Sharp-Shooting BU Beats Harvard

The Harvard women’s basketball team was unable to build off the momentum from its first win of the season, losing last night’s crosstown matchup against Boston University, 77-63.

Though the Crimson (1-7) dominated the glass all night, outrebounding the Terriers (6-4), 46-29, and compiling 22 offensive boards, Harvard’s lackluster offensive effort and poor perimeter defense made for a long night at Case Gym.

“You can’t only do one thing well and think you can win,” junior guard Lindsay Hallion said. “It’s great that we have been picking up the rebounding, but you have to play well and we really didn’t especially in the second half.”

And the Crimson’s trips to the charity stripe were no more impressive.

Harvard shot a measly 30.8 percent from the line compared to BU’s 76.7 percent clip—and the feisty Terriers’ penetration into the lane got BU 30 free throws to the Crimson’s 13.

“That’s a mental mistake,” Hallion said. “A Division I team shouldn’t shoot 30 percent from the line.”

The Terriers, despite their smaller size, also successfully defended against Harvard inside the paint. The Crimson opened the game with six quick baskets in the low post, but BU implemented an aggressive halfcourt man-to-man defense that stymied Crimson guard play and forced Harvard beyond the perimeter.

“Our game plan was to go inside,” co-captain Christiana Lackner said. “I thought it was lot easier in the beginning to get it inside and empty the ball to the wings. That’s what would get us [open] threes in the end, but we got away from it and got stuck on the perimeter.”

The Crimson came out strong, outscoring BU 8-2 in the opening four minutes of the game. Two consecutive steals by the Terriers’ Christine Kinneary, however, led to two BU layups and put the Terriers up for good with 15:05 remaining in the first half.

BU gradually built the lead to 39-29 by the half, and the Crimson was never able to recover.

The Terriers opened the second half on a layup and a three-pointer from forward Erica Kovach—one of three on the game—and added to their lead behind strong perimeter shooting.

“Threes [cost us the game],” Lackner said. “Take away three possessions of three-pointers—that’s nine points right there, and we’re right back in it.”

BU shot an incredible 53.3 percent from the arc for the game, including a 4-of-6 second-half clip—all of which came at crucial moments.

Foul trouble plagued the Crimson, especially in the second half. Sophomore guard Niki Finelli went out with two early fouls in the first half, and Lackner fouled out with 4:55 remaining in the second half. Harvard’s excessive team fouls sent BU to the line early and often in the latter frame.

Sophomore guard Emily Tay led the team with 19 points, six assists, and four steals, but it was not enough to give the Crimson a crucial road win. The loss, Harvard’s third straight loss to BU in as many years, brings the team’s road record to 1-5.

“We worked hard on the boards, but we can’t make [all] those mistakes,” said Harvard head coach Kathy Delaney-Smith. “We had a week to practice, we had a week to prepare, and to show up like that—[the players] should be ashamed of themselves.”

The team, which had nine days off since its last game, now faces a busier schedule with three games in just over a week.

“We will walk into the Wisconsin game [on Friday] believing we can win—the problem is they don’t,” Delaney-Smith said. “And it’s the cycle of losing—when you lose as many as we’ve lost, do you know how to win? Do you believe you can win?”

But with the team still a month away from Ivy League competition, Delaney-Smith sees opportunity in the non-conference tilt.

“We’re a much better shooting team than that, but [the players] let [the loss] get under their skin,” she said.

“They know how good they can be, because they’ve shown it in every game, except for this one,” she added.