Delaney-Smith broke the news to her team just before Christmas.

"We were devastated that anything remotely bad had happened to Kathy," captain Laela Sturdy said. "We were really upset when we first found out. But if anyone can handle it, Kathy can."

Sturdy says it has not changed the way the team treats its coach.

"It hasn't affected the way we look at her as a coach," Sturdy said. "We are just trying to be strong and supportive of her. It's just another small challenge in the road. We are just wishing her the best."

Delaney-Smith is the winningest basketball coach in Harvard history, currently owning an all-time record of 254-198. Her 250th career win came Nov. 28 with an 83-50 win over Sacred Heart. Friday's win over Dartmouth gave her 150 career Ivy League wins.

Delaney-Smith, who has the longest current basketball coaching tenure in the Ivy League, has guided Harvard to six Ivy titles and recruited Harvard's greatest women's basketball player ever, Allison Feaster '98.

In Feaster's senior season, the Crimson made history when it upset Stanford in the first round of the 1998 NCAA tournament. It marked the first time a No. 16 seed had beaten a No. 1 seed in either the men's or women's tournament.