Women's Basketball Tops Yale, 68-63, in New Haven

Another game, another career night for junior forward AnnMarie Healy, who finished with 24 points on just 11 shots, shooting a blistering 91 percent from the field. Healy’s offensive performance paced Harvard (14-14, 7-7 Ivy) to a 68-63 victory over Yale (13-15, 7-7) Friday night in New Haven.

The 24 points on Friday marked a new career best for Healy, besting the total of 21 she set in last Saturday’s 82-81 home victory over Columbia.

The Crimson game out of the gates strong against the Bulldogs, taking an 8-2 lead off a layup by Healy three minutes into the game.  Yale responded quickly, hitting two straight shots from deep and tying the game at 10.

The three-point shot kept the Bulldogs close throughout the first half as the host hit six shots from behind the arc in an eight-minute stretch that culminated with a three from sophomore guard Meghan McIntyre to give Yale a 22-19 lead.

“One of the reasons that we won was our ability to stick together as they made runs as our shot wasn’t falling,” sophomore guard Destiny Nunley said.

The Crimson responded to the Yale charge with five points from Healy and four points from senior forward Temi Fagbenle as part of a 13-2 run. Yale cut the lead back to five going in to the locker room for halftime with four points in the final 30 seconds to make it 39-34 after 20 minutes of play.

“It was a fight from start to finish,” Nunley said. “The Yale players were feeding off of each others’ energy, so we really had to generate our own.”

Yale rattled off three straight buckets to start the second half, taking a 40-39 lead.  Much of the second frame saw the teams trade buckets, with no team gaining more than a four-point advantage until less than a minute was left in the game.

When the Bulldogs pushed its lead to 54-50 with eight minutes left, Healy took over, putting in six points in under a minute to give Harvard the lead.

The biggest shot of the night belonged to junior guard Shilpa Tummala, who knocked down a contested three from the wing to give the Crimson a 62-59 lead with two minutes remaining. A jumper by Fagbenle, who finished the game with 15 points and 10 rebounds for her 12th double-double of the season, was the nail in the coffin a minute later.

Harvard’s defense held down the stretch, and the visiting squad was able to seal the game at the free throw line.  The Crimson overcame 22 turnovers on the night thanks to hot shooting from the frontline, as Fagbenle and Healy combined to make 17 of 21 shots.

“[Healy] has been consistent for us all season, and against Yale she was amazing,” Fagbenle said.