Cserny got most of her scoring from behind the arc in the first half, where she shot 4-for-4, and on the charity stripe in the second half, where she shot 9-for-9. The 33 point total bested her career-high by six.

“I think I’ve become more comfortable with the style that we play here,” Cserny said. “The teamwork is much better so it is easier to score and rebound.”

Cserny’s effort matched the eighth-best single-game scoring performance in Harvard history. The seven above her all came from Feaster. But Feaster never scored 30 points in a game as a freshman.

The place where Harvard struggled the most against Manhattan was on the offensive glass. The Crimson had just one offensive rebound during the first half. One Jasper player, Rosalee Mason—the nation’s fourth-leading rebounder as of Dec. 17—singlehandedly grabbed eight offensive rebounds, as many as the entire Harvard team.

“We have kids who go to the boards but we don’t have kids who box out as consistently as they should,” Delaney-Smith said. “So we’re trying to fix that.”

The only other major negative has 19 Harvard turnovers. That hardly washed out the positives. Harvard shot an impressive 23-for-25 from the line, and Peljto, who scored 22 points, was 10-for-10 herself. Senior guard Jenn Monti, who leads the Ivies in assists, scored nine clutch points and dished out nine assists to just two turnovers.

Harvard 67, Bucknell 44

Cserny and Peljto put up nearly identical statistics on Sunday in a dominating 67-44 victory against Bucknell at Lavietes Pavilion. Cserny scored 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds in 30 minutes. Peljto scored 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting and pulled down nine boards in 31 minutes.

To put the duo’s performance in perspective, Bucknell, as a team, was 16-for-55 from the floor. Peljto and Cserny were a combined 18-for-29.

“Reka is such a great addition to team,” Peljto said. “She makes everyone else on the floor look better and makes my job a lot easier.”

Harvard raced to a 38-21 lead at the half, paced by Peljto’s sharp shooting and Cserny’s inside prowess. Peljto began the game on fire, hitting her first four shots including one three-pointer. At one point, Cserny scored 10 points in a row for Harvard, including three put-back lay-ups.

Bucknell did not have a player on its roster who could match up with Cserny in the paint, and Delaney-Smith expects that her star freshman should continue to wreak havoc on opponents when the Ivy season begins. Cserny had three blocks and six steals in the game on the defensive end, both career highs.

“I think [Reka Cserny] is better than Allison Feaster was when Allison was a freshman,” Delaney-Smith said. “Reka is very talented on both offense and defense. We knew we had an edge if we went inside, and she took advantage.”

In the second half, Harvard’s defense took over, preventing a potential Bison comeback. Sophomore guard Dirkje Dunham played sensational defense all game on Bucknell’s star scorer Molly Creamer. Dunham held Creamer to only 13 points on 5-of-18 shooting, nearly six points less than Creamer’s 18.9 ppg average entering the contest. Sophomore forward Tricia Tubridy grabbed 12 rebounds and junior forward Kate Ides showed flashes of brilliance, connecting on two beautiful inside baskets that halted Bucknell’s momentum before any damage could be done.

“Bucknell is a much more talented team than they showed,” Delaney-Smith said. “I have to credit our defense, especially Dirkje’s job on Creamer. Dirkje has done a great job jumping into the starting lineup. She makes few errors on offense and is a great defensive presence.”