Women's Basketball's Furious Second Half Rally Comes Up Short Against FGCU

Sometimes, furious rallies come up a little bit short, and that was the case for the Harvard women’s basketball squad on Saturday night.

The Crimson (4-4) found itself trailing Florida Gulf Coast University (5-3) by 25 points early in the third quarter but hustled its way back to a 53-47 deficit later in the period after unleashing a 21-2 run.

Getting over the final hump proved to be too much, however, as the Eagles hit critical free throws in the final minute of the game to pull away from the Crimson en route to a final score of 74-65. The closest Harvard would come to tying the game was a five-point deficit with 1:05 to play.

“Last night really shows how great this team can be, but it all comes down to how we start off the game,” sophomore guard Kirby Porter said. “Getting off to a slow start came back to bite us in the end. That push in the second half just wasn’t enough.”

Co-captain Kit Metoyer ignited the Crimson offensive surge with an eight-point outburst in the third quarter, but the defense played an enormous role in the second half’s momentum swing.

“We really pride ourselves on being the better defensive team on the court and the better rebounding team on the court,” Porter said. “Once we get those two aspects of our team dynamic going, we’re honestly unstoppable. And I believe it was our defense that got [our rally] going last night.”

Metoyer and fellow captain AnnMarie Healy ultimately led all Harvard scorers with 11 points apiece, while senior guard Shilpa Tummala recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds in the loss. Tummala also dished out a team-high six assists.

The Crimson dug itself into a deep rut with cold shooting from the floor early on, making just 12-of-32 shots in the first half. On the other hand, FGCU took control of the scoreboard by sinking six of its first seven shots, taking a 29-13 lead at the end of the first quarter and stretching its lead to 45-26 by halftime.

Eagles senior guard Kaneisha Atwater, a 2014-15 Atlantic Sun All-Conference first teamer, controlled the pace of the game from the outset, showering down three treys en route to a game-high 27 points on 10-for-22 shooting.

FGCU sophomores Haley Laughter and Taylor Gradinjan scored 17 and 12 points, respectively, combining for eight three-pointers along the way. The entire Harvard offense managed only five—Tummala had an especially rough night from beyond the arc, making only one shot on 10 attempts.

The combination of Laughter’s and Gradinjan’s well-timed three-pointers, in addition to Atwater’s blistering speed, served to slow down the momentum of the Crimson’s third-quarter rush. Atwater ended the Eagle’s scoring drought with a layup late in the third, and she and Laughter followed up with two three-balls to break the spell and regain control of the game.

“Coming back from a big deficit like that against a good team is virtually impossible,” Harvard junior forward Destiny Nunley said. “Great teams will come back like we did, but great teams will also keep that lead—they won’t let us chip away.”

Harvard and FGCU traded baskets until the final minute, after which the Crimson started to foul, but the Eagles made all six of their foul shots to clinch the game. Tummala and freshman guard Madeline Raster missed several desperation deep balls in the waning seconds.

Harvard dominated the boards, grabbing 49 rebounds to the Eagles’s 32, but that stat didn’t matter when the shots didn’t fall. The Crimson finished the game shooting 22 percent from beyond the arc and FGCU shot 38 percent.

Harvard moves to 1-3 on the road and dropped both games in its short Sunshine State road trip, coming up short in Fort Myers two nights after being blown out by No. 24/23 South Florida. The win was the first for FGCU on its home court.