FEMALE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Reka Cserny

Freshman center Reka Cserny set her sights on Harvard from the start of her college search. Now the rest of the Ivy League has its eyes set on her.

Matching the achievement of teammate Hana Peljto a year ago, Cserny was unanimously named Ivy Rookie of the Year and earned First Team All-Ivy honors.

In Peljto and Cserny, the Crimson found the dynamic duo that gave Harvard the league’s highest-scoring offense. Peljto ranked second with 20.4 points per game and Cserny finished fourth with 16.0 ppg.

The rookie’s impact extended beyond damage on the scoreboard, as she stood in the top 10 in five different categories of league statistics. She led the Ivies with both a 51.6 field-goal percentage and an 86.6 free-throw percentage.

Cserny could have begun her career at Harvard a year earlier, but she deferred matriculation to compete for Hungary in the European Junior Championships. She played in the Hungarian national program six times before she even hit the college basketball scene.

When Cserny finally arrived, big things were expected of the 6’3 rookie before the season even began.

“She just flat out can play the game,” said Harvard Coach Kathy Delaney-Smith in the preseason. “She’s got height. She’s got three-point shooting. She can drive to the hole. She’s a great passer. She’s a very good defender. She’s the whole package.”

Cserny provided clutch performances in the hunt for the Ivy title and against North Carolina in the NCAA tournament.

Harvard clinched a share of the Ivy title in its 77-75 double overtime win over Cornell on Feb. 22, but not without a share of trouble as the Big Red nearly won the game twice at the buzzer.

Cserny scored 10 of the Crimson’s 15 overtime points on her way to a game-high 28, including seven straight points in the second overtime to give Harvard a 76-74 lead. Her opportune play didn’t end there, as she grabbed 13 rebounds and four steals and took a charge from Cornell tri-captain Breean Walas with less than a minute left.

“She has gained a lot of confidence,” sophomore Tricia Tubridy said. “In the second OT against Cornell, she was going right to the basket.”

The following afternoon, in Harvard’s 61-49 win over Columbia, Cserny again led all scorers, with 22 points.

She continued to rip through Ivy competition in the Crimson’s final games against Yale, Brown and Dartmouth, posting double-doubles against the Elis and the Big Green. In the Crimson’s league finale in Hanover, N.H., she totaled 14 points, 13 rebounds and six steals. She was also the only player to score in the second half between a Peljto jumper five minutes into the frame and a Gates layup with 47 seconds remaining.

Cserny further established her prowess when Harvard stepped onto the national stage to face the Tar Heels in their own backyard. There, Cserny displayed dominance and poise beyond her rookie status, leading the Crimson with 16 points and shooting 8-for-9 from the charity stripe. It was only when she encountered foul trouble, with two violations after the first seven minutes, that UNC began to take charge of the game.

“I think [Reka] would have been even more effective, but the game was very physical and I don’t think the calls went her way,” Delaney-Smith said. “If you look at her body, she has a slight build for a freshman and she’s only going to get bigger and stronger.”

However well it ended, the rookie’s season was not all smooth sailing. Cserny struggled briefly with traveling violations, as calls differ in European and American basketball, and she had to cope with an ankle injury later in the season.

In Cserny’s much-anticipated debut, she lived up to all expectations, scoring 19 points against Wagner in the Crimson’s season-opener on Nov. 11 and 13 against Boston University just three days later.

The Crimson’s secret was out, and opponents tightened up on Cserny, holding her to just four points against Fairfield on Nov. 20 and scoreless with four fouls the following day against Villanova. But Cserny adjusted to a new, aggressive style of basketball and resumed her dominance the very next weekend with double-doubles against both Idaho State and Kansas State.

Cserny started off the new year on a high note, literally, as she posted a rookie record 33 points against Manhattan on Jan. 2 and propelled Harvard to a 75-69 win.

In the following game, the Crimson opened its Ivy season with an 88-77 victory over Dartmouth. By this point, the rookie’s very presence on the floor was an asset, as the Big Green’s attention to Cserny gave Peljto more freedom on her way to a 36-point performance.

“I think Reka has been attracting a lot of attention, especially after scoring 33 in the last game,” said senior point guard Jenn Monti following the Dartmouth game. “That’s a tough combination to guard because you can’t pick one.”

But Cserny’s momentum was halted Jan. 28, when she sprained her ankle while playing against Colgate. The injury sidelined her for Harvard’s games against Brown and Yale the following weekend.

“The hardest weekend was when I couldn’t play,” Cserny said.

The Crimson felt her absence, scoring only 63 and 61 points against the Bears and Elis, respectively. But when Cserny rejoined the starting lineup, she resumed improvement on everything from her court presence to her English.

“She’s gotten more and more vocal every day,” Monti said in February. “When she first started, you had to pry words from her. We need her voice out there.”

The Crimson dashed through the final nine contests of its 13-game win streak, with Cserny scoring in double-digits in all but two, on the way to the Ivy crown and the national circuit.

After months of transition into the college game and a short spell of injury, Cserny became Harvard’s most potent weapon by season’s end, with no ceiling to her improvement in sight.

Reka Cserny

By the Numbers

Category Statistic Ivy Standing

Scoring 16.0 4th

Rebounding 7.6 6th

Field Goal Pct. .502 2nd

Free Throw Pct. .857 1st

Steals 2.42 4th

Blocked Shots 1.04 5th