Sports
Weekly Recap
SCORES
Men’s Squash vs. Tufts W, 8-1 ___________________________________________________________
women’s water polo Vs. st. francis (pa.) W, 11-5 __________________________________________________________
woMen’s fencing Vs. bC w, 16-11 ___________________________________________________________
men’s fencing Vs. bc W, 20-7 ___________________________________________________________
Women’s ice hockey vs. BC L, 3-1 ___________________________________________________________
women’s tennis vs. penn W, 4-1 ___________________________________________________________
men’s tennis Vs. Vanderbilt w, 4-3 ___________________________________________________________
Women’s Squash
Harvard Lengthens Streak for 79 Consecutive Wins By Eliot Min Crimson Staff Writer
A fter bursting out to a commanding 2-0 lead over her opponent, No. 3 Trinity College’s Nanna Carleke, Harvard junior Hannah Craig fell just short in the third and fourth games. In the decisive fifth game, Craig responded with a dominating showing, overwhelming Carleke with an 11-2 victory to secure the seventh seed matchup for the Crimson. It was one of Harvard’s eight victories in its 8-1 romping of the Bantams on Feb. 5. With her gutsy win against Carleke, Craig continued her dominance as a member of the Crimson—she has yet to drop a match in her three years on the Harvard squad. Co-captain Gina Kennedy, senior, bounced back from a first game loss to win her match, 3-1, at the first pairing and extend her personal win streak to 36. Senior Eleanore Evans rallied from 0-2 down to win the fifth-seed contest and her 11th victory of the season. At the second seed dual, senior Amelia Henley won a 3-0 victory to bring her win streak to 46. According to Craig, although Trinity is one of the more challenging match-ups for the Crimson, she was able to keep cool and execute her shots under pressure. “[The match] definitely wasn’t easy at all,” Craig said.
“It’s always a privilege to play at Trinity and you never know what to expect especially because they produce such large crowds, and that can result in some other stress as well. So I think I came ready to compete. I had a very tough competitor and she put me under pressure. [But] I was somehow able to pull through.” Harvard is undefeated over the last six years, having won all its matches since losing 4-5 to Trinity to close out its 2013-2014 campaign. Evans, who has been on the team each of the last four seasons, credits the squad’s incredible run of success to its unwavering work ethic and the leadership of its seniors. “I think all four seniors do a really good job of exemplifying the attributes of putting in the work and seeing the result later,” said Evans. “We’ve all been on the team for four years now, we’ve won three national championships and we’re going for a fourth—but it’s not without effort, and it’s not without focus, and it’s definitely not without cooperation. So I think that the good team unity that comes from the [senior class] really trickles down and affects the team at large.” “Everyone’s just been relishing the opportunity to play,” Craig added. After its match against Trinity, Harvard closed out the week with a home tilt against No.
LUCKY NUMBER 13 Friday’s win against No. 13 Brown (pictured above) and Sunday’s triumph versus No. 4 Yale would mark the Crimson’s 12th and 13th victories against ranked opponents, helping Harvard to its perfect 13-0 record. owen a. berger—Crimson photographer
13 Brown and an away match against No. 4 Yale. Continuing the fine form it displayed against Trinity, Harvard took the match against the Bears, 8-1, and swept
the Bulldogs, 9-0. Going into the season’s final week, Harvard’s w streak stands at 79 games. With its win against Yale, Harvard secured at least a share
of the Ivy League title for the sixth straight season. It has a chance to complete its sixth straight undefeated season this weekend when it travels
to Cornell on Saturday to close out the season. The game will start at 12:00 p.m. eliot.min@thecrimson.com
Women’s BASKETBALL
Harvard Completes Weekend With Win Over Brown By Henry zhu Crimson Staff Writer
A day after a resounding 66-57 victory over previously-undefeated Yale, the Crimson (136, 4-2) capped off its extended five-game homestand with a dominant 68-53 win over Brown. Four Crimson players — Lola Mullaney, Tess Sussman, Maggie McCarthy, Rachel Levy — finished in double-digits, with Mullaney leading the side with 14 points. Sussman’s 11-point, 11-rebound night gave her the
first double-double of her career, as well as her fourth double-digit performance of the season. “It’s really awesome,” Sussman said. “I haven’t really been a scorer in the past, but with Kenzie out now [Coach] Kathy [Delaney-Smith]’s kind of asked me to step up. I like to pass it a lot more so I feel a lot more confident. It is helping me going to more tough games, so honestly it’s just making me look more forward to the future.” The Crimson saw every single member of its squad earn
playing time in this contest, including double-digit minutes from first-years Gabby Donaldson, Annie Stritzel, and Sara Park. The trio combined for 14 points to fill out Harvard’s total bench scoring, with the team collectively shooting 38.6 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from beyond the arc. “I thought Gabby did a good job tonight,” Coach Delaney-Smith said. “I don’t know if you could tell, but I think Gabby has an enormous skill set.. Sara is an unbelievable shoot-
er. She’s small, but her defense is deceptively good. So again we’re trying to get those kids minutes because I think as we get to the second round, it’s going to be important.” Sussman noted how the team as a collective unit is beginning to find its rhythm offensively and made the necessary adjustments to maintain its double-digit lead for most of the contest. “I’m just really proud of our team, we kept it together and finally started to execute on the offensive end which we’ve kind
RED HOT Sophomore guard Tess Sussman earned her first double-double of the season in Saturday’s victory over Brown. timothy r. o’meara—Crimson photographer
of been struggling with,” Sussman said. “So it’s really nice to find connections, but as we’ve seen in the past we kept up our good defense.” The Bears converted on no more than five field goals per quarter and were limited to just 21 points entering halftime. Led by McKenna Dale’s 15 points, Brown largely ecked out points through intermittent triples and struggled to garner any consistent stretch of play outside of the final few minutes. Although the Bears now own a 1-5 Ivy record, Delaney-Smith acknowledged the competitiveness of that side in a league with increased parity. “They are dangerous,” Delaney-Smith said. “They hit a couple threes, it could have gone either way. We could have been back on our heels...so there’s just not a gimme here at all.” The Crimson started sluggishly, converting on just one basket in the opening four minutes. But its three-point shooting began to get back into gear, with back-to-back triples from McCarthy and Mullaney. Harvard then strung together another trio of consecutive triples, featuring swishes from junior co-captain Rachel Levy, Mullaney, and Sussman. Brown was limited to just 3-of12 shooting in the first frame, including a scoreless final 3:19 that saw Harvard carve out a 1910 margin. The accuracy from deep continued as McCarthy immediately drained a corner triple in the second quarter’s first possession. The Bears would not find the bottom of the net until the 5:39 mark of the quarter — by that point, the Crimson had built up its lead to 16. McCarthy capped off the period with an acrobatic finish at the rim, pushing her scoring total to double-digits (10) to lead the team at intermission. Compared to the prior day’s matchup against Yale, Harvard matched up against a team with much less height and size. As anticipated, the Crimson capitalized on the boards, out-rebounding the Bears 48 to 30 while tallying seven rejections in the contest. With co-captain Mackenzie Barta sidelined, the Crimson
continued to experiment with their options off the bench. First-years Sara Park and Annie Stritzel earned a combined 11 minutes in the first half, with Park — a clear perimeter weapon for Harvard — contributing her third triple of the season. “Since so many of them haven’t had playing time before — our four freshmen — I can’t imagine what they’re feeling,” Sussman said. “But they do so amazingly, even if they play for five to 17 minutes. Everyone has stepped into the role that they need to be, and more.” Coach Delaney-Smith once again turned deep within her bench for relief in the third quarter, this time inserting junior Maddie Stuhlreyer and first-year Gabby Donaldson into the contest. Like Park, Donaldson introduced herself to the Lavietes crowd with a confident three. Sussman notched a trey of her own in the dying seconds of the frame, giving the Crimson a 53-35 lead. Harvard closed out the final period continuing its balanced attack, with Stritzel earning four quick points thanks to two drives at the rim. Sussman delivered her third triple of the contest to cement her first double-double of the season (11 pts, 11 rebounds), joining Levy who finished with a 10-point, 10-rebound night. To close the game, Delaney-Smith rested most of her starters, allowing for an extended look at the bevy of options off the bench. Stritzel finished with seven points in the contest, all of which came in the final frame. The Crimson now embark on a challenging four-game stretch in which it will travel to Cornell, Columbia, Princeton, and Penn in the span of two weeks. But with the first weekend sweep of the season in the books, the team is confident in its ability to continue its winning ways. “I definitely think [our comfort level]’s through the roof,” Sussman said. “Our troops, we practice here every single day. But I think that our energy stems from each other so hopefully we can take that on the road.” henry.zhu@thecrimson.com
