Rookies Conquer Apple in Weekend Finale

On Saturday night in New York City, it seemed as if youth was indeed the only thing worth having.

And the Harvard women’s basketball team, armed with the Ivy League’s finest freshman class, had more of it in a rookie-led 86-71 victory for the Crimson (12-14, 8-5 Ivy) over Columbia (5-21, 2-12).

Harvard’s freshman tandem of guard Emily Tay and forward Katie Rollins erupted for 44 points—24 and 20, respectively—to spark the Crimson’s second-half effort against the struggling Lions. Rollins controlled the first half in the paint and Tay lit up the latter frame in an offensive clinic of dribble moves and jumpshots that showed why the Ivy League named her Rookie of the Week a week ago.

“It was the type of defense they were playing—my defender was really close up to me, and I just worked to get around her on the drive,” Tay said. “They didn’t adjust to my driving for a few minutes, so I just took advantage of what I got.”

But before Tay took over, the Lions, fresh off a heartbreaking overtime loss to Dartmouth the night before, turned the first half into a back-and-forth battle in which Harvard’s brief four-point lead with 14:44 remaining would be the biggest margin of the half.

The Lions gained momentum on four early three-pointers to stay in the game, a stark contrast to the teams’ February game in which Harvard dominated from the first jump.

“We’ve come out tight in a lot of our games,” Tay said, “and we’re just nervous. We don’t get comfortable until about 10 or 15 minutes into the game.”

Rollins scored the Crimson’s first 10 points to help Harvard overcome its characteristic first-half doldrums, which plagued the team in Friday night’s game at Cornell. Instead, Tay and Rollins combined for 15 of Harvard’s first 17 points to help neutralize Columbia’s 50-percent shooting from beyond the arc.

A last-second three pointer by the Lions’ Michelle Gage, who finished with 22 points on the night, gave Columbia a 39-38 cushion at the break.

That would be the last the Lions would see of the lead for the rest of the night. Rollins put in a layup just 11 seconds into the second half and the Crimson used an 11-4 run over five minutes to increase its lead to 67-57 with 7:27 to play.

“We needed to go out and prove the kind of team that we are, and that’s what we did the second half,” Rollins said. “We were loose, and it was a fun game to play—it was a feel-good game.”

Tay, whose crossover dribble and quick pullup jumper have terrorized opponents all season, shredded the Columbia defense with an assortment of pump-fakes and drives to the basket. Tay scored 17 of her career-high 24 points in the second half, including five over a 40-second span in which she completed a three-point play, stole the ball on the ensuing Columbia possession, and raced up the floor for a layup.

On another play, Tay drove to the rim and, despite every pretense of going up for the basket, delivered a beautiful backwards bounce pass to a waiting Christiana Lackner for the easy bucket.

“Little plays like that get the entire team motivated,” Rollins said. “You play defense harder, your offense flows from that when you get a little spark like that.”

In a banner night for both freshmen, it was Tay who stole the show quite literally, complimenting her offensive output with five steals and three assists. Rollins posted her career-high of 20 points in an efficient 16 minutes.

For the second consecutive night, Harvard dominated the glass, pummeling the Lions, 46-26, on the boards. The Crimson pulled down a season-high 20 offensive rebounds, and co-captain Maureen McCaffery led Harvard with nine.

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