Harvard Bounces Back to Win Big in Philly

“Snowmageddon” was not the only blizzard to hit Pennsylvania this weekend. A flurry of lethal three-pointers struck Philadelphia on Saturday evening, as the visiting Harvard women’s basketball squad (12-7, 3-2 Ivy) took the city by storm.

In a game where the Crimson never trailed and led by as much as 28 points in the second half, it is fair to say that Harvard hardly broke a sweat, winning 66-40 against Penn (1-18, 0-5 Ivy). The Crimson rose above .500 after a dominating performance against the Quakers, and it was thanks to a solid three-point shooting effort that Harvard was able to distance itself from its opponent. The Crimson made 10-of-20 three-pointers, while Penn was not able to hit any in 15 shots from behind the arc.

“We’re a better team, first of all,” said Harvard coach Kathy Delaney-Smith. “But even teams that are struggling become dangerous, and we have to look out for that. I think we responded well after a disappointing game against Princeton. It was a great defensive effort.”

The game started with both teams trading baskets before the Crimson pulled away to set the tone for the match. Harvard was able to distribute the ball and get everyone involved in a 10-minute stretch that opened up a 19-point gap for the visiting team.

Defense also played a role, with sophomore Brogan Berry stealing the ball twice in the 16th minute and junior Jackie Alemany swiping the ball right after to expose the Quakers’ weak ball handling. After consequent substitutions by both teams, Alemany blocked an attempted shot to keep Penn from gaining any momentum. Five minutes later, the home team still couldn’t come up with a basket, letting the game slip away, 21-2.

The Crimson only hit 39.4 percent of its shots in the first half, demonstrating the crucial role its stifling defense played to keep the Quakers from retaliating. Penn could only hit 29.6 percent on the court.

With 2:01 left in the first half, the Quakers cut down the deficit to nine after Penn was able to retrieve the ball off of Alemany’s second block of the game to score an easy bucket.

Harvard made a couple of substitutions to finish the half strong. A missed jumper by Penn and the 13th defensive rebound of the half led to a quick two-point conversion by junior Emma Markley, making the score 28-17.

“We were struggling with defensive rebounding,” Berry said. “So we made an effort to come out with a defensive mentality, and we were proud to keep them at 17 in the first half.”

Another missed shot led to the Crimson’s final possession with nine seconds left. Alemany dished out the ball to the perimeter, where she found junior co-captain Christine Matera, who made it rain from the perimeter all night long. She finished 5-of-8 on three-point shooting and led the team with 19 points on the night.

“She had a great weekend on both nights,” Delaney-Smith said. “She’s a junior co-captain, so we expect that from her.”

The second half opened with no surprises. Berry sunk a jumper with an assist from Matera to start up the Harvard offense, but the Quakers’ Jess Knapp responded with a three-point play of her own. Knapp, a starter for the entire season and leading rebounder on the team, took the most shots for Penn but was largely ineffective, only making two of her 11 attempts and finishing the game with five points. The case was different for the Crimson, which improved its shooting percentage to 50 percent, causing further distress to an already weakened opponent.

After Matera hit a three-pointer with 15 minutes to play, freshman Elle Hagadorn also scored a trey of her own to deepen the Quakers’ deficit. Penn was never able to get the margin under 20 points after that point. Berry didn’t help the Quakers’ cause by sinking another three with 14 minutes left in the half.

Harvard easily took the rest of the contest as the Crimson never led by less than 22 points. Alemany made a three-pointer with 2:52 left on the clock to extend the gap to 28, and the squad coasted to its third Ivy win.

—Staff writer Brian A. Campos can be reached at bcampos@fas.harvard.edu.