Harvard Blows Out Big Red

The dreaded curse of Friday the 13th did not seem to faze the Harvard women’s basketball team against Cornell this past weekend. The Crimson (13-8, 5-2 Ivy) came out strong against the Big Red (7-13, 3-5 Ivy), as it gained the lead five minutes into the game and held on for the duration to win, 75-57.

Harvard’s starting five accounted for all but nine of the team’s 75 points, shooting 52 percent from the field and making 18-of-23 free throws. Co-captain Emily Tay was Harvard’s sparkplug, electrifying the crowd and her teammates alike at key points in the game when momentum was up for grabs. Tay finished with 14 points, five rebounds, eight assists, and four steals.

The team’s leading scorer, sophomore Emma Markley, posted her fifth double-double of the season. She finished impressively with 18 points, 10 rebounds, and two blocks. Markley helped her team get off to a great start, delivering a crushing block 90 seconds after the opening tip-off and scoring the Crimson’s first nine points of the game.

“Emma Markley, when she starts strong, is really tough to defend,” Harvard coach Kathy Delaney-Smith said. “If [she] is feeling good, she’s going to score in several different ways.”

“I think to start off, we ran the floor pretty well,” Markley added.

Sophomore forward Claire Wheeler, who started in place of the injured Katie Rollins, made a large contribution with her inside presence, which amounted to nine rebounds and four hard-earned points from under the basket.

Cornell was strong from beyond the arc, racking up more than half of their overall points from 3-point range. Agile Big Red guard Lauren Benson silenced the crowd multiple times after draining jumpers from downtown. But Harvard always had an answer for Cornell’s sharpshooting.

Tay and Markley led the Crimson early as they crafted a 15-3 run that ended midway through the second half. In the opening minutes, Cornell’s Benson sunk a long jumper and dished to forward Shanna Scarselletta for an easy layup the next trip down the floor. Tay answered with an assist to Markley in stride, who picked up a foul as she hit a floater from the paint. Harvard’s constant “attack” mentality enabled them to neutralize many of Cornell’s potentially costly baskets.

“We started stronger than we have been,” Delaney-Smith said. “We’re not there yet, but it wasn’t bad. I thought we weathered their runs of momentum well.”

Crimson guards, freshman Brogan Berry and co-captain Niki Finelli, both scored 15 points and shot 100% from the free throw line.

With four of five starters in double digits, Harvard was able to maintain its lead over the Big Red even as it narrowed the score to four points with nine minutes left in the game.

Much of the second half was the Tay show. She used her repertoire of fade-aways, spin moves, and reverse layups to overcome heavy traffic in the paint, as well as some questionable calls from the referees. With many pairs of hot hands on the floor and a fully engaged home crowd, the Crimson fended off Cornell and coasted to victory.

The team showed great poise on Friday night by focusing on the task that lay ahead.

“We definitely need to focus on having a stronger start,” Markley said. “I think we did pretty well this game.”

The Crimson has seven games to go, one against each Ivy. As one of the main contenders for the Ivy League title this year, Harvard must continue to strive for consistency.