Crimson Splits Two at DePaul Invite

The Windy City welcomed the Harvard women’s basketball team with a Chicago-style blowout on Friday, as host DePaul dismantled the Crimson, 97-52, in the first game of the DePaul Invitational and season opener for both teams.

The No. 18 Blue Demons sprinted out to a 14-0 lead and began the game on a 37-4 run, burying the visiting Crimson before it could ever get settled at the DePaul Athletic Center.

“It was a really exciting opportunity [to play a team like DePaul],” said sophomore guard Lindsay Hallion. “We were confident about it and prepared for a long time—and that’s why it was so shocking how we got down so early. It was hard to bounce back from that night.”

But Harvard (1-1, 0-0 Ivy) turned its ship aright on Saturday, using a dominant second half performance to clinch a victory in the consolation game over Alabama State. The Crimson held the Hornets to 35 percent shooting from the field and sank eight three-pointers en route to a crucial 69-56 win.

HARVARD 69, ALABAMA STATE 56

On Saturday, Harvard got off to the hot start it couldn’t find against DePaul, kicking the game off with a Shana Franklin three-pointer and playing a back-and-forth battle with Alabama State throughout the first half.

“The DePaul game was demoralizing, and everybody said after the game that the Saturday game could make or break our season—how we would bounce back from that,” Hallion said. “We said, ‘This is something we have to get done. We have to show that we’re not going to let teams walk all over us.’”

Crimson trailed 28-17 with 5:59 remaining in the first half after ASU’s Shantae Roberts completed a three-point play to cap off a 9-2 run. Rather than repeat Friday’s meltdown, the Crimson reeled off its own 11-3 run to pull within 30-28 before halftime.

During the run, senior guard Laura Robinson poured in seven points, including a three-pointer to cut the lead to six. Robinson finished the game with a career-high 18 points, and co-captain Jess Holsey netted 12 of her own 18 points in the first half.

“When it was a close game, I think our starters did such a great job during that stretch,” Hallion said. “It was really important to come out with a win there because the game was really hanging in the balance in the first half.”

Harvard capitalized on that momentum after the break, going ahead for good 32-30 on an Adrian Budischak tip in with 19:03 remaining. Freshman guard Emily Tay debuted with back-to-back jumpers to give Harvard a five-point cushion during a crucial second-half stretch.

The Hornets mustered just one field goal in the first seven minutes of the second half and could never crack the Crimson defense, shooting just 20-of-57 from the field for the game.

The Crimson remedied its anemic offense from Friday’s loss with a dominant perimeter game. Four players—Holsey, Robinson, Franklin, and co-captain Maureen McCaffery—finished in double figures and combined for 56 of Harvard’s 69 points.

DEPAUL 97, HARVARD 52

It was a long 40 minutes for Harvard on Friday night, as the Crimson committed 34 turnovers and converted just six first half field goals against No. 18 DePaul.

Harvard found its bearings in the second half, but the first-game jitters had already unraveled the Crimson: Harvard trailed 47-18 at halftime and shot just 25 percent from the floor and 57 percent from the free throw line in the opening frame. DePaul led 14-0 before Holsey nailed a jumper with 15:21 to play in the first half.

“When you get in that situation [playing against a ranked opponent] you want to play like you have nothing to lose,” Hallion said. “But we got a little tight in the beginning and it was really hard to make it up.”

DePaul, meanwhile, downed five first-half three pointers and converted 12 of its first 15 field goal attempts. Blue Demons’ guard Jenna Rubino nailed consecutive threes to give the host a 25-2 lead with 14 minutes remaining in the opening half.

To top it off, the Crimson turned the ball over 17 times in each half and was forced into transition defense more often than not.

“Our defensive communication was missing a lot in the DePaul game,” Hallion said. “We weren’t talking and we weren’t there for each other.”

Though Harvard tried to play catch up, the Blue Demons followed their 47-point first half performance with 50 in the second frame. Despite McCaffery’s team-high 11 points, the Crimson would never get closer than 29 points in the second half. Five DePaul players recorded double figures, with guard Ciara Johnson tallying a career high with 14 points on 4-of-5 shooting beyond the arc.

—Staff writer Aidan E. Tait can be reached at atait@fas.harvard.edu.