Tigers Show No Bite in Lavietes

After an initial blip on its Ivy title radar screen, the Harvard women’s basketball team seems to be humming right along once again.

The Crimson got a wakeup call in a home loss to Dartmouth in the Ivy opener, but since then has reeled off three impressive league wins. In its most recent triumph Saturday night, Harvard (11-8, 3-1 Ivy) shot 55.3 percent in the first half to storm to an 18-point lead at the break, then coasted in the second frame to an easy 82-64 victory over Princeton (4-15, 1-2 Ivy).

A night after pulling off a nail-biter against an upset-minded Penn squad, the Crimson put away any thoughts of a thriller by jumping out to an early lead. Junior Emily Tay scored 15 points to lead a balanced offensive attack, while co-captain Lindsay Hallion chipped in 14 on 6-of-9 shooting. Nine other players scored for Harvard, which tied its highest offensive output of the season.

“Tonight was as sweet as it comes, to be able to put up big numbers and beat [Princeton] on our home court,” Hallion said.

Though this weekend was only the second of the 2008 Ivy season, the game already signified an important turn in the Ancient Eight: the Crimson is 3-1 out of the gate, while Princeton—one of the teams expected to make a serious run at Harvard’s league title—drops to 1-2.

Early on, the game was a showcase of both teams’ offensive potency: the first six minutes saw hot shooting and a fast pace on both ends as the Crimson jumped out to a 17-9 lead on 7-for-10 shooting. But the Tigers kept the game close with some accurate shooting of their own, getting timely points from guard Caitlin O’Neill (nine points). A jumper from senior Meagan Cowher cut Harvard’s lead to three with 8:21 to play in the first.

But that was the closest Princeton would get for the rest of the evening. The Crimson scored 17 unanswered points in a four-minute span to take a 20-point lead and put the game out of reach. The run featured two three-pointers from freshman guard Christine Matera, with junior forward Liz Tindal adding one for good measure.

“Teams can’t play [Tay] and [Hallion] and our inside people, so we have to punish them,” coach Kathy Delaney-Smith said. “For the first time, maybe all year, we slowed down on offense and executed and read the defense.”

When playing Princeton in the past few seasons, the first defensive priority has always been the same: slow down Cowher, who is the league’s leading scorer in 2008. The Crimson’s strategy, like that of most Ivy opponents, was to double the forward in the post and hope that she wouldn’t find her teammates for easy looks on the perimeter.

“She’s the catalyst for their offense—when she’s feeling good, everyone’s feeling good,” Hallion said. “We know she’s a great player, and she’s going to get her points.”

Cowher did get her points, but only 11—an off-night for the forward averaging nearly 18 per game so far this season. Harvard sealed its defensive performance with a rebounding effort that held the victory together. The Crimson outrebounded the Tigers 42-22 for the game, including a 14-7 advantage on the offensive glass.

“If a team comes to double in the post, which they did, we should dominate every time on the weak-side boards,” Delaney-Smith said. “And that’s what we did.”

Harvard showed no sign of letting up early on in the second half. Junior forward Katie Rollins got a steal and pushed it ahead to Tay on the fast break. Tay had attempted a no-look pass earlier in the game, but it sailed through the hands of freshman forward Claire Wheeler. This time, though, Tay’s behind-the-head pass found Hallion under the basket for an easy layup, and the crowd erupted.

“I usually try to stay away from that, but I couldn’t tonight,” Tay said.

While the Crimson’s early success has fans thinking title repeat, Harvard is quick to point out that it will face Princeton again in three weeks—that time at Jadwin Gym in New Jersey. The Tigers will have fresher legs for a Friday night game, and Cowher will have another chance to shine.

“I hope what hits home with this team is that every game is a dogfight and that we can take nothing for granted,” Delaney-Smith said. “Last year, when we won the title, most of our wins came down to the last few minutes. The same thing is going to happen this year, if we continue to get better. I hope we’re going up and staying up.”

The Crimson continues Ivy play this weekend, welcoming Yale and Brown to Lavietes Pavilion on Friday and Saturday evenings, respectively.

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