Seven-Point Half Dooms W. Basketball

The Harvard women’s basketball team was the highest-scoring team in the Ivies last year, and it may well have the most powerful offense in the league again, but its seven-point first half performance at Rutgers on Dec. 21 didn’t show it.

The Crimson never recovered from the deficit it dug itself in losing 79-40 to Rutgers, but Harvard used its nine-day break to regroup and bounced back with a win over Manhattan on Dec. 30.

Harvard 71, Manhattan 56

The Lady Jaspers (3-7) and the Crimson traded baskets for the first 18 minutes of the game, and Manhattan was still within two with 8:17 left in the opening frame.

But Harvard started to pull away after a three-pointer from freshman guard Jessica Holsey initiated a 21-8 run to give the Crimson a 39-24 lead at the half.

“The run was prompted by our ability to run against Manhattan, and our posts’ ability to dominate in the paint,” said captain Kate Ides.

In the second half, the Lady Jaspers cut Harvard’s advantage to 10, powered by six points from Serra Sangar in the first five minutes. The Crimson answered with an Ides layup and a Holsey trey to bring the score to 54-39 with 9:15 remaining.

With a minute left, Manhattan closed the gap to nine points. But that was as close as the Lady Jaspers would get, as junior guard Bev Moore hit six free throws to secure Harvard’s 71-56 win.

The Crimson benefitted from its depth, as several players came off the bench to make a big impact on the floor. Freshman reserve forward Maureen McCaffery tallied 10 points, scoring four of them while registering two boards, one assist and two steals during Harvard’s big first-half run.

“Everyone who came from the bench did something positive and that’s why we stayed in the game,” said sophomore center Reka Cserny.

Cserny and junior forward Tricia Tubridy tied for the game-high with 16 points apiece. Tubridy also notched nine rebounds, while Cserny recorded two blocks.

The Crimson struggled initially with Manhattan’s physicality, but seemed to have adjusted by midway through the first frame. Still, Cserny thinks she, for one, can improve further.

“They were more physical with me and I couldn’t really adjust to that in time,” Cserny said. “I have to work on that, getting physical with physical teams.”

Rutgers 79, Harvard 40

It’s hard to imagine how the Harvard players could motivate themselves to come out for the second half after Rutgers (5-2) limited the Crimson to a meager seven points in the first frame. But Harvard did, and it showed some improvement before ultimately losing, 79-40.

“The basic consensus at halftime—quit being intimidated, quit playing scared and fight back,” Ides said. “It’s unfortunate that it took a whole half for us to realize that we could handle their defensive pressure and that we could run with these guys.”

Though the Crimson was missing its leading scorer, junior Hana Peljto, due to a sprained MCL, her absence was not the primary reason for Harvard’s offensive woes.

“We took the first shot available, rather than working the ball around for the easy shot,” Ides said. “We did not work to crash the boards on offense as well. I would say the first half was reminiscent of Vanderbilt.”

The Crimson lost to the Commodores, 84-44, on Dec. 1.

Too often, Harvard settled for an outside shot and the Scarlet Knights capitalized on the imbalance in Harvard’s game. The Crimson shot 9.5 percent from the field and 9.1 percent from behind the arc in the first half.

“Usually, we shoot really well from the outside,” Cserny said. “But this time, they didn’t fall and we didn’t get the rebounds that we usually get because they were physical and aggressive.”

Cserny led Harvard with 16 points and seven rebounds while Ides tallied nine points.

“We played as hard as we could in the second half of the Rutgers game, and as the cliche goes, we left it on the court,” Ides said.

—Staff writer Jessica T. Lee can be reached at lee45@fas.harvard.edu.