Harvard women's basketball garners first Ivy League WNIT win

Brogan Berry and Christine Clark combine for 49 points as the Crimson defeat Hofstra, 73-71.

The women's basketball team celebrates their victory over Hofstra last night as they became the first team in Ivy League history to record a win in the WNIT.

The women's basketball team celebrates their victory over Hofstra last night as they became the first team in Ivy League history to record a win in the WNIT. | Photograph by Brian Ballweg

All is not lost for Harvard basketball. As the men’s team fell to Vanderbilt in the first round of the NCAA tournament, the women’s basketball team made their own history Thursday night by defeating Hofstra 73-71 at the Women's National Invitational Tournament, to become the first team in Ivy League history to record a win in the WNIT. With the victory in hand, Harvard advances to the tournament's second round and will face Temple this Saturday, March 17, at 6 p.m. in Philadelphia.

Star senior guard and co-captain Brogan Berry and sophomore guard Christine Clark combined for 49 points, with Berry scoring 19 of her 26 points on 7-of-8 shooting while going 4-of-5 from three-point range in the first half. She finished the game shooting 9-of-16 from the field and 5-of-9 from the three-point line, and added five rebounds and four assists, moving her into sole possession of second place in Harvard history and fourth place in the Ivy League with 521 career assists. Berry is now the twenty-seventh leading scorer in Ancient Eight annals, with 1,437 points, and is tied with former teammate Christine Matera '11 for the program record with 115 appearances, according to Ivy League Sports. Clark went 9-of-15 from the floor and 3-of-5 from three for her 23 points, and added seven rebounds.

“It was a phenomenal team effort and everyone was feeling it tonight,” Berry said on video after the game. 

Update 3-20-12: According to Ivy League Sports: The Harvard women’s basketball team turned an 11-point second-half deficit into a four-point lead, but could not hold on down the stretch as Temple outscored the Crimson 6-3 in the final 1:17 to earn a 64-59 win Saturday in the second round of the WNIT. Berry scored a team-high 21 points with three assists and two steals.

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