AOTW: Ivies, IVs Can’t Stop Point Guard

On the day before the Harvard women’s basketball team’s Ivy League opener at rival Dartmouth, Lindsay Hallion wasn’t practicing with her teammates, reviewing her playbook, or resting up for the long trip up to Hanover.

Instead, the Crimson’s starting point guard was lying down at University Health Services with an IV hooked up to her arm, dehydrated by a stomach virus that threatened to sideline her for the most important game of the team’s young season.

Still, Hallion was unfazed.

“I knew the whole time that I would be able to play,” she said. “I just didn’t know how good I would feel.”

On Saturday afternoon, Hallion felt just good enough to lead her team to a statement 71-68 win over the Big Green, winners of the Ivy League title each of the last two seasons. Her final statistics—22 points, three assists, four rebounds, and three steals—would impress on any day, but became heroic following her illness the day before.

“We were all a little worried, but we knew that if she was anywhere near better she would be out there,” co-captain Christiana Lackner said. “She’s the epitome of tough, and this is one great example.”

In the first half of the Dartmouth game, Hallion perhaps showed signs of wear. At halftime, she had recorded only four points and her team trailed by 14.

“At halftime, [co-captain] Kyle [Dalton] went up to her and said, ‘This team is begging for someone to step up, that’s what we need out there,’” Lackner said. “And that’s what she did.”

“I was kind of worried about how I would do out there, but that changed at halftime,” Hallion added. “Knowing that there were 20 minutes left for the game to be decided, I felt fine because I knew if I worked hard for those 20 minutes, that’s all I’d have to get through.”

She not only “got through” in the second half, but broke through Dartmouth’s defense, matching the Big Green’s own All-Ivy candidate, Ashley Taylor, down the stretch. It was hard to say which of Hallion’s backbreaking plays stood tallest: her jumper from the free-throw line as the shot clock expired, giving Harvard a one-point lead with 4:45 left? Her steal and lay-up at 1:37, which she followed with another jumper, pushing the Crimson’s lead to five with just more than a minute to go?

Maybe it was her quiet poise at the free-throw line, where she shot 6-of-7 for the day and 4-of-4 inside the final minute, which made the difference. Or her superior court vision as she distributed the ball down low to Emma Moretzsohn and Liz Tindal, both of whom reached career highs in points Saturday with 12 and 11, respectively.

Hallion’s play not only won the game for Harvard, but, with the veteran Lackner on the bench for most of the second half with four fouls, set an example for a young Crimson team.

“Knowing that she was out there, that what was going on was working, didn’t make me too nervous to be sitting,” Lackner said. “It felt so good to see her step up.”

Hallion, whom coach Kathy Delaney-Smith dubbed “the heart and soul of this team,” proved herself capable of rallying the team from its early-season ailments. After getting back on its feet against the league’s best, Harvard might just be strong enough to contend for an Ivy title once again.

—Staff writer Emily W. Cunningham can be reached at ecunning@fas.harvard.edu.