Harvard's Delaney-Smith Sets Ivy League Coaching Record

Harvard women’s basketball coach Kathy Delaney-Smith is now the winningest coach — man or woman — in Ivy League history.

Delaney-Smith picked up her 515th career victory when her Crimson team beat Yale 69-65 on Friday night at Lavietes Pavilion. The win puts her one ahead of Hall of Famer Pete Carril, who coached Princeton’s men’s team for 29 seasons.

“I don’t count,” Delaney-Smith told WBUR ahead of Friday’s game. “I’m so not interested in that number at all.”

Even so, Delaney-Smith was emotional after Friday’s game, covering her face with her hands as her players embraced her at center court. Supported by co-captain Christine Clark, Delaney-Smith then walked off to the Harvard locker room.

The Crimson trailed by as many as six in the second half before taking the lead for good with 4:07 left in the game. In its final regular season game, Harvard hosts Brown Saturday night.