Senior Reaches Historic Mark in Big Blowout

The Harvard women’s basketball team defeated the University of Maine (2-7) 73-50 yesterday at Lavietes Pavilion with a dominating offensive performance. The game was marked by an all-around team effort, as four players recorded double digits, and senior Emily Tay posted her 1,000th career point.

“I had no idea I had scored my 1000th point, so I’m really excited,” Tay said. “It was a really big surprise for me.”

The Crimson (6-4) dominated the second half, using a 22-8 run to take a 31-point lead. The frame was characterized by spectacular play from Tay at the point and sophomore forward Emma Markley on the boards.

Markley opened the half with three consecutive buckets, two off of assists from Tay, who would go on to post an entertaining run of her own. With the score at 48-28, the senior dropped eight points in five minutes, adding a one-handed floater after a quick crossover under the net with about five minutes to play and a pull-up jumper to bring the score to 54-30.

Tay entered the record books with a spectacular wraparound shot, all while switching hands in mid-air to become the 13th player in the program’s history to reach the historic mark.

Harvard opened up the first half strong, constructing a 12-6 run in the first five minutes. The offensive attack was also led by Tay and Markley, tallying four and eight points, respectively, in the brief run.

The Crimson continued to dominate with back-to-back three pointers by captain Niki Finelli, and the senior brought the score to 20-9 after tallying two free throws.

A fadeaway jumper from sophomore Claire Wheeler and a three pointer from sophomore Claire Wheeler and a three pointer from sophomore Christine Matera in the with just over nine minutes to play extended the Crimson’s lead to 25-10. The Black Bears responded with an outside jumper from junior Kristin Baker but could not mount a successful run against an aggressive Crimson defense.

“It was a feel good game on both sides of the ball,” Tay said. “We played great as a team both defensively and offensively.”

Maine was able to construct an 8-2 run off of aggressive rebounding and outside shooting. Black Bears Baker, Katia Bratishko, and Samantha Baranowski led the run, each tickling the twine from the outside.

“There were more errors than I wanted, but I was pretty pleased,” Harvard coach Kathy Delaney-Smith said. “I want intensity more than I want error-free, but I wasn’t pleased with our rebounding once again.”

The Crimson answered Maine’s shooting run with a long-range three pointer from freshman Caitlin Rowland to make it 37-24. With a minute left before the break, Finelli tallied a jumper from the outside to close the half 41-26. Harvard’s 41-point effort marked the most points it has scored in the first half all season.

Markley tallied a double-double for the game and led the Crimson with 19 points and 14 rebounds. Matera scored a career-high 11 points, marking her first time in double digits, while Finelli rounded out the double-digit efforts with 10 points.

The Crimson shot 43.8 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from the three-point line, but lost the battle on the boards.

“That was a team on a mission on the boards,” Delaney-Smith said. “They showed us that we have to do a better job on rebounding. We were good, but they still out-rebounded us.”

—Staff writer Evan Kendall can be reached at kendall@fas.harvard.edu.