W. Hoops drops eighth straight contest

Five minutes into last night's home game against Hofstra, it looked like the Harvard women’s basketball team had a chance to snap its losing streak at Lavietes Pavilion. But the Crimson let its eight-point lead quickly turn into a fifteen-point deficit. Hofstra (5-4) ultimately defeated Harvard 82-68, extending the Crimson’s skid to eight games and tying its longest losing streak since the 1983-1984 season.

A barrage of three-pointers put Harvard (2-9) on top 22-14 at 15:03, but the Pride fought back with an aggressive defense that dominated the boards, snatching up 44 overall, compared to the Crimson’s 28.

Sophomore guard Lindsay Hallion had eight points in that first run, including two field goals from beyond the arc. Co-captain Maureen McCaffery and senior Laura Robinson both notched six points in the same span. The way Harvard played in the first five minutes did not turn out to be a real indicator of how the game would go.

“We stopped moving and got a little bit stagnant for a while,” said Robinson. “In the beginning, what created most of our shots was movement and that kind of stopped.”

Hofstra quickly got back in the game with a 9-0 run, securing the lead with a lay-up by junior Vanessa Gidden. The game went back and forth after that, with the lead changing hands four times in less than three minutes.

A 14-0 run by the Pride put the Crimson in the hole at 27-42, which proved too difficult for Harvard to overcome?even after scoring a quick six points to end the first half with a manageable nine-point deficit.

Junior Christiana Lackner opened the second half with a lay-up after a steal by senior Shana Franklin. Harvard kept Hofstra in its sights, pulling within four points with 13:22 remaining.

“We cut it to four, but when they called a time-out, it slowed our momentum a little bit,” Robinson said. “Next time we can’t let that happen.”

The Crimson could not piece together a solid run and trailed by 20 points with less than two minutes remaining. A pair of three-pointers by McCaffery chipped the deficit to 14 by the end of the game.

“We weren’t seeing the open player inside,” Harvard coach Kathy Delaney-Smith said. “They were pressuring us and we just couldn’t get the ball to the inside.”

Harvard tried to fight back by applying pressure to the opposition, but the Pride kept beating the Crimson on the drive, allowing it to rack up points. Harvard’s dismal rebounding—in the first half, it snatched nine to Hofstra’s 28—was the biggest problem, according to Delaney-Smith.

The meeting wasn’t a complete wash-out, as McCaffery snapped a two-game drought with four three-pointers. She and Franklin, who also netted four from the arc, led the Crimson in scoring. Robinson pitched in with eight points and six assists, while freshman Emily Tay continued to perform well with seven points, four assists and two rebounds.

Hofstra had four players score in double digits, led by junior Cigi McCollin with 14 points. Amaka Agugua, India Ali and Jenna McSpadden each racked up 12 points. The Pride shot 47.7% for the game and went 12-24 on three-pointers.

“We didn’t get out to the three-point shooters,” said Robinson. “[McSpadden] and [McCollin] had wide open shots and if we had been able to get out there I think it would have been a different game.”

Rebounding was the Crimson’s major weakness. But Delaney-Smith pointed out that a litany of problems has prevented Harvard from notching a win since November 22 against Rhode Island.

“We just have to put two halves together,” she said. “There have been bright moments in every game, but this game slipped away from us a little. We have been in a position to try to win every game and we just aren’t able to do it. Its not any one player or any one reason, it’s just a level of inconsistency right now that we have to fix.”

“We just have to put an entire game together.” Robinson added. “We played great for 30 minutes; we have to play great for 40 minutes.”

Harvard will continue its nine-game homestand on Friday against Binghamton.