Florida St. Melts W. Hoops out of Seminole Classic

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—The Harvard women’s basketball team traveled to Tallahassee, Fla. over Thanksgiving break looking to make a statement against strong nonconference competition in the Seminole Classic.

The Crimson (2-2) took the opening game of the tournament over Liberty (1-3) in a double-overtime thriller, 75-73.

However, Harvard couldn’t continue its good fortune in the championship game against Florida St. (3-1), as the Seminoles capitalized on their superior inside game en route to a 96-82 victory.

“There are a few things we have to work on as a team that we learned from this weekend,” Crimson co-captain forward Hana Peljto said. “But what we come away with from this weekend is a sense that we can play with anybody, because these were two great teams and two great games for us.”

The Lady Flames fell to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (2-3) in the consolation game, 65-56.

Peljto was named to the all-tournament team as she recorded 47 points and 19 rebounds on the weekend.

“I think those two post players—the tandem [of junior center Reka Cserny and Peljto]—are some of the best players we’ll see this season,” Seminole coach Sue Semrau said. “The way that they can step out and face up as well as penetrate to the basket...They’re smart [players]. Harvard—makes sense, doesn’t it?”

Florida St. 96, Harvard 82

Despite an auspicious start, the Crimson could not meet the Seminoles’ charge as Harvard faded before dropping the championship game of the Seminole Classic by 14, 96-82.

“You can’t give up 96 points and let someone shoot 62 percent from the floor and expect to win,” Harvard coach Kathy Delaney-Smith said.

Harvard could not muster a run as the second half drew to a close and was unable to narrow the Florida St. advantage to single digits in the last four minutes of the game.

The Crimson grabbed a 19-10 lead early in the first half as senior guard Bev Moore, sophomore guard Jessica Holsey and Peljto all contributed three-pointers. The Seminoles responded with a quick 10-2 run capped by a layup by Genesis Choice.

Harvard hung around heading into halftime, as sophomore forward Kate Mannering recorded four points in the final minute of the half to keep the Crimson within five of Florida St., 44-39.

The Seminoles increased their lead to nine just over a minute into the second half. Harvard charged back, as a three by Holsey brought the Crimson to within three, 55-52.

A Choice jumper gave the Seminoles their first double-digit lead at the midway point of the second half, 73-63.

Trailing 76-65, the Crimson reeled off a 7-2 run to pull within six with 6:30 remaining. But Harvard would get no closer, as Florida St. slammed the door, pushing the margin back to double-digits within a minute.

The Crimson could not match the Seminoles’ athleticism inside and Florida St. took advantage, netting 46 points in the paint to Harvard’s 28. The Seminoles also dominated the boards, outrebounding the Crimson 33-18. Part of Harvard’s interior woes came from the fact that Cserny—the Crimson’s primary inside presence—spent the weekend battling the flu.

“Rebounding was our nemesis today,” Delaney-Smith said. “We have to be a better rebounding team and fundamentally today we were pretty inconsistent with our boxouts.”

Harvard 75, Liberty 73 (2 OT)

The game that wouldn’t end finally ended.

With five seconds remaining in the second overtime and the score tied at 73, Peljto drove to her right and hit a jumper. Liberty was unable to bring the ball up the floor and get a shot off in the time remaining as Harvard sealed a 75-73, double-overtime win and a spot in the championship game of the Seminole Classic.

“The shot clock and the [game] clock were winding down and I just took a couple of dribbles and took a shot,” Peljto said. “It seemed to take five bounces before luckily going in.”

After a layup by Mannering tied the game at 71, Moore drove into the lane and hit a jump shot to give the Crimson a two-point lead. The Lady Flames’ Rima Margeviciute knotted the game with a layup, setting the stage for Peljto’s game-winner.

Harvard trailed 66-63 in the first overtime with just 37 seconds remaining. The Crimson brought the ball down the floor, but could not find an open shooter. Sophomore guard Laura Robinson drove the lane trying to create an opportunity, but lost the ball. The referees ruled that a timeout had been called before she lost possession, allowing Harvard to maintain control.

Coming out of the timeout, the Crimson worked the ball around the perimeter to co-captain forward Tricia Tubridy. Tubridy drove to her right and launched an off-target three, but drew a foul from Liberty’s Aundrea Dawson. Tubridy hit all three free throws to knot the game and force a second overtime.

Trailing 59-57 with 1.2 seconds remaining in regulation, the Lady Flames had a final, desperation attempt to tie. Liberty set a back screen for Margeviciute as she rolled toward the hoop. She caught a baseball pass in the paint from Daina Staugaitiene, turned to the basket and cashed in an easy layup at the horn, sending the game into overtime.

“The goal was to clog the lane,” Delaney-Smith said. “I told them not to go for the steal unless they were sure they could get it. We went for the steal and they scored.”

It hadn’t always seemed that close. Cserny and Peljto carried Harvard to an early seven-point lead as the duo combined for 11 of the Crimson’s first 13 points.

Harvard began to pull away as the first half drew to a close on the strength of three-pointers by Tubridy, Holsey and Peljto. The Crimson stretched the lead to 12 before Lady Flames guard Michelle Parker connected on a jumper with 11 seconds left in the half to close the Harvard lead to 10, 30-20.

Liberty opened the second half with a 14-5 run, pulling to within one of Harvard, 35-34. However, the Crimson didn’t yield to the surging Lady Flames. Three-pointers by Robinson and Holsey helped Harvard push its lead back to seven with 8:24 remaining.

After Liberty closed the gap to just one with 3:52 left in regulation, Cserny connected on four straight free-throw attempts to pad the Crimson lead before fouling out with 2:32 remaining.

Harvard appeared to be in control of the game leading 59-53 with just over two minutes remaining in regulation. The Lady Flames cut the lead to four and then marched even closer as Stephanie Walker picked off a Crimson pass and recorded an easy layup with just over 30 seconds to go.

Harvard won despite being outrebounded 47 to 34 and losing the field-goal percentage battle 42.9 to 36.5.

Peljto had game-highs in points and rebounds with 21 and 11, respectively, while logging 45 minutes on the floor.

—Staff writer Michael R. James can be reached at mrjames@fas.harvard.edu.