No. 12 W. Minnesota Will Put W. Hoops to the Test

The Harvard women’s basketball team faces one of its toughest matchups of the year this Sunday when the Crimson hosts Minnesota, the second of three nationally ranked opponents Harvard will face this month.

“We have another chance this Sunday to step up and show what we’re made of,” said Harvard coach Kathy Delaney-Smith.

The No. 12 Golden Gophers (5-0) boast an offense that has averaged 93.2 ppg, far more than the 69.8 ppg average of the Crimson (4-1).

Though Minnesota has impressive numbers, Harvard has faced superior opponents this year. The Crimson’s strength-of-schedule so far ranks 54th in the nation while the Gophers’ ranks just 126th. Harvard has also played a ranked team, then-No. 9 (AP) Vanderbilt, while Minnesota has not.

The Crimson is looking to prove itself after losing to Vanderbilt by an embarrassing 84-44 margin.

“We have to play a hell of a lot better against Minnesota not to have another Vanderbilt,” Delaney-Smith said. “Vanderbilt for us was a disappointment. Vanderbilt is good, but we’re better than what we did down there.”

The Harvard players felt they couldn’t adapt quickly enough to Vanderbilt’s size.

“Overall, the team felt that we lost our confidence and the shots we usually hit didn’t fall for us,” said junior forward Hana Peljto after the Vanderbilt defeat.

While Minnesota’s size is comparable with Harvard’s, the Gophers rely more on the skill of their guards.

The Gophers boast a nationally recognized talent in junior guard Lindsay Whalen—last year’s Big Ten Player of the Year and a Third Team All-American. Whalen is averaging 25.6 ppg. and 5.2 rpg.

“Lindsay Whalen is definitely a very good scorer,” said sophomore guard Rochelle Bell. “She has a force on the court that demands respect. We’re going to try to stop the drive and play team defense.”

Peljto believes stopping Whalen will be a difficult but necessary task in order to emerge victorious.

“She’s obviously an outstanding player,” Peljto said. “But, we have good defensive guards and if we all play great team defense, hopefully we can contain her.”

Co-captain guard Corrin Von Wald, who averages 18.4 ppg and 2.6 rpg, complements Whalen offensively.

While Peljto hopes to avenge the Harvard loss, she will have added incentive on Sunday. Both Peljto and Bell are Minnesota natives.

“It’s exciting because I grew up with a lot of these girls in high school and played against a bunch of them in different tournaments,” Bell said.

However, Bell admits it won’t be all fun and games.

“Once they step on the court, they bring their game, despite who they’re playing,” she said.

To win, Harvard will need more scoring than from the usual playmakers—Peljto (22.6 ppg, 10.6 rpg) and sophomore Reka Cserny (10.8 ppg, 6.0 rpg).

A freshman who could make an impact is Jessica Holsey—already the third-leading scorer (7.0 ppg) on the team despite averaging just 18.8 minutes a game.

Holsey’s offensive play has been inconsistent though. She averaged 10.5 points in Harvard’s first two games but scored just two points in each of Harvard’s games at Vanderbilt before scoring 10 against Northeastern on Wednesday.

Yet Holsey feels that there are other areas of the game she must excel at this weekend.

“I need to play really good defense,” said Holsey, who is tied with Cserny as the team’s leader in steals with nine.

This statement seems to be a general team focus. The Crimson hopes to improve upon its first-half defensive performance against Northeastern, where it gave up 41 points.

“I want more intensity on defense,” Delaney-Smith said. “I did not like the first half [against Northeastern] at all.”

Players hope the work they have put in this week during practice will pay off on Sunday.

“We’re hoping to have really intense practices, focused on defense, and hopefully that will carry over in to the game,” Bell said. “We’ve been practicing with a scout team made up of boys, which has upped the intensity of the practices.”

Still, boys are one thing and Gophers are another, and Harvard will need to come out with all the intensity it possesses if it hopes to prove golden.