Defense Boosts W. Basketball to Victory

There was plenty of passing, perimeter play and post presence for the Harvard women’s basketball team on Jan. 29 against Columbia, but defensive pressure proved to be most crucial in the Crimson’s 78-53 rout of the Lions at Lavietes Pavilion.

Harvard (10-6, 2-1 Ivy) held Columbia (9-8, 2-2) to 25.8 percent shooting from the field—including 0-of-14 from the three-point line—en route to its second league victory in as many nights.

“This was one of our best defensive efforts ever,” junior forward Katie Mannering said. “The first half was a really great defensive half, and our coach said it was one of the best she’d seen in a long time.”

The Lions no doubt felt the same under the microscope of Harvard’s defensive pressure, which included man-to-man full court coverage that targeted the Columbia ball handlers. Junior guards Jess Holsey and Laura Robinson recorded three steals each.

Columbia made only 6-of-22 field goals in the first half, shooting 27.3 percent to the Crimson’s 47.1 from the field. Harvard forced 15 first half turnovers and converted them into 19 points.

“Our point guard picked up their point guard at full court,” captain Reka Cserny said. “So by the time they passed half court, they were really tired and that forced them to make some bad passes.”

In the half-court set, the aggressive Crimson man-to-man defense denied the ball and remained active in the passing lanes, with players switching on screens to facilitate more movement in perimeter passing lanes. When Lion guards did get the ball past half court successfully, they found nearly all passing lanes obstructed by Harvard jerseys.

“We have been working on team defense over exam period,” Cserny said. “I think our team defense was really good at the beginning of the game and we maintained it for the rest of the game.”

The defensive pressure resulted in instant offense for Harvard. Barely six minutes gone in the opening frame, the Crimson held an 18-3 advantage, the spurt led by senior guard Katie Murphy’s two three pointers and Cserny’s quick six points to start the game.

And when Cserny went to the bench with two fouls midway through the opening frame, a balanced Harvard attack had no trouble asserting itself on the offensive end.

Junior forward Maureen McCaffery replaced Cserny, tallying all nine of her points in the first half. Murphy finished the game just shy of her first career triple-double. She complimented her 14-point effort with nine rebounds and eight assists.

The lead swelled to 20 near the end of the first half, as the Crimson offense was spurred on by Columbia’s inability to put points on the board.

“Working hard on defense made it so much easier on offense,” Mannering said. “We were able to get energy from our defense, and after having success on the defensive end, we showed a lot more confidence offensively.”

Harvard shot 48.5 percent from the field and 80 percent from the free throw line.

The second half was no different from the first, with the Lions shooting 10-of-40 from the field and the Crimson relying upon tough defense and a balanced scoring to spread the margin to as much as 29 points.

Murphy sparked Harvard again in the second half, draining open jumpers and firing passes to teammates streaking to the basket. Mannering turned in 12 points and six rebounds and Holsey tallied six assists to go with nine points and five boards.

On the game, the Crimson compiled 22 assists on 32 field goals, and 10 of the 11 Harvard players who saw action found the basket.

“We just had a lot of patience on offense,” Cserny said. “We made the extra pass and gave up a couple of the early shots that we usually take and took more high percentage shots.”

Cserny compiled 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting, pulled down 11 rebounds and notched six assists on the evening. Already the active career-scoring leader in the Ivy League, the effort propelled her into third place on Harvard’s all-time career scoring list.

It was a milestone night for coach Kathy Delaney-Smith as well, who notched her 350th collegiate win in convincing fashion.

Over the course of the two weekend games, Harvard held Cornell and Columbia to a combined 29 percent from the field.

—Staff writer Aidan E. Tait can be reached at atait@fas.harvard.edu.