Women's Basketball Falls Late to Brown

With 11 seconds left in the game and Harvard women’s basketball down three points, junior Emma Golen grabbed the rebound and quickly pushed the ball up-court. After scanning the open floor she pulled up behind the three-point line and let the shot fly.

But, the shot, like many others for the Crimson on Friday night, did not fall and Golen’s team lost to Brown, 58-55, at Pizzitola Memorial Sports Center.

It was not all bad for Harvard (12-10, 5-3 Ivy), though, as it fought back late to erase a 14 point second-half deficit. The comeback began at the 13:49 mark with junior Victoria Lippert’s made three-pointer and lasted until there were 45 seconds left in the game, at which point the Bears (15-8, 6-3) finally managed to capitalize on a Crimson turnover and did not let up the rest of the way.

As was true in the last minute, turnovers proved to be detrimental for Harvard throughout the game. It tallied 20 on the night, the most it has suffered against any Ivy team all year and more than three over its season-average. Brown did its most to capitalize off of the giveaways, running the ball and scoring 19 points off of these Crimson mistakes.

The first half was a game of runs between the two teams, but those of the Bears were more numerous and more lengthy than those of Harvard. A little less than half way into the first period, the Crimson took what would be its biggest lead of the game when an 8-0 run gave it a 17-11 lead. The remaining 10 minutes of the half were all Brown though, with the result that by halftime the scoreboard had been flipped and the visitors now trailed, 31-25.

The second period started off as more of the same and the lead was extended to a game-high of 14. At that point, though, the ball was given to Lippert to do what she does best—hit threes. She did just that, hitting her 44th three-point shot of the season, good for third best in the Ivy League. With that made basket momentum swapped sides and it was now the Crimson who controlled the game.

After a quick Bears layup, sophomore Christine Clark was sent to the line and sank two free throws. The next couple of minutes entailed each side swapping baskets until freshman Erin McDonnell sunk her second three-pointer of Ivy play with just under five minutes remaining in the game.

At 1:50, the lead was cut to five when Golen hit yet another shot from deep for her team. This was followed by a layup from Clark and a free throw by Lippert. But that was as close as the Harvard would get as a missed free throw and a turnover put the ball back in the hands of Brown with 12 seconds left to play. The only thing left for Harvard to do was foul, and it did just that. The Bears made one of two free throws, extending the lead to three, but missed jumpers by Lippert as well as co-captain Brogan Berry as time expired sealed the Brown victory.

Clark led all scorers with 20 points off of seven for 13 shooting, a definite upturn after going a combined seven for 26 in last weekend’s play. The opposite was true for Berry as she went two for 16 on Friday night after shooting 16 for 28 in her previous two games.