AOTW: Finelli Catches Fire, Ignites First-Place Run

This past weekend, the Harvard women’s basketball team played two games full of gritty defensive stops, quick steals and layups, and backbreaking long-range shots. And after every big play, there was sophomore guard Niki Finelli: pumping her fist or bumping shoulders with teammates, seeming to fly across the floor with the leaps and bounds of enthusiasm.

“Her excitement is definitely contagious, and it really helps us,” co-captain Christiana Lackner said. “It’s so much fun to play with her because she’s so passionate about the game.”

That kind of passion might not show up in the box score, but Finelli’s statistics sure did. After scoring 20 points and grabbing eight rebounds in the team’s 80-55 statement victory over Princeton—a result that gave the Crimson sole possession of first place in the Ivy League—Finelli came back the next night to record a career-high 26 points, pacing the team’s 87-74 win over Penn and second consecutive weekend sweep. On her career night Saturday against the Quakers, she shot 6-for-7 from three-point range and a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line, also chipping in five rebounds and three steals for good measure.

Playing at home for the first time since December was all Finelli and her teammates needed to find that extra spark. Over 1500 fans attended Friday night’s game against the Tigers, spurring the Crimson to their first home victory of the season.

“It’s such a motivating feeling to feel the support of the undergraduate community and see that crowd erupt,” Finelli said. “It’s hard to describe—you can only feel it when you’re on the court playing. It’s just awesome.”

Most of all, the sophomore sharpshooter attributes her scoring opportunities to the success of the motion offense that the team has been running all season.

“I came off of a couple screens early in the game, and just started to get into my flow,” Finelli said. “Everyone was just doing their jobs and not thinking too much about it out there.”

“It was happening pretty organically. She was feeling it, so coming off screens, she would just stop and take the shot,” Lackner said. “She got open on screens and good ball reversal—both things that would happen naturally and otherwise.”

After she missed the first six games of the 2005 season with a knee injury, 2006-2007 has been a coming-out party for Finelli. Her steadily-climbing 12.4 points per game average—not to mention this weekend’s performances—should have Ivy League opponents identifying the sophomore as the player to stop. You can bet that Princeton and Penn will know where she is on the court during the second round of Ivy League games this month.

“Carrying over from last season and even in this season itself, you can see players figuring out their roles and stepping up and having the confidence to play like they can play,” Lackner said. “It really bodes well for next year and for the end of this season.”

Finelli certainly wasn’t the only star of the weekend—after all, junior guard Lindsay Hallion poured in a career-high 23 points of her own in Friday’s win over Princeton. And Finelli, who earned her first career Ivy League Player of the Week honor for this weekend’s performance, is excited about playing on a team on which anyone can be the hero.

“Everyone on this team goes into the game feeling confidence in themselves and their teammates,” Finelli said. “On any given night, it really is anyone’s night.”

On Saturday night, it was Finelli’s time to shine. And if the team’s hot play continues during the second half of the Ivy slate, she and the rest of the Crimson may be jumping and bumping shoulders into postseason play.

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