Crimson Sweeps Massachusetts Teams with Win over Minutewomen

State Championships. The dream of high school athletes across America doesn’t officially exist in college hoops, but the Harvard women’s basketball team still got a chance to celebrate. With its Wednesday night victory over the University of Massachusetts (6-9), the Crimson (8-4) has now beaten all five Division I basketball teams in the state.

“We’re very proud [of] being the best in the state,” said Harvard coach Kathy Delaney-Smith. “I don’t think we’ve ever played everybody and beaten everybody.”

Moreover, in beating the Minutewomen 72-60, Harvard picked up its first road victory since Thanksgiving Weekend.

It nearly didn’t happen, though, as a second half rally by Massachusetts threatened to end the Crimson’s recent reign over its regional rivals.

Harvard hit its stride early, with junior captain Christine Matera hitting three three-point shots before six minutes had expired in the first half.

“My teammates hit me,” Matera explained. “I had wide open shots and I just happened to hit them.”

Matera teamed with the other four starters to mount an imposing lead early.

“We started out lights out,” Delaney-Smith said. “I worry about that. I don’t like it.”

It turned out Delaney-Smith’s worry was not without cause, as the Minutewomen were able to close the margin near the end of the half. But a three pointer by Matera seemed to put Massachusetts back in its place. It would not score for the remainder of the half, and the Crimson rolled into halftime with a 17-point lead.

Massachusetts staged a more dangerous comeback in the second half, one led by their starting post players, all three of whom would finish the game in double figures.

“Their forwards were able to score on our forwards,” Delaney-Smith said. “That’s a stat line I’m disappointed with.”

But it wasn’t the Minutewomen’s shooting percentage that hurt Harvard. Rather, Massachusetts punished the Crimson on the glass as it earned second and third chances at the basket.

“We let [the Minutewomen] get back with a lack of effort on defense and defensive rebounding,” Matera said.

And whenever Massachusetts wasn’t converting lay-ups, it seemed, it was converting foul shots. All four Crimson post players—juniors Emma Markley and Claire Wheeler and freshmen Victoria Lippert and Miriam Rutzen—found themselves in foul trouble.

With seven minutes remaining, the Minutewomen’s Kristina Danella closed the lead to four with two free throws.

“I thought [the Massachusetts players] were smart,” Delaney-Smith said. “It looked like their strategy was to pound it inside.”

Perhaps the Minutewomen took the physical strategy too far, as the Crimson was able to end Massachusetts’ 14-0 run with consecutive trips to the line by freshman Elle Hagedorn and sophomore point guard Brogan Berry.

“Elle [has] been great off the bench,” Delaney-Smith said. “I though Brogan was phenomenal.”

Berry finished with 16 points, five rebounds, seven assists and a steal.

“She is just consistent game in and game out,” Delaney-Smith said. “I can’t even remember her 16 points. She is the team quarterback and the team leader.”

Meanwhile, junior Emma Markley, Harvard’s other regular on the stat sheet, ended the game with 14 points, nine rebounds, two assists, four blocks, and three steals in another well-rounded performance.

“I find it unbelievable,” Delaney-Smith said. “She actually missed a lot of shots that she rarely misses. [But] it didn’t stop her. She was able to contribute in other ways.”

With its usual stars putting up big numbers, the Crimson survived another scare to pick up its first non-tournament road win.

The state championships are over. But with the Ivy League opener against Dartmouth looming, the real title hunt is about to begin.