Healy '92 was tabbed as the new Attorney General.
Healy was a four-year letterwinner on the women's team and was elected as co-captain for her senior campaign. She led the team to the 1991 Ivy League championship as a junior, and finished her career averaging 6.9 points, 3.4 assists and 2.4 rebounds.
Baker was a two-year member of Harvard's JV team before making the varsity squad as a junior for the 1977-78 season. Baker appeared in eight games that year for the Crimson, averaging 1.7 points and 1.0 rebounds per game. As a senior, Baker served as an assistant coach to the JV team.
Crimson Colored Ivy
Since women's basketball joined the Ivy League in 1974-75, the Crimson owns a 616-449 record, tops of all Ancient Eight schools. Harvard is the only Ivy League school with a winning record against all other Ivies.
School Overall Wins Harvard vs.
Brown 492 45-33
Columbia 232 56-2
Cornell 383 60-11
Dartmouth 553 43-33
Penn 465 49-24
Princeton 598 40-34
Yale 471 46-30
*including games on Jan. 20
Just Keep Winning
Harvard sits at 3-3 at home this season. The Crimson recorded a 21-game home winning streak from March 2, 2012 through Feb. 15, 2014, marking the second-longest run all-time for Harvard at Lavietes. From 1996-98, the Crimson ripped off 22-straight wins at Lavietes – the record for the Crimson. Harvard posted a perfect 11-0 record at home in 2012-13 and finished 9-2 last season. Harvard has won 26 of its last 31 games at Lavietes.
20 Times 10
At 22-8, the Crimson recorded its 11th 20-win season in program history in 2013-14 and the most wins since 2002-03. All 11 20-win seasons have come under the guidance of Kathy Delaney-Smith.
Better and Better
Eleven (10) Crimson student-athletes have matched or bested their career highs in points, rebounds and/or assists this season: Ali Curtis (22 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists), Kaitlyn Dinkins (14 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists), Temi Fagbenle (24 rebounds, 5 assists), AnnMarie Healy (20 points, 11 rebounds), Grace Keane (4 rebounds), Anna Lachenauer (9 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist), Erin McDonnell (13 rebounds), Kit Metoyer (7 assists), Destiny Nunley (7 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists), Kirby Porter (4 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist), and Maddy Tessier-Kay (1 rebound).
Cleaning the Glass
As a team, the Crimson outrebounded its opponent 23 times last year. Harvard owned a 19-4 mark when controlling the glass. This season, Harvard is 7-6 when outrebounding its opponent.
D-Fence
Dating back to the start of 2011-12, the Crimson is 36-3 when holding opponents to less than 60 points and 57-16 when allowing fewer than 70 points.
Comeback Kids
The Crimson overcame a 15-point deficit to defeat Cornell Feb. 28, its largest comeback since Feb. 20, 2009 (defeated Princeton, 54-50, after trailing by 22). Harvard won four games a season ago when trailing at the half. The Crimson most recently overcame a 17-point deficit to take down NJIT, 66-54, on Jan. 18.
Overtime
The Crimson owns a 1-0 record in overtime games this season. The Crimson is 13-6 in overtime under head coach Kathy Delaney-Smith. Harvard played its first contest with extra time since December 2012 against Holy Cross Nov. 25.
