Seniors' Lavietes Farewell Fails to Live Up to Their Legacy

Saturday night was Senior Night in Lavietes Pavilion and everything went right—for Brown.

The appearance of every Bears shot going into the basket was not a false one, as Brown shot an astounding 67.9 percent from the field.

Harvard, however, found itself watching shot after shot bounce or roll off the rim, and when the score stood at 57-30 with 16:54 minutes remaining in the game, Crimson coach Kathy Delaney-Smith benched her starting lineup.

“I’ll probably rethink the game and wonder whether I should have done it in the first half, because I just wasn’t liking the defensive intensity,” Delaney-Smith said.

Although there is no denying Harvard’s three seniors their legacy at Lavietes, their final home game did not reflect their contributions over the years.

“This is probably one of the most disappointing experiences of my life,” Delaney-Smith said. “Actually, I don’t think I’ve lost this badly here in 15 years.”

On Friday night, co-captain Hana Peljto became the third woman in Ivy League history to score 2,000 points. On Saturday night, co-captain Tricia Tubridy knocked down her 100th career three-pointer.

Although senior Bev Moore did not pass any milestones in her final weekend at Lavietes, that she played is a testament to her effort in itself, as she has been battling through an ankle/shin injury for months.

The class of 2004 has been hailed as one of the most talented ever, but on the night designated to celebrate their careers, the seniors instead watched their team collapse on defense and underclassmen take their place on the court.

“The game was obviously not an ideal way to end our careers at Lavietes,” Peljto said. “It was one of those games where everything went right for the other team and nothing went right for us, and it was unfortunate that it happened on this particular night.”

The silver lining was the spark provided by the younger players. Although the Crimson continued to struggle with inconsistency on defense, the turnover from the starting rotation to the bench was marked by a rise in intensity.

Sophomore guard Jess Holsey notched 11 points and three steals, in spite of being knocked down onto her twice-dislocated shoulder on two occasions.

Junior guard Rochelle Bell also shined with six points—all on three pointers—and five steals.

Sophomore Kate Mannering provided the best defense of Brown 6’5 center Holly Robertson by knocking the ball away twice and playing solid post defense otherwise as well.

With less than 10 minutes to play, Delaney-Smith sent Peljto back into the game, and her fellow seniors and junior center Reka Cserny joined her with 7:20 to go, when Brown had already amassed an insurmountable 28-point lead.

In spite of the game’s outcome, the first thing Tubridy brought up in the locker room was the charge junior guard Katie Murphy took with 21 seconds left.

“The first thing that I said was how much I loved Katie Murphy’s foul…how her stepping up and doing that spoke volumes about the heart of so many people on this team,” Tubridy said. “We’re down by 20, and for her to step up and do that—that’s a painful play to make.”

The disastrous loss did not prevent Harvard from celebrating its individual achievements—or the success of the senior class. Despite tears and disappointment, the team gathered upstairs at Lavietes for a party.

“You can’t let one loss get in the way of four years of experience,” Tubridy said.

—Staff writer Jessica T. Lee can be reached at lee45@fas.harvard.edu.