With the graduation of four seniors last May, the Harvard women’s basketball team will look to its quartet of rookies to have an immediate impact down low and on defense.

Four seniors may have graduated from the Harvard women’s basketball team and hung up their Crimson jerseys for good, but four rookies will have the chance to step into their spots during the 2014-2015 season.

To replace the departed group, Crimson coach Kathy Delaney-Smith has brought in a class of four freshmen that includes a center who had 500 blocks in high school, a world-class rower, a four-time state champion, and a lock-down defender. On a team Delaney-Smith describes as the deepest she’s had in “a long time,” the rookies are expected to shoulder big roles for the Crimson this season.

“I’ve been really impressed with their class so far,” co-captain Kaitlyn Dinkins said. “They don’t really act like freshmen. Basketball-wise, they’re really mature and have stepped up to the level of some of the upperclassmen.”

The team, which finished tied with Princeton for second in the Ancient Eight in 2013-2014 season, was picked to finish third in this season’s Ivy League Preseason Media Poll, behind the Tigers and the Quakers—the defending conference champion. Harvard lost to Rutgers in the second round of last year’s Women’s National Invitational Tournament.

The freshman expected to make the most immediate impact for the Crimson is 6’4” Anna Lachenauer, a center from Weston, Mass. In practice, Lachenauer has been going up against senior Temi Fagbenle, the 6’4” All-Ivy first team forward expected to anchor the Crimson’s attack this year.

“This young freshman Anna is unstoppable,” Delaney-Smith said. “She’s just not playing like a freshman. She’s an incredibly hard worker, [and] she learns the game really quickly.”

Lachenauer, Milton Academy’s all-time leading shot blocker, nearly averaged a triple-double in her senior season, posting a stat line of 15.4 points, 11.6 rebounds, and 8.0 blocks per game. The center led her team to the semifinals of the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council Tournament and was named Independent School League MVP during her senior campaign.

According to co-captain Erin McDonnell, Lachenauer’s height and athleticism should put her in a position to be an elite collegiate defensive player.

“She is an unreal shot blocker,” McDonnell said. “She has long arms and very good timing for her blocks for practices. Especially because we have Temi, there’s a battle in the paint between those two at practice, which only makes [the] other better.”

Lachenauer joins a frontcourt featuring Fagbenle, McDonnell, and junior forward AnnMarie Healy, each of whom saw significant playing time last season. Joining the trio will be sophomores Maggie Hartman and Destiny Nunley, who both sat out last season due to injury.

Joining Lachenauer as another 6’4” newcomer to the Crimson frontcourt will be Maddy Tessier-Kay. Unlike her fellow recruits, Tessier-Kay was not necessarily known for basketball in high school.

Following her sophomore year at Conestoga High School, Tessier-Kay rowed for the Pioneers at the 2012 Henley Women’s Regatta, one of the world’s most prestigious rowing races, held annually on the River Thames in England.

“There was just something special about her potential,” Delaney-Smith said. “I think she is very agile and mobile for her height. She’s coming here with a little less experience than typical, and we just are astounded by how quickly she learns the game.”

While Tessier-Kay may be less polished than Lachenauer, the Harvard coaching staff and upperclassmen are excited to see the duo grow into Harvard’s frontcourt of the future.

Harvard’s other two freshmen, 6’1” wing Cameron Nieters and 6’1” guard Kirby Porter, are both currently sidelined with injuries but are expected to contribute when they return. Nieters, a Winston-Salem, N.C. native, was a four-time state champion at Bishop McGuinness Catholic High School and was invited to try out for the USA U16 National Team in 2011.

Porter hails from Chevy Chase, Md., and was recruited for her athleticism and aptitude on defense.
Delaney-Smith envisions Porter developing into the team’s defensive stopper, taking on the role vacated by recently-graduated guard Jasmine Evans ’14.

This year’s freshmen are already making an impression on their teammates.

“Their class has become a part of our team a lot earlier than some of the other classes that I’ve experienced,” Dinkins said. “Our team is very close, both on and off the court, and so them being close with each other and therefore meshing with the team has allowed all of us to be very close [and to help the] unselfish team basketball that we play.”