Harvard Women's Basketball Looking for First Victory

After three losses on the road, Harvard women’s basketball could use a reversal of fortune at home. The Crimson (0-3) will play Rhode Island tonight in its first action at Lavietes Pavilion this season, the first contest of a three-game home stand for Harvard.

For the Crimson, the game plan is simple.

“We just have to come out hard and play a consistent 40 minutes of basketball with a tough defensive mentality,” co-captain Brogan Berry said. “If we play as a team and depend on each other, good things will come.”

The Rams come in with a 1-3 record after losing their last game on Saturday at Siena, 73-65. Rhode Island’s sole victory is a 52-43 win over Providence, a team that beat Harvard on Friday.

Across a number of statistical categories, the two teams are evenly matched. Harvard and Rhode Island both average about 11 assists per game, shoot close to 40 percent from from the field, and have been plagued by turnovers in their first few games of the season.

But as Crimson coach Kathy Delaney-Smith sees it, Harvard only needs to worry about itself.

“It is about our offense and our defense,” Delaney-Smith said. “It isn’t really about who we’re playing.”

For Harvard, that may be easier said than done. In its first three games of the season, the Crimson has averaged just under 70 points per game, but the team’s defense has surrendered about 77.

“I don’t worry as much about scoring, to be honest,” Delaney-Smith said. “I think we have a lot of people who can score. If [Berry] doesn’t have a big night, someone else will.”

But taking care of the basketball has been an issue for a Crimson offense that has averaged 17.3 turnovers per game.

“We haven’t had any indication that turnovers would be a problem for us, so the fact that it was in the Providence game was a surprise to us,” Delaney-Smith said. “Some people that have stepped into a new role have to make sure that they make good decisions with the ball.”

The Crimson, who lost its first three games by an average of about seven points, understands the value of each offensive possession.

“[Minimizing turnovers] is extremely important,” Berry said. “During practice we’ve really concentrated on taking care of the ball along with the defensive side of the game. We need to focus on all of the little things in the upcoming game.”

Despite three losses to start the year, Berry looks at it more as an issue of growing pains than any long-term issue.

“We’re not connecting as well as we thought we would on the court,” Berry said. “We have a lot of team chemistry, and I think in the first three games, we haven’t been able to harness that and make it productive.”

That, Berry hopes, will change starting Tuesday.

“We’re really starting to focus our energy on being better teammates,” Berry said. “That involves being a better defensive and rebounding team because [defense and rebounding] were definitely our weak points in the past three years.”

A strong defensive effort will be a key factor in beating the Rams on Tuesday. In its first four games this season, Rhode Island has displayed a balanced scoring attack. Junior guard Ajannae Boone has not started a single game for the Rams but leads the team in scoring and is one of four players who average more than eight points per game.

Berry thinks the leadership of returning players will also help the Crimson get its first tally in the wins column.

“[Sophomore guard Christine Clark and I] definitely bring a sense of intensity and passion for the game,” Berry said. “I think if everybody can stem from that, our scoring, defense, rebounding, and passing will come. Hopefully everybody can bring that same level of intensity.”

But Berry believes that most importantly, the Crimson needs to focus on its own abilities instead of Rhode Island’s talents.

“We really need to focus on playing Harvard basketball,” Berry said. “We’re not going to lose to our opponents, we’re going to lose to ourselves.”