This Time, Harvard Can't Top Terriers

Whoever said history repeats itself obviously never watched the Harvard women’s basketball team.

Despite last year’s 91-74 thrashing of Boston University (BU) and this season’s early success, the Crimson fell to the Terriers’ in a clumsy 59-52 loss.

Captain Reka Cserny made her return after missing Saturday’s game with an ankle injury. While missing only one of six attempts from the line, Cserny sank only four of 13 in the paint and was unsuccessful in all three of her three-point tries. However, it was a mental, not physical, affliction to which Harvard coach Kathy Delaney-Smith attributed Reka’s uncharacteristic performance.

“It’s a mindset she’s plagued with, that the whole team was plagued with,” Delaney-Smith said. “We didn’t show up in the first half and by the time we started playing like we can, it was too late.”

The buzzer sounded the second half like a trumpeter rallying the troops. The Crimson (5-3) was the clear aggressor, charging its opponent on both ends Early on, Harvard wrestled out three jumpballs, preventing the Terriers (4-3) from gaining any trace of momentum.

Junior Shana Franklin drove home a three-pointer, precipitating a Crimson drive that resulted in one of seven fouls drawn by her classmate Kate Mannering.

Going a perfect 7-for-7, Mannering brought Harvard within two baskets.

“All that we’re experiencing as a team is a mindset problem,” Delaney-Smith said. “They wait for me to get angry with them. I love the way we started in the second half, but that was after I got angry with them.”

But the Crimson fire was quickly extinguished when Mannering was pulled with four fouls. The BU offense ran all over the court, with a six-point Terrier streak that drained almost three and a half minutes from the clock.

With less than six minutes left, Harvard racked up five unanswered points, culminating in Katie Murphy’s open three-pointer to put the Crimson within two, its lowest deficit of the game.

It was definitely a mindset problem when junior offensive force Jessica Holsey fouled out with 1:44 left. The game then regressed back to Harvard’s sloppy performance and teetering ball possession that characterized the first half.

“We had 19 turnovers tonight,” Delaney-Smith said. “In our first four games we were playing a lot better and we’re supposed to be better [now] but we’re not…We’re worse.”

Amid the mishandling and muddling, junior Laura Robinson mirrored the career game she had last year against the Terriers. She snuffed the Terrier offense at half-court-. However, with the lackluster performance of Robinson’s teammates and absence of Holsey, BU went on a six-point run to seal its victory.

“We’re gonna have to [regroup],” Robinson said of the night’s effort. “We have a strong team, and we’re just gonna have to take this one and learn from it.”