W. Hoops Salvages Split With Penn Rout

The Harvard women’s basketball team became the second Ivy victim of surprising Princeton at the Tigers’ Jadwin Gymnasium on Friday night in a 59-55 defeat.

The loss knocked Harvard out of the driver’s seat in the Ivy race, but the Crimson (10-5, 2-1 Ivy) turned its weekend around on Saturday with a 76-56 blowout of defending Ivy champion Penn (4-9, 1-2) at the Palestra in Philadelphia.

“The game against Penn was a completely different story,” said sophomore forward Hana Peljto. “We came out with a lot of intensity, everyone contributed, we shot well, rebounded and played great defense. We almost did everything right that we didn’t do against Princeton.”

Princeton (8-7, 2-1), who was picked to finish last in the Ivies, beat defending Ivy champion Penn and Ivy preseason favorite Harvard before falling to Dartmouth (5-8, 1-2) on Saturday.

That loss to the Big Green left Cornell (8-7, 2-0) as the only undefeated team left in the Ivies. The Big Red will be hard-pressed to continue that pace, however, once it faces tougher competition than its first two Ivy opponents, Yale (7-7, 1-1) and Brown (3-12, 0-2).

Princeton’s loss on Saturday in addition to the Crimson’s victory over Penn left Harvard with a much better outlook going into a lengthy break for exams.

“[Our] loss to Princeton was disappointing, but we’ll learn from it,” Peljto said. “The fact that Princeton lost to Dartmouth definitely helps. We’re still in control of our own destiny.”

Harvard 76, Penn 56

The Crimson’s game against Penn wasn’t crucial just because Harvard needed to avoid a two game-slide, but also because the game was a grudge match.

Harvard and Penn’s last meeting came at Lavietes last winter when the Quakers clinched the Ivy title and celebrated raucously on Harvard’s home court. This memory did not sit well with the Crimson.

Also, entering the night, the Harvard senior class had nothing but three straight double-digit losses to show from its three previous trips to Palestra.

That would all change on Saturday.

With Harvard ahead 9-4 just over five minutes into the game, freshman center Reka Cserny, the Crimson’s second-leading scorer, picked up her second foul. In recent games against Northeastern and Manhattan, Cserny’s foul trouble spelled doom for Harvard’s first half.

But not so on Saturday, as Harvard’s bench made an impact. All 11 players who saw game action cracked the scoreboard.

Co-captain Laura Barnard was the first trooper to strike off the bench, hitting a three early in the first half to put Harvard up 18-9. She added another basket minutes later to extend Harvard’s lead to 25-16.

In the final minutes of the half, Penn had pulled within 31-24, but 6`2 junior center Kate Ides hit a hook shot to put Harvard up nine. Right before the half, she stunned the Quakers with a three-point dagger to give the Crimson a 38-24 edge.

Penn would never come close again, falling behind 60-35 by the 10-minute mark of the second half.

Harvard turned around its rebounding effort after a dismal game against Princeton. Against Penn, Harvard outrebounded the Quakers 42-36, led by sophomore Tricia Tubridy with nine. Peljto led the team with six offensive rebounds and 19 points.

Harvard also made huge strides defensively in forcing 26 Penn turnovers and earning eight steals, led by Peljto with three. Harvard converted several of those turnovers into easy points.

“Before the game we discussed a lot about what we needed to do as a team,” said sophomore guard Dirkje Dunham. “Against Princeton, we really didn’t show each other the intensity that we needed. And going after everything on defense is what starts everything on offense.”

Dunham was second on the team with 10 points, matching her career-high from the previous night against Princeton.

“[Dunham] played well, not just offensively, but defensively as well,” Peljto said. “It’s good for our team for her to be able contribute when others are down.”

Dunham had been in the starting lineup since co-captain Katie Gates sustained an injury. She had been struggling offensively, hitting just 20.8 percent from the floor and 2-of-20 behind the arc this year.

But she was a different player this weekend, hitting 8-of-12 shots and three treys on the weekend.

“I’ve been stepping into my role as a starter. I’m not sure day-to-day if I really belonged there, but I felt that, for everyone else to have confidence in me, I had to show my confidence,” Dunham said.

Princeton 59, Harvard 55

In spite of a 33-24 halftime deficit, the Crimson used a desperate second half rally to pull ahead of Princeton 53-49 in the closing minutes of Friday’s game.

But the Tigers pulled ahead for good with an 8-0 run. The game’s biggest shot came from Princeton’s leading scorer Allison Cahill, who hit a three-pointer with two minutes left to break a 53-53 tie.

Maureen Lane did most of the damage for the Tigers, matching Peljto as the game’s leading scorer with 15 and leading all players with eight rebounds. Her back-to-back three ponters gave the Tigers a 25-16 lead.

Cserny and Peljto combined for just 27 points, a sum lower than each of their career highs set earlier this month.

“We didn’t shoot well,” Peljto said. “Shots Reka and I usually hit didn’t fall for us.”

In getting outrebounded 43-29, not one Harvard player had more than one offensive board.

“Usually we have someone crashing the boards on the weak side,” Dunham said. “We weren’t going after the ball as well as we should have.”

Princeton won the game despite shooting 28 percent in the second half.

But the Tigers’ poor second-half shooting didn’t make up for the fact that Harvard let Princeton hit 46.7 percent from the floor and 5-of-13 from behind the arc in the first half.

“We just came out with a lack of intensity and dug ourselves in a hole,” Peljto said. “We picked it up in second half, but it turned out it wasn’t enough.”