W. Hoops Hosts Big Red, Lions

She's only a freshman, but when the Harvard women's basketball team takes the floor against Columbia tomorrow night at Lavietes Pavilion, rookie forward Tricia Tubridy will be as familiar with the opposition as any of the Crimson's veteran players.

That's because Tubridy, currently Harvard's second-leading scorer and rebounder, watched her older sister Catherine star for the Lions for the past four years. Throughout her time at Christ the King High School in New York, Tricia did not miss a single one of her elder sister's home games.

Catherine has since graduated, and that's good news for Harvard. The elder Tubridy was a Crimson-killer last season. She posted a double-double in the first meeting between the two teams and later that year, she hit two clutch three-pointers that keyed the Lions' 62-58 upset win that destroyed Harvard's Ivy title hopes.

As for Tricia, despite her family's strong connection to Columbia (her older brother James also played for Columbia in the mid-1990s), she has found Harvard to be a perfect fit for her.

"I loved Boston, and I just wanted something different," she said of her decision to come to Cambridge.

Needless to say, Coach Kathy Delaney-Smith is happy Tubridy chose Harvard. Tubridy and classmate Hana Peljto combine to form the Ivy League's premier young frontcourt duo.

The pair will need to come up big again this weekend, when the Crimson (5-11, 2-1 Ivy) play host to Cornell and Columbia.

The Big Red (9-8, 2-2) travel to Cambridge tonight as the Ivy League's second-most prolific offense (65.8 ppg) and third-stingiest defense (allowing just 63.8 ppg). Cornell boasts a balanced scoring attack, with five different players averaging at least eight points per game.

Incidentally, two of Cornell's weapons off the bench, rookies Tanya Karcic and Lauren Kilduff, once played on the same AAU team as two Crimson freshmen: guard Jennifer Lee and--you guessed it--Tubridy.

Columbia (4-12, 2-2), meanwhile, has finally begun to overcome its rough start by piecing together some victories, winning three of its last four contests. The Lions had opened the season by going 1-10.

For Columbia, Shawnee Pickney paces the offese with averages of 14.8 points and 6.8 boards per game.

Before breaking for exams, Harvard suffered its first league loss of the season, dropping a 59-57 heartbreaker at Brown. Since then, however, the Crimson has rebounded to score an encouraging win over Albany last Monday night.

In that contest, Harvard got out of the gate slowly, falling behind 11-4 early in the first half. The offense picked up soon after that, however, as the Crimson mounted a 20-6 run en route to the 68-55 triumph.

"We were a little rusty passing-wise, not as fluid as we needed to be," Tubridy said. "[But] we got more patient on offense. That's something we forget to do sometimes, but we find that we have a better shooting percentage when we're patient."

Harvard's composure on offense produced more open looks for all of the Crimson players, including sophomore center Sarah Johnson, who netted 13 points in 13 minutes against Albany.

Patience is a virtue Harvard will be well-served to practice again this weekend. And if that isn't enough, Tubridy's inside knowledge shouldn't hurt, either.

Tip-off for tonight's game against Cornell is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Lavietes.