Throughout these victories and championships, Delaney-Smith preached one steady mantra: Act As If.

“[Act As If] meant that if you had a bad test, a fight with your roommate, or weren’t feeling 100 percent, well, act as if you do feel 100 percent,” DiVincenzo explained. “You show up, put your game face on, and act as if everything is okay. Don’t ignore your problems, but when you’re here, be 100 percent here. She did this every single day.”

Delaney-Smith most embodied her own motto when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1999. According to DiVincenzo, even through chemotherapy and radiation, Delaney-Smith never missed a day of practice.

“Kathy always showed up, no matter what was going on in her life, and most of us were too selfish or naïve to understand that she had a life outside the court,” DiVincenzo said. “She’d show up, and it was as if there was nothing more important in her life than that basketball practice or game.”

But the cancer affected Delaney-Smith’s life more than she let it show. Within a few months of her diagnosis, she went public about the disease, seeking to inform others about its implications. She reached out to other women suffering from cancer, hoping to assuage some of the anxiety.

“No one really told me what it was going to be like going bald,” Delaney-Smith said. “I had enormous fear over the chemotherapy because I didn’t know anything about it, and after having gone through it, you don’t have to have that fear.”

Delaney-Smith also preached the concept of staying busy throughout cancer’s trials.

“I would talk to a lot of people about working,” she added. “ I always think that’s a good thing, to be distracted from the thought of cancer. I think most of the people that took time off wished that they didn’t because it’s just lousy to sit around thinking about it.”

‘LET’S CREATE A LITTLE MORE HISTORY’

Over her 31 years at Harvard, Delaney-Smith has recruited, coached, and graduated over 100 women. The result of that, according to Trisha Brown ’87, is an incredible alumni system.

“It’s pretty unique in this day and age and in this profession for someone to be in one place and be so successful in one place for thirty years,” Brown said. “She isn’t just a basketball coach, and it isn’t just about that experience. It’s really about her genuine care for you as a person, and I think as an undergrad, once you get to see alumni weekend and experience it, you know it’s something very special.”

Delaney-Smith’s longevity has created a community and culture of family around Harvard women’s basketball, according to Jess Gelman ’97, who was a part of the team that went to Harvard's first NCAA Tournament.

“[To have such a large portion] of your alumni base come back is incredible,” Gellman said. “It’s just an indication of how much of an impact Kathy has had on all of our lives…. She doesn’t really ever stop coaching. She may notice something that you’re doing in your life, and she isn’t afraid to offer her opinion, and you really respect her…. She says, ‘Here’s where you need to improve,’ and it’s sometimes a difficult conversation, which is why she’s so successful.”

Her annual alumni weekends bring to Cambridge those that she coached both at Westwood and Harvard. The collective alumni take part in friendly competitions, contests that Gellman jokingly described as “poorly played.”

It’s been 42 years since Delaney-Smith first picked up a coaching book on women’s basketball, and in that span of time, she has witnessed numerous changes in the sport. Thirty-one seasons, 495 wins, and 11 Ivy League titles after Delaney-Smith’s arrival in Cambridge, the decorated coach isn’t done yet.