NOTEBOOK: Offense Comes to Life for Women's Basketball Rout of Columbia

In Friday’s romp over Columbia, Harvard exploded for its highest scoring output of the season with 86 points. The team’s previous high was 80 points against Colgate on January 2.

The Crimson was on fire throughout the game, especially in the first half, when it shot 52 percent from the floor and 4-of-5 from three-point range. For the game, Harvard shot 64 percent from downtown, well above its season average of 33 percent.

“This is hands down as good as any team I’ve ever had as far as shooting,” Harvard coach Kathy Delaney-Smith said.

The Crimson received a very strong performance from its bench, as reserves outscored the starters 47-39. Freshmen Emma Moretzsohn and Emily Tay led the way, scoring 14 and 12 points respectively.

One reason for the new season high in points: the Crimson dished 21 assists, also a season high. Five players had multiple assists, with senior Laura Robinson leading the way with six—all of them in the first half.

Harvard played strong inside, scoring 30 points in the paint.

It was helped by freshmen centers Katie Rollins, the team’s leading scorer with 16, and Moretzsohn.

The game was the second time all season that four players reached double figures for Harvard. Senior Shana Franklin had 11 points and hit all three of her three-point attempts.

THROW IT DOWN

The Crimson was on a roll from the free-throw line for twenty-five minutes of the game.

In that span, Harvard players went to the line 10 times and made 10 free throws.

No one missed until Moretzsohn bounced the second of two attempts off the rim with 15:42 left in the game.

Moretzsohn was a major reason for the Crimson hot streak, as she had made her first six shots from the foul line.

“We had some foul-shooting trouble last game so we worked on it a lot in practice,” Moretzsohn said. “I was sick one day this week so I was off to the side shooting foul shots.

“I just think repetition helps and they all seem to fall,” she added.

Overall, Harvard shot 77.3 percent from the line for the game, more than ten percentage points higher than its season average of 67.5 percent.

NOT IN OUR HOUSE

The Crimson put in a strong defensive effort in the first half, holding the Lions to 29 percent from the floor and forcing seven turnovers. The defense helped Harvard stake out a 39-22 lead in a game in which the Crimson never trailed after scoring on its first possession of the game.

“I liked our defense,” Delaney-Smith said. “I’ve been pretty happy with our defense of late.”

Though Harvard scored right away, Columbia couldn’t manage a point until 3:45 into the game.

The Crimson’s strong defense forced turnovers on the Lions’ first three possessions.

In the first half, Columbia only had one more made field goal than turnover, 8-7. For the game, Harvard forced as many turnovers as the Lions had assists (12).

KNOX

Sophomore Jessica Knox played the most minutes of her young career, with 15, as quintupled her total scoring output for the season by scoring eight. She also added five rebounds and two assists...Harvard has won 40 of its 41 all-time meetings with the Lions...Eleven players logged double-digit minutes for the Crimson.

—Staff writer Ted Kirby can be reached at tjkirby@fas.harvard.edu.