W. Hoops Earns Unwanted Split

Harvard (9-13, 6-3 Ivy) faced two different opponents this weekend. Unfortunately, two very different Harvard teams showed up as well.

In one of the Crimson's most balanced and enthusiastic team efforts on Friday night, it avenged an earlier two-point loss to Brown (10-13, 5-5) by beating the Bears 65-48.

Harvard failed to make the same statement Saturday night, falling to Yale 72-61 in overtime. Harvard had a 54-40 victory over Yale (7-16, 2-8) earlier this season, but this contest, against an Eli team looking to play the role of the spoiler, would not prove as easy.

The win was just the second in the Ivies this season for Yale and the loss dropped Harvard to 6-3 in the league. The loss leaves the Crimson three games behind first place Pennsylvania with only five regular season contests left to play.

Yale 72, Harvard 61

With just 20 seconds left, the Crimson trailing by two points and Yale's Sarah Perkins at the line for the first of a double bonus, the situation did not look good for Harvard.

Perkins would make only one of her two free throws however, and the door was left open for the heroics of freshman sensation Hana Peljto.

Peljto received a pass at the top of the three-point arch with about 15 seconds left on the clock. Peljto took one dribble to free herself from her defender and shot.

Nothing but net.

Peljto's three-pointer tied the game at 53 and after a last second shot by Yale fell short, the game headed into overtime.

Harvard would get the first bucket of the extra period, but that would be its last lead of the game. With the help of key offensive rebounds, Yale went on a 15-4 run and never looked back.

"Yale just had the momentum tonight--it seemed the ball was bouncing their way," said junior forward Katie Gates.

A bright spot in the loss for the Crimson was the play of freshmen Hana Peljto, Jen Lee and Tricia Tubridy. All three were on the court for most of the final two minutes of regulation.

Peljto scored 12 of the Crimson's first 14 points in the opening half and paced all scorers for a game and career-high 27 points.

"I just found myself open," Peljto said. "My teammates were giving me the ball in good positions."

Lee came up with key steals defensively and both she and Tubridy netted 8 points in the defeat.

"We did a great job to get into overtime," Delaney-Smith said. "But this is a bad loss. We looked tired and [Yale] was making the extra pass offensively. They played well."

Fatigue may have been a contributing factor in Harvard's poor shooting percentage and its failure to control the glass. The Crimson finished at just under 33 percent from the field and was out rebounded 43-39 by the Elis.

"We were a little tired from last night," Peljto said.

Harvard 65, Brown 48

With fresh legs on Friday night, Harvard was able to take advantage of a 14-4 run midway through the first half and would never give the lead back to the Bears.

Tubridy started the run at about the 14-minute mark, knocking down two jumps shots for four of her 12 points on the night. After a free throw by senior guard Carrie Larkworthy, Peljto would lengthen the lead with a lay-up and a three-pointer for five of her game-high 19 points to extend Harvard's lead to 20-9 with just over 11 minutes remaining in the half.

Brown made a run of its own before the half was out. After a layup by freshman center Miranda Craigwell, Harvard's lead was cut to just four.

But following a time out called by Delaney-Smith, her troops regrouped, and after a three-pointer by Gates and four straight free throws by Lee, the Crimson took a 36-28 lead into halftime.

Harvard played very composed in the second half, never letting its lead drop below nine points.

"We made good decisions and in the past we haven't always done that," said Delaney-Smith.

Harvard also received a strong performance by senior guard Lisa Kowal, who contributed ten points and five assists on the night.

The Crimson will be at home next weekend with two more crucial Ivy League contests. Harvard will face the Tigers on Friday night and look to knock off undefeated Penn on Saturday. Both games will be a 6 p.m. at Lavietes Pavilion.