W. Hoops Mightier Than Penn

The Harvard women’s basketball team caught the Penn Quakers flat-footed on Saturday night.

Including their coach.

With 14:10 remaining in the game, Penn coach Kelly Greenberg accidentally sent her shoe flying across the court while gesturing for a kicked-ball call. Embarrassed, she sat down on the bench after one of her players returned the footwear.

To add insult to injury, Harvard (12-4, 4-0 Ivy) beat the Quakers (7-9, 1-2 Ivy) 80-71 to remain tied with Brown atop the Ivy League. Junior forward Hana Peljto scored a season-high 32 points to lead the Crimson.

Peljto scored the first four points of the game as the Crimson capitalized on several Penn errors to take a 6-0 lead that it would never relinquish. Harvard’s quick advantage came off two steals by sophomore center Reka Cserny and a block by junior forward Tricia Tubridy.

The Quakers tried to regroup, but their efforts to penetrate the Crimson defense did not pan out. Penn managed to close the gap to one, 6-5—the closest the game would be—but four Quaker turnovers turned the momentum in Harvard’s favor as the Crimson cruised to a 24-10 lead.

Penn called a timeout, and this time managed to put a run together. The Quakers went on a 12-2 spurt, powered by three-pointers and lapses in Harvard’s defense.

But the Crimson recovered to finish the half ahead 40-32.

“We had defensive breakdowns we shouldn’t have had,” said Harvard coach Kathy Delaney-Smith. “This wasn’t our best. Tonight was not our best.”

In the second frame, the teams traded baskets for the first three minutes before Penn junior guard Jewel Clark scored 11 points and the Quakers cut the Crimson lead to 55-50 with 10:56 remaining.

“I had enormous confidence that our kids were going to make the right decisions,” Delaney-Smith said. “They made the adjustments down the stretch, and when they got it down to five, we did what we had to do.”

Harvard called a timeout and solidified its defense when play resumed. Propelled by steals by freshman Shana Franklin, junior guard Dirkje Dunham and freshman guard Jessica Holsey, the Crimson rebuilt its lead.

Penn had one final glimmer of hope as Harvard became sloppy and turned the ball over twice with six and a half minutes remaining.

But the Crimson put the game away in the final four minutes behind Peljto and Cserny. With 3:29 left, Cserny jumped to save a ball heading out-of-bounds in the Crimson offensive end. She grabbed the ball and bounced it off a Quaker’s leg, allowing Harvard to retain possession.

On the defensive end, with 1:50 remaining, Cserny and Peljto doubled a shooter in the post and prevented the shot.

Harvard closed out the game by converting its foul shots, winning 80-71.

For the Quakers, Clark had a gem of a game, registering team-highs with 28 points and 13 rebounds. She also racked up two steals while making an impact with her tough, aggressive defense.

“I thought [Clark] was very physical,” Delaney-Smith said. “I thought she was hacking and we just couldn’t get the calls on her. She’s a fabulous player, but she got away with murder, in my opinion, tonight.”

Penn junior guard Mikaelyn Austin tallied 15 points—all on three-pointers—as she went 5-for-9 from behind the arc.

“They definitely killed us on threes,” said sophomore guard Rochelle Bell. “We just really need to get out to the shooters, get a hand in their face.”

Prior to the 20-day break for intersession, the Crimson had been coping with turnover woes and working on settling down offensively to prevent mistakes.

Practicing fast breaks in addition to focusing on taking care of the ball created a healthy mix of scoring from the half court offense and fast breaks against the Quakers.

The Crimson doubled Penn in assists with an 18-9 advantage. Peljto in particular benefitted from Harvard’s unselfishness.

“I think we’re making eight, nine, 10 passes and when you do that, it’s harder to defend a player like Hana,” Delaney-Smith said. “It’s easy to get the scouting report, see our offenses and double and triple team her, but she’s making great decisions with the ball. She’s getting better, easier offense out there.”

The Crimson committed 16 turnovers compared to Penn’s 18. Harvard scored 23 points off turnovers while the Quakers netted just 10.

“I think that [fewer turnovers] came with our confidence level,” Bell said. “Before we were a little shaky and unsure of ourselves and that showed with the turnovers.”

The Crimson continues with Ivy play as it hosts Brown on Friday night at 6 p.m. and Yale on Saturday night at 6 p.m.

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