“It’s exciting because I grew up with a lot of these girls in high school and played against a bunch of them in different tournaments,” Bell said.

However, Bell admits it won’t be all fun and games.

“Once they step on the court, they bring their game, despite who they’re playing,” she said.

To win, Harvard will need more scoring than from the usual playmakers—Peljto (22.6 ppg, 10.6 rpg) and sophomore Reka Cserny (10.8 ppg, 6.0 rpg).

A freshman who could make an impact is Jessica Holsey—already the third-leading scorer (7.0 ppg) on the team despite averaging just 18.8 minutes a game.

Holsey’s offensive play has been inconsistent though. She averaged 10.5 points in Harvard’s first two games but scored just two points in each of Harvard’s games at Vanderbilt before scoring 10 against Northeastern on Wednesday.

Yet Holsey feels that there are other areas of the game she must excel at this weekend.

“I need to play really good defense,” said Holsey, who is tied with Cserny as the team’s leader in steals with nine.

This statement seems to be a general team focus. The Crimson hopes to improve upon its first-half defensive performance against Northeastern, where it gave up 41 points.

“I want more intensity on defense,” Delaney-Smith said. “I did not like the first half [against Northeastern] at all.”

Players hope the work they have put in this week during practice will pay off on Sunday.

“We’re hoping to have really intense practices, focused on defense, and hopefully that will carry over in to the game,” Bell said. “We’ve been practicing with a scout team made up of boys, which has upped the intensity of the practices.”

Still, boys are one thing and Gophers are another, and Harvard will need to come out with all the intensity it possesses if it hopes to prove golden.