Turnovers Cost Women's Basketball Against St. John's

It’s hard to score without the ball. This is a problem that the Harvard women’s basketball team (6-2) has encountered one too many times this year.

The Crimson, plagued by turnovers all season, saw the consequences of sloppy play Sunday afternoon, as it fell to Big East power St. John’s (5-1) at Carnesecca Arena. Down only three with just 43 ticks left on the clock, the Crimson turned the ball over for the 24th time on the night, as the Red Storm drew the charge.

After a precession of fouls and free throws, Harvard was staring up at the scoreboard with an 81-76 score to think over on the bus ride home. The Crimson is averaging 18.9 turnovers per a game, a true Achilles heel for the team thus far.

“[St. John’s] came out in the second half…. and had a pretty good run,” junior guard Ali Curtis said. “They picked up the defensive pressure, forcing a lot of turnovers that could have been avoided.”

Harvard led by as many as nine in the first half and headed into the locker room with a 36-30 advantage at the break. But the Red Storm never went away, breaking out into an 11-2 run to gain the lead in the second, as they picked up the intensity.

The Red Storm managed to score 34 points off of Crimson turnovers, as sophomore Aliyyah Handford led the comeback for her home squad. Harvard could not compete with the backcourt of St. John’s as Handford and freshman Aaliyah Lewis combined for 44 of the team’s 81 points on the day.

“Other than our turnovers, which was a matter of little scrappy guards stripping ours and pushing layups, I thought we could have turned the game around” Harvard coach Kathy Delaney-Smith said. “We should have done a better job protecting our point guards from that.”

Despite the Crimson’s inability to possess the ball, it found success developing an interior presence. Junior forward Temi Fagbenle had another standout night, as she posted a season-high 20 points, her third such game in her career. Fagbenle, who was just shy of a double-double with eight rebounds, was the answer for Harvard, stopping crucial runs in the second half with clutch baskets.

“Every time [Temi] steps on the court, she is definitely one of our go-to players,” Curtis said. “We wanted to get her involved because we were dominating in the post and she was doing a good job down there so we were looking for her.”

Led by Fagbenle, the Crimson dominated the paint, outrebounding St. John’s 48-25, including 23 second-chance points. Nonetheless, Fagbenle was the victim of a poor call, according to Delaney-Smith, which led to two quick fouls and a spot on the bench for the veteran early in the first half.

The Crimson brought a balanced attack to Queens, as the team saw four players score in double figures, including nine rebounds and four points from senior combo guard Melissa Mullins.

“[Having a balanced attack is] one of our strongest attributes,” Curtis said. “We have a very deep bench and people who can come off the bench and come into the game and score. That’s a great testament to our teamwork and our practice day in and day out, and everyone come in and make an impact.”

As Harvard heads to the Arizona State Classic this weekend, it may have to look to many of these bench players for scoring, as co-captain Christine Clark battled an injury in the second half. Though Clark finished the game in double digits for the seventh time this season, her health will be a key determinant of the Crimson’s success moving forward.

“I’m hoping Clark recovers from her injury in the second half,” Delaney-Smith said. ”The tournament at ASU is a good tournament.”

With Clark sidelined, the Red Storm took advantage, making a late run to take the lead, and never looked back. Without its leading scorer, the Crimson stuck to its offensive game plan of forcing the ball inside, but was eventually undone by St. John’s late push.