Women's Basketball's Benzan Garners Records, Postseason Awards

Anybody who goes to watch a Harvard women’s basketball game leaves knowing who Katie Benzan is. Weaving around screens and firing three-pointers with fervor, the sophomore guard moves with the speed and energy of a whirling dervish, bringing the Lavietes Pavilion crowd to its feet every time she makes a play.

On the heels of a stellar rookie season, Benzan made the Ivy League record books this season by knocking down 99 three-pointers, the most by any woman in Ancient Eight history. The new record just surpassed the previous mark of 97 three-pointers, set by Courtney Banghart in 1998-99.

Banghart, who set the record during her time at Dartmouth, just completed her 11th season at the helm of the Princeton women’s basketball team. Helping to push Princeton to an NCAA tournament berth this season, Banghart’s perspective on Benzan’s accomplishment, as a former player and current coach, is a unique one.

“Katie is a really special talent,” Banghart said. “She has a very quick trigger, and it’s very accurate. In the game, as a high volume shooter, you have to have a short memory—this fearlessness to you. If you miss one, the next one’s going in, and she certainly has that mentality.”

Benzan has always been clear about putting personal accolades behind the success of the team.

“I don’t really think about stats,” Benzan said. “Someone might tell me, but ten seconds later I’ll forget. I just want to win. That’s why I came here. But it is nice to hear.”

The selflessness and maturity that the point guard has demonstrated through the first half of her Crimson career has impressed fans and teammates alike. But Benzan’s team-first mentality is appreciated by Harvard coach Kathy Delaney-Smith, above all else.

“She’ll be the first one to tell you, it’s all about winning,” Delaney-Smith said. “Her personal accolades just come second to winning. That is the most important characteristic to help build a winning team.”

Only two seasons in, Benzan has left a sizable imprint on the Harvard women’s basketball program, and will be an integral part of the postseason success that the Crimson hopes to find in the next two years. Listed at 5’6, the Wellesley, Mass., native is often the shortest player on the court, but her record breaking season should hardly surprise—after all, basketball is in her DNA.

Benzan grew up in a basketball family, fewer than 15 miles from Cambridge. The daughter of a college basketball player and a student-coach, the sophomore grew up sparring stiff competition in the form of her older brother Patrick, currently a rising senior on the Holy Cross basketball team.

“Growing up, basketball was always a part of family life,” Benzan said. “We’d always go out to the driveway and play two-on-two. Our family dinners would sometimes be sitting on the couch, watching basketball. Ever since I could walk, I have been playing.”

Benzan was a highly decorated high school player at Noble and Greenough, garnering three NEPSAC Class A Tournament MVP awards, two ISL MVP recognitions, and helping her high school team to a 125-8 record over her five years on the varsity team. In her senior season, Benzan was named the Gatorade Player of the Year for Massachusetts, an honor shared in the past by WNBA greats Diana Taurasi, Maya Moore, Candace Parker, and Lisa Leslie.

Outside of school, Benzan played Wellesley Youth League and AAU basketball under the coaching of her mother, Kim. When Katie enrolled at Noble and Greenough, Kim assisted head coach Alex Gallagher. Between its location, academics, and Benzan’s attachment to her family, Harvard became the perfect choice for the point guard.

“I am such a homebody,” Benzan said. “Honestly, I pretty much only considered schools in New England. But Harvard stood out because of the atmosphere, the people, the coaching staff. Everyone just cares so much.”

In her first season in Cambridge, Benzan knocked down 85 three-pointers, good enough for fifth all time in a season and most of any active player. Her six Rookie of the Week selections and a spot on the All-Ivy team were more than enough to force Banghart and other Ancient Eight coaches to hone in on the playmaker entering this season.

“She’s a huge part of what Harvard does, and we know that when we game plan,” Banghart said. “We try to crowd her as best we can, and get longer bodies on her, but if that kid gets an open look, it’s going in.”

Despite Banghart and the rest of the league’s efforts to neutralize Benzan, the rising junior still shot a torrid 50 percent conference percentage from deep and a 52 percent three-point mark at Lavietes Pavilion. Entering the second half of her career, Benzan is on pace to not only break the all-time Ivy record for career three pointers, but shatter it by a healthy margin. The current record is 273, also set by Banghart, and Benzan has already tallied 184 triples.

Benzan’s impact on the Crimson stretches far beyond mere three-point shooting. At almost every whistle, the sophomore can be seen urgently huddling and talking excitedly to teammates, with the maturity and poise often reserved for a senior captain. Benzan’s play and leadership are inextricably attached to Harvard’s success.

“Katie is so much more than just a shooter, to be honest,” Delaney-Smith said. “She can score on many different levels. She has tremendous IQ and a terrific skill set… She’s a real leader on the floor, with a true passion and love for the game, which is the most important thing.”

The postseason awards logically followed Benzan’s high-flying season. As was announced in March, the league office named Benzan to the first-team All-Ivy—the only unanimous selection on the team. In the classroom, the Psychology concentrator was also selected to the 2018 Winter Academic All-Ivy League team.

For the rising junior, the frustration of this season’s heartbreakingly narrow loss to Penn in the Ivy League Tournament is clearly palpable.

“In the spring and summer, we just have to keep working and getting better,” Benzan said. “Every day, just a little bit better, so that come next March, when we’re hopefully at the Ivy League tournament again, all that work can help us beat whoever we’re playing. It starts right now.”

One thing remains certain. While the rising junior might smile graciously and politely thank all who congratulate her on records broken and who mention ones that Wellesley, Mass., native may break in the future, her focus is concentrated in one place.

As Benzan enters her junior and senior seasons at the helm of the Crimson offense and at the heart of the team, her desires boil down to helping the team win and returning Harvard to its first NCAA Tournament since 2007.

—Staff writer Amir Mamdani can be reached at amir.mamdani@thecrimson.com.