March 20th, 2009: Harvard at St. John's (WNIT)

St. John's Red Storm 83, Harvard Crimson 60

Da'Shena Stevens turns on the afterburners, and Red beats Crimson in a battle of shades.


I think what I am coming to love most about Da'Shena Stevens is that she is so damn determined never to lose. That's going to be so important in the next few years, assuming she doesn't make the same mistake as Kia Wright and let her emotions get the best of her.

Harvard brought a pretty decent-sized fan contingent. They brought signs. I couldn't help but think of the Eddie Izzard sketch. "Have you got a flag?" I think "Have you got a sign?" is the basketball roadie's equivalent. However, the guy that threw the rally towel back on the court is a jerk, and I curse him with a murrain.

The good news is that the horrible anthem singer of games past did not butcher the anthem. The bad news is that the St. John's band did. I think going to Ivy League games has spoiled me for fun marching bands.

Harvard, much like Dartmouth, has a lot of long, lanky players. Their offense mostly went through Emma Markley, who has the kind of aggressive presence I'm not used to seeing in the Ivy League. She wants the ball and isn't afraid to call for it. I like her. She made her mark on the game, no pun intended. I also really liked Emily Tay. She's got a nice build, she's got a nice shot, and she brings good on-ball defense. She had one wicked block in particular on what was going to be a great fast break for St. John's. Brogan Berry was the kind of pest you expect someone to be if they're six inches shorter than everyone else on the floor, not when they're five-eight. Christine Matera brought red-hot shooting off the bench, canning threes all over the place- she finished with four triples. Emma Moretzsohn somehow doesn't look intimidatingly huge, despite being 6'7" and therefore four inches taller than anyone else on the floor. I think it's because she's slightly built. Harvard has a very communicative team. I heard the players and the coaches being verbally involved with the game constantly. I like that a lot in basketball, and I think it encouraged our ladies to start talking to each other, which has been one of their major problems this season.

Off-court amusements: Coco's hair exploded. Sky gets her dance moves from her mother- it was particularly hilarious when they were both dancing to "Let It Rock". During one shot during shootaround, Sky came down really weirdly on one foot and just started cracking up.

Da'Shena started off hot, then cooled off, then decided, "Fuck this, I'm taking over." in the second half. Twenty points, all on two-pointers; not a bad haul, all things considered. Good hands, too. Not a great night for Joy, but it didn't have to be, with the minutes we got from Recee and Victoria. Yes, Victoria. I nearly fell off the bleachers when KBA brought V in with ten and a half minutes to go. And we all burst into wild applause and whoops of joy when she hit her first two shots and got fouled on both. The free throw shooting is a problem. Victoria, may I suggest hanging around Kelly for that? She's the only reliable FT shooter we have left. But I'm really, really glad she's starting to get into the flow of games. We're going to need her next year. Sheree kept making things happen. She's a very energetic player, and though her enthusiasm sometimes gets the better of her, she's an asset to the team. Kelly didn't find her groove until the second half, but she had the most dynamic play of the game. Sky pulled the trigger a bit quickly sometimes, I thought, but overall she didn't have a bad game. Solid bench play tonight, too. Well, Coco was Coco- if there's a dumb mistake to be made, she'll make it- but other than that we got really good bench play. Kristin played a few good minutes. Britney took a little while to get into the flow- she made a couple of dumb freshman mistakes, and then almost got broken on a three-pointer, but she got herself straightened out eventually. Recee played tough, and I think she changed the complexion of the game, especially when she and Victoria were in- Dartmouth wanted to get physical, but when we came with the bigs, they couldn't answer, because their posts were tall and skinny.

Kia Wright was at the game- she's been at quite a few of them, actually, but she brought a really bad haircut to this one. Some of the recruits were behind the bench. Monique McLean was wandering around. This last made me want to hit something with my clipboard.

So it's on to Hartford now. Anyone wanna give me a lift? I'll pay gas money.

There will eventually be pictures here, as there are for St. John's games, but it might take longer than usual. Be patient. It's tourney time.