SIDEBAR: Rookie Sparks Stagnant Offensive Effort

Needing a three to even the score and force overtime, the Crimson’s freshman point guard Brogan Berry fought off the press, and pushed the ball down the right side of the court. But with Berry looking to feed one of her sharp shooting co-captains, Dartmouth players swarmed her passing lanes. Somewhere in the traffic, the ball popped out of Berry’s hands and into those of the Big Green’s Darcy Rose.

“It was just not a good last possession,” Berry said.

The end was anything but fitting for the Ivy League’s newest star. In her first ever conference game, Berry looked more like a seasoned veteran than a freshman, and, on the day, was probably the best player on the floor.

“She’s done a phenomenal job as our point guard,” co-captain Niki Finelli said. “Everyone’s going to make mistakes, and the ball just happened to fall out of her hands.”

Berry finished with a game- and career-high 20 points on 6-for-12 shooting, including four three-pointers.

“She is one of the best point guards I’ve ever seen in the league,” Harvard coach Kathy Delaney-Smith said. “Certainly she’s as good as any guard that’s ever played here.”

It was clear very early on that it would be a long day for the Crimson forwards. Combine the frontcourt’s struggles with the fact that co-captain Emily Tay was not playing at 100 percent, and you get many questions as to where Harvard would find its offensive spark.

The Crimson got off to a sloppy, ice-cold start, failing to score for nearly six minutes. But when it finally got on the board, Berry led the charge, scoring seven of the team’s first nine points.

Berry went into halftime with 10 points on 4-for-7 shooting. The rest of the team combined for 10 points on 4-for-17 shooting.

With Dartmouth on a 6-0 run to start the second half, Berry hit a big three to answer. A couple minutes later, she showed her hustle by making a great save on a ball going out of bounds, allowing Finelli to hit the floor and retain possession.

With Harvard down five and under 30 seconds to play, Berry penetrated the lane and was fouled. Desperately needing two points to have any chance, all the pressure was on her shoulders at the line. Refusing to show any signs of her young age, Berry coolly hit both free throws.

Berry may have led all scorers, but her work on the defensive end of the floor against the Big Green’s star Koren Schram was equally impressive. Berry was assigned the tough job of matching up with the first-team all-Ivy senior.

“We knew [Schram] was a great shooter, so my job was to not let her have any open shots out on the perimeter, and deny her the ball,” Berry said.

In the game plan, Delaney-Smith showed her willingness to put her freshman up against an opponent’s most talented player.

For her part, Berry repaid her coach’s confidence, holding Schram to just two points on 1-for-10 shooting in the first half. While Schram got hot after the break, Berry played her tough throughout.

Berry has already been named Ivy League Rookie of the Week four times, but this was the first chance for a conference rival to see her up close.

On a night when her backcourt partner was sick and her forwards ineffective, Berry showed once again that she could step up and lead the team.

While her efforts may have come up just short on Saturday, Berry’s performance in her first Ivy League test bodes very well for the future of Harvard women’s basketball.

—Staff writer Jay M. Cohen can be reached at jaycohen@fas.harvard.edu.