Freshmen Shine In Lopsided Road Loss

Much has been asked of the veterans of the women’s basketball team (9-6, 0-1 Ivy) this season, but on Thursday night it was a pair of freshmen who stepped up in Harvard’s 96-52 loss to No. 15/16 Florida State (17-3, 3-1 ACC) at Tucker Civic Center.

“They were number six in the country for a while—they’re a talented team,” Crimson coach Kathy Delaney-Smith said. “You don’t ever understand that level until you’ve played in it.”

The Seminoles weren’t quite as dominant as expected early, as Harvard was able to keep the game close for eight minutes.

Sophomore Caitlin Rowland hit two free throws to bring the game within four, but Florida State’s Alysha Harvin netted a jumper with 11:56 remaining in the half, putting the Crimson back in a hole.

From that point, Harvard struggled to keep pace, as it could not cover up the absence of junior co-captain Claire Wheeler in the post.

“Claire, who’s our starting center, hasn’t played in two games,” Delaney-Smith said. “She’s a big part of what we do, especially against [a team like Florida State]. We don’t match up one-on-one with that kind of front court, so we did it as a team, which left the perimeter open and they hit some threes.”

The nationally ranked Seminoles never looked back after Harvin’s jumper, putting the Crimson at a 16-point deficit by halftime, one from which the team would be unable to recover.

The second half was even worse for Harvard, as Florida State scored 52 points, doubling up the Crimson’s 28 in the frame.

“Overall, they’re just a better team,” junior co-captain Christine Matera said. “We were just outmatched and outplayed.”

None of Harvard’s starters scored in double digits, with Matera coming the closest in a nine-point effort.

But amidst the slaughter were breakthrough efforts by Crimson freshmen Elle Hagedorn and Miriam Rutzen, who led the team in scoring and rebounding, respectively.

Both have been gaining momentum with increased playing time over the course of the season, but neither has cracked into the starting lineup.

“Miriam and Elle have gotten better and better and better,” Delaney-Smith said. “They didn’t back down.”

Hagedorn got on the board before 11 minutes had expired in the first half, but the majority of her points came later as she scored a three-point shot to close out the half and accounted for six of Harvard’s 28 points in the second half, totaling 11 for the contest.

Rutzen also raised her game in the second half, finding four of her six rebounds after intermission.

“[Rutzen] spends so much extra time working on her game that there’s no doubt that she’ll be one of the greats,” Delaney-Smith said. “I’m trying to [make rebounding an asset]. Miriam is the kind of player who hears the call.”

The game marked a stark contrast to the Crimson’s Ivy opener, in which Hagedorn and Rutzen combined for four points and four rebounds. On Thursday in Tallahassee, Hagedorn filled out her stat line with three rebounds, two assists, and a steal, while Rutzen bolstered her six rebounds with two points and three steals—the most of any player on the night.

The efforts of the pair were far from enough to keep the game competitive, as five Seminoles scored in double figures with red-shirt freshman Chasity Clayton carrying the day with 17 points. But the continued emergence of relatively anonymous freshmen would provide a boost in conference play as stars Emma Markley and Brogan Berry have both earned targets on their backs throughout the Ivy League.

“[Rutzen and Hagedorn] are going to be big parts of our future success,” Matera said. “If we’re going to win the Ivy title, our freshmen are going to be a big part of that.”

Meanwhile, Harvard showed that it still has a ways to go before it can compete with top contenders such as Florida State. But the challenge provided an opportunity for the Crimson to recover from its heartbreaking loss to Dartmouth before launching into more Ivy play.

“We obviously had nothing to lose,” Matera said. “They’re the ranked team. It was a great experience. Unfortunately, we didn’t have our best showing.”

While the blowout loss provided little respite, it allowed Harvard to discover two new weapons, both of whom could prove important in future Ivy battles.

—Staff writer Christina C. McClintock can be reached at ccmcclin@fas.harvard.ed