Crimson Blows 13-Point Lead in 73-68 Loss to Holy Cross

In a fast-paced game on Sunday afternoon at Lavietes Pavilion, Harvard women’s basketball (1-4) suffered its fourth loss in five games as it squandered a double-digit second-half lead to Holy Cross (3-3) en route to a 73-68 loss.

With two minutes left in the game, Harvard was down, 69-64, and when the team was in need of defensive stops, sophomore Christine Clark answered. The guard generated a steal and made a layup with 1:50 left, making it a one-possession game.

The Crimson once again had the ball with over a minute remaining and came up with four offensive rebounds before co-captain Brogan Berry drove to the paint and made a layup, cutting the deficit to one point, 69-68.

But Harvard’s late-game comeback was thwarted by Holy Cross’ Alex Smith, who finished with 22 points and 11 assists. Smith made four free throws in the last 24 seconds of the game to give her team the 73-68 win.

“I am pretty disappointed with my team,” Harvard coach Kathy Delaney-Smith said. “I don’t think we played well. We probably had spurts and moments [of playing well]. ... They have to be able to sustain what they do.”

After losing its first three games of the season, the Crimson squad was looking to find its form and build off of its win against Rhode Island on Tuesday. And while Harvard played well at times, the Crimson failed to maintain a high level of play throughout the contest.

Holy Cross opened the game with an 11-0 run, launching the team ahead to a 11-3 lead. The Crimson, unfazed by the Crusaders’ strong play, bounced back with an 11-point unanswered run.

After initial streaks by both teams, the remaining 10 minutes of the half was neck-and-neck, and there were 10 lead changes.

Clark, the Crimson’s most dominant player, scored nine points and went 4-of-6 from the floor in the first half. The sophomore finished with 17 points, five rebounds, and two steals.

“My focus was just to have poise on offense and take care of the ball and defensively attack them,” Clark said.

With two seconds remaining in the first half, junior guard Elle Hagedorn gave the Crimson a four-point advantage going into the half with a three-pointer—her second of the half, both of which came from the same spot on the left corner of the arch.

In the first half, many of the shots were contested, quick-release attempts, but both teams were able to earn solid shooting percentages—Harvard shot 48.4 percent from the floor, slightly better than Holy Cross’ 43.8 percent.

The home team capitalized on the momentum from late in the first half, starting the second period with good energy and well-executed play.

The Crimson looked to be in form to win its second game of the season, as it took a rather commanding 13-point lead with 13:39 remaining—the largest lead of the afternoon by either team.

But Harvard could not sustain the same level of intensity throughout. The Crimson’s loss of focus coupled with a Holy Cross resurgence allowed the host to lose its lead.

“Too many mistakes, too many instances where I thought Holy Cross played a little harder and tougher than us,” Delaney-Smith said. “I thought we had some not-smart play at times, especially down the stretch, where we should have been playing tougher, smarter, harder, and we didn’t.”

With 7:02 left in the game, Holy Cross’ Amy Lepely took advantage of a Crimson turnover and made a three-pointer to give her team its first lead of the half, taking a 58-57 advantage.

Toward the end of the contest, Holy Cross’ stellar free-throw shooting proved to be a big difference. The Crusaders went 11-11 from the line with all of the attempts coming in the last 10 minutes of play, while Harvard only made it to the charity stripe three times and cashed in only once.

“I think we had untimely turnovers, and I thought that on defense we started fouling them a lot and sending them to the free-throw line,” Clark said. “We were just not getting stops at all.”

Looking ahead, Harvard will hope to bounce back from a disappointing start to the season as it hosts Boston University Wednesday night at Lavietes Pavilion.