Stags Give Harvard Fourth Straight Loss

Harvard’s women’s basketball team kept the score close against Fairfield for most of the game on Saturday, but a late Stags run prevented the Crimson from improving on its winless record.

Harvard (0-4) fell to Fairfield (2-3) by a score of 73-57 at the Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, Conn.

Neither team could take control of the game in the first half, and the score was tied at 45 at 10:06 in the second frame.

Then the Stags found their rhythm on offense, and the visiting Crimson never found its own pace on the road.

Fairfield went on a 17-4 run over the next five minutes, icing the game with a bucket that gave the host team a 62-49 lead.

Stags guard Sabra Wrice led the charge in the second half, netting 13 points in the latter frame. Wrice finished the game 8-13 from the field with 22 points and eight rebounds.

The Crimson was unable to recover from the large deficit, and the game clock wound down with no further challenges from Harvard.

“We found ourselves in a hole that we couldn’t get out of,” sophomore forward Katie Rollins said.

But the game did not start out so one-sided.

Neither team could establish a consistent offensive rhythm early, as the two sides combined for three turnovers during the first minute of the game.

The sloppy play continued throughout the contest, as Harvard gave up the ball 23 times while Fairfield had 18 turnovers of its own.

“I think that both teams were looking to run and gun a little bit,” junior guard Lindsay Hallion said. “That leads to more turnovers on both sides.”

The teams traded points for the next six minutes, leading to a 9-9 tie at 13:10.

The Stags then showed off their long-range prowess, nailing a trio of three-pointers during a 14-6 run that put Harvard down by eight.

Fairfield seemed primed to run away with the game, but the Crimson stayed within reach and even cut the lead to just five by the end of the opening half.

Harvard found its scoring touch in the beginning of the second half. An offensive spurt led by sophomore guard Niki Finelli brought the Crimson within two at 15:02.

A minute later, a jumper by sophomore guard Emily Tay brought the game to a tie.

Tay scored 15 points but also turned the ball over nine times.

Fairfield took the lead once again, but Harvard fought back, and a Finelli three-pointer brought about yet another tie.

Finelli led the Crimson with 20 points and seven rebounds.

This effort seemed to drain Harvard of any energy it had left.

Following Finelli’s shot, the Stags would regain the lead and never relinquish it.

“After we tied it we just didn’t have very much fight to take the lead and keep pushing after that,” Hallion said.

Fairfield went on a scoring tear that put the Stags up by 18 at one point, and the Crimson’s offense could not respond.

The clock ran out and the game ended in a Stags victory, at 73-57.

“We need to talk more on the court and actually listen to each other,” Rollins said. “We need to not get into our heads too much.”

“We just got outplayed,” Hallion added. “We didn’t keep up the intensity.”