Crimson cruisin’
Wellesley’s Benzan helps Harvard surge
The genesis of the Harvard women’s historic start can be traced back to the preseason, but it wasn’t until the games counted when things truly clicked.
Before the season started, and before the Crimson could even officially practice, senior captain Destiny Nunley noticed a different tone in her team. Pickup games were more competitive than usual, and it was apparent Harvard was done with mediocrity after backto-back .500 seasons.
“If we were losing, we were like, ‘ One more!’ Everyone wanted to keep going until they won,” Nunley said of those pickup games. “I think that definitely translated into practice which translated into games.”
It didn’t translate to games right away, but it didn’t take long. A season-opening loss to Minnesota was apparently all this Crimson team needed to experience to realize losing was not in its DNA.
“When we lost that game, my message to them was, ‘It’s not OK. You’ve gotta come out of that game knowing you could have and should have won it,’ ” Harvard coach Kathy Delaney-Smith said. “And that’s what we’ve built on.”
Safe to say, message received. Now at 13-1, the Crimson haven’t lost in more than three months and are off to their best start in school history. Their 13-game winning streak is the fourth longest active streak in the country.
Harvard’s turnaround is the culmination of several factors. The Crimson are finally healthy after being ravaged by injuries in recent years and last year’s talented freshman class is a year older.
But in what’s been possibly the biggest differencemaker this season, Harvard has found its point guard in freshman Katie Benzan. The Wellesley native has stepped in right away to lead the team in scoring (12.4 points per game) and assists (4.2).
“She’s huge. She doesn’t even know, like we struggled with a strong point guard in the past,” Nunley said. “We have someone to depend on. She’s bringing the ball up and we can relax a little, breathe easy because we know we’re about to get into it.”
That calmness has spread throughout the team. There’s never any panic with this group, and it showed last Wednesday when Harvard overcame a 10-point halftime deficit at La Salle to win on Nunley’s game-winner with seconds left to extend the win streak to 13.
Delaney-Smith says they don’t talk about the streak. “To emulate Bill Belichick, the only game you have is the next one. Nothing matters until the next game,” she said.
But that doesn’t mean they want it to end.
Picked to finish third in the Ivy League preseason poll, the Crimson have bigger goals in mind, namely the Ivy tournament in March. But game by game, they’re building a winning identity.
“I think we just hate losing,” Nunley said.
Her coach took it one step further, comparing this team to some of her best.
“One of the things I love about this team is they want to compete,” Delaney-Smith said. “They compete in every drill we do, they compete in every game. We actually play better when we’re behind than we do we’re up, and that’s just a toughness that this team has, and some of my other championship teams have had.”
Triple threat
It’s easy to overlook UMass-Lowell’s Jahad Thomas — and not just because of his size. But the 6-foot-2 dynamo has been one of the most consistent performers in the area.
In the River Hawks’ 7155 victory Saturday against Hartford, Thomas posted the first triple-double in school history with 19 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists. The 19 boards matched a career high and the 10 dimes set a new career best. The junior also got his 1,000th career point in the win.
UML (8-10) is off to a 3-1 start in America East play, tied for third place in the conference.