Harvard Sneaks Past Bulldogs

The Harvard women’s basketball team pulled out a hard fought 70-63 win at Yale (9-11, 2-4) on Friday, in a game marked by a tough Crimson comeback. Harvard (12-7, 4-1) trailed the Bulldogs in the first half, but mounted an aggressive second half attack to walk away with the win. Sophomore Jackie Alemany had a career game off the bench, spearheading the comeback.

“It was a fight out there,” Harvard coach Kathy Delaney-Smith said. “Yale is really good at playing up the rivalry.”

The game saw three Crimson players in double-digit scoring, including Alemany, who posted 13 points. Senior Emily Tay led the team with 19 points and five assists, followed by freshman Brogan Berry who tallied 18 points. Along with contributing to the point total, Alemany led the Crimson’s defensive efforts with a career-high six steals and seven rebounds.

Harvard came out of the locker room aggressively, taking a 4-2 lead off a Berry jumper only two and a half minutes into the game. Yale was relentless as it went on an 8-0 run to take a 10-4 lead two minutes later. A jumper from Tay, followed by a pair of Berry free throws, brought the score to 10-8. The Bulldogs created an eight-point margin, with 10 minutes remaining. The Crimson tallied six straight points to cut the lead to 24-22. Yale quickly responded with a 10-2 run in a minute and a half to make it 34-24 with 5:38 remaining.

“They were really aggressive defensively,” Tay said. “They made it pretty hard to get shots off and hurt our three-point shooting.”

Alemany kicked off the five-minute comeback with a mid-range jumper. She then found Emma Markley open in the paint for an easy two points. Still on a run, Alemany intercepted a Yale pass to retain Crimson possession. Tay and Berry capped the comeback with two free throws to tie the score at 34-34. Harvard took the lead off a Tay free throw. The Bulldogs tallied only one point in the final 5:12 of the first half. Harvard dropped two more jumpers to close out a 15-1 run and head to the locker room with a 39-25 advantage.

“They took away our three-point shot,” Smith said. “But we were still able to take it the basket and adjust to their defense.”

The Crimson shot 50 percent from the field during the first half, outshooting the Bulldogs, who hit 42.9 percent. Tay posted 15 points for the half, while Alemany tallied six in eight minutes of action.

Harvard looked to hold onto its lead in the second half, immediately scoring four points in the beginning of the half. Berry then stole an inbound pass for another jumper to make the score 43-35 in the first minute and a half. Yale managed to close the margin to 47-43 with 14 minutes left. Alemany tallied six points, allowing Harvard to take a 57-47 lead with 10 minutes remaining.

“There were a couple moments where we thought we could pull away, but they kept with us,” Tay said.

The Bulldogs managed to pull within 57-51, but Harvard held on to the six-point lead with a quick layup. Yale dropped a three-pointer to make it a three-point game, but two free throws from sophomore Claire Wheeler increased Harvard’s lead to 63-58. The Bulldogs then tallied a bucket and two free throws to make it a one-point game at 63-62. Harvard made 7-of-8 from the charity stripe in a 45 second span. With the score at 68-63, The Crimson denied Yale a field goal in the last 4:27 and prevented them from scoring for three minutes and 26 seconds.

“We try to treat every ivy game the same,” Smith said. “You can’t predict outcomes or what teams can do.”

The Crimson shot 45.1 percent from the field and 72.7 percent from the free-throw line, while Yale went 42.9 percent from the field and 73.7 percent from the charity stripe. Harvard won the battle on the glass, outrebounding the Bulldogs 34-32.

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