WEB UPDATE: St. John's Storms Past Harvard in NIT First Round

QUEENS, N.Y.—For one half, it seemed like the Crimson’s season might have been extended for a reason.

In the first frame of the Harvard women’s basketball team’s matchup against St. John’s last night in the opening round of the National Invitational Tournament (NIT), the Crimson kept pace with its Big East opponent, trading shots and leads with the Red Storm to hit the locker room down by just three points.

But the second half was all St. John’s. The Red Storm (18-14) dominated possession and the paint in the final stanza, eventually handing the Crimson (19-10) an 83-60 drubbing and finishing what Dartmouth started by ensuring that Harvard’s 2008-09 campaign would end unceremoniously.

“We’re pretty disappointed,” Crimson coach Kathy Delaney-Smith said. “I thought we played well in the first half, and then we self-destructed in the second half. I’m not sure why.”

After Harvard’s Ivy League title and NCAA Tournament hopes were abruptly dashed by the Big Green last Tuesday in the final game of the regular season, the Crimson received new life with a bid to the NIT and a date with St. John’s at Carnesecca Arena in Queens, N.Y.

“It’s a mixed bag,” Delaney-Smith said. “We were disappointed [in the loss to Dartmouth]. It’s hard to say, ‘Do we really want to go to the NIT?’ I thought the team really buckled down and had a good week of practice.”

But the Harvard resurrection did not last long—only about 20 minutes, in fact. The Crimson entered the second half well in contention, down just 32-29, but what had been shaping up to be a hotly-contested battle quickly devolved into a blowout.

The Crimson kicked off the frame unable to find the basket, and the Red Storm pounced on the opportunity, unleashing an offensive downpour led by its standout forward, Da’Shena Stevens. The 6’1 rookie sensation, who had scored eight points in the first half, doubled that total in the opening four minutes of the second, spearheading a 16-4 run that gave St. John’s a 48-33 advantage.

The Red Storm steadily built upon its lead, essentially putting the game out of reach less than midway through the second half when it went up, 60-39, on a Centhya Hart jumper.

“Once they got out to a 20-point lead, we just couldn’t close the gap,” Harvard co-captain Emily Tay said.

The Crimson did threaten to make things interesting with 7:11 left to go in the game, completing a 10-0 run in just over a minute to cut its deficit from 26 to 16. A jump shot from senior Katie Rollins got the scoring splurge started, and sophomore forward Claire Wheeler followed a St. John’s miss with a three-pointer. Sophomore guard Christine Matera stole the ensuing inbounds pass and sunk a shot of her own from beyond the mark. Sophomore Jackie Alemany then forced another Red Storm turnover and found Rollins, who made a two-point shot to bookend the stretch.

But it was too little, too late for Harvard, and the team faltered in the closing minutes to lose by a final score of 83-60.

If the second half belonged to St. John’s, the first was a more communal affair. The Crimson and the Red Storm each picked its moments to shine, building increasingly substantial leads before clutch shooting from the opposition brought the deficit back to a more manageable margin.

Harvard received a boost off the bench from Matera, who netted a trio of timely shots from three-point land. Matera’s first two treys turned St. John’s three-point leads back into ties, and her third gave the Crimson a five-point advantage—tied for Harvard’s biggest lead of the game.

“She’s a really good shooter for us,” Delaney-Smith said. “That’s what we’ve talked about over the week.”

Sophomore forward Emma Markley also found a hot hand for the Crimson in the early going, scoring eight points in the first half.

But the Crimson’s initial efforts were negated by the team’s lackluster second-half showing, which was notable only in that it marked the final appearances of three of Harvard’s seniors: Tay, Rollins, and Emma Moretzsohn.

None of the three players put in their best performances, but they did provide reminders of why they have been so crucial to the Crimson’s success over the last four years.

Rollins, who has battled injuries this season, managed to score four points and bring down five rebounds—good enough to tie for the team-lead.

Mortezsohn excelled in limited action, notching five points and four rebounds in just 12 minutes of play.

“She played hard the last month of her career, which is hard because she doesn’t get a lot of game time,” Delaney-Smith said. “I respect that in her.”

And Tay—the flashy point guard and catalyst of the Harvard offense—actually had a subpar effort by her standards, but gave an adequate summary of her career contributions in the final two scoring plays of the Crimson’s season.

With 2:42 left in the game, Tay perfectly directed a nifty no-look pass to Markley, who turned around for an easy basket. Then, in Harvard’s final possession, Tay took the ball at the left baseline and hit nothing but net on her final shot in a Crimson uniform.

“It was a quick four years [at Harvard], but I had an awesome, awesome time playing here,” Tay said.

—Staff writer Loren Amor can be reached at lamor@fas.harvard.edu.