Comeback Bid Falls Short for Women's Basketball Against Chattanooga

Playing in its last non-conference matchup of the season, the Harvard women’s basketball team couldn’t erase a 19-point deficit despite a late comeback attempt against Chattanooga on Monday night.

In its fourth matchup of a competitive five-game road trip, the Crimson (5-8) struggled to catch up to the Mocs (9-5) for much of the game after losing an early lead. In the last three and a half minutes of play, Harvard made a late run, scoring 16 points, but Chattanooga came away with the victory, 62-58.

Although the Crimson’s ’s three seniors—AnnMarie Healy, Shilpa Tummala, and Kit Metoyer—had averaged a combined 40 points over the past three games, Harvard struggled to hit shots. Early foul trouble also cost the Crimson as the game progressed.

“Shilpa got into foul trouble early and had to sit the whole first half,” Harvard coach Kathy Delaney-Smith said. “When that happens to Shilpa or AnnMarie, unfortunately that has an effect on us. But it shouldn’t have.”

With the clock winding down in the last minute of the fourth, Crimson freshman Sydney Skinner heaved up a three with a defender in her face. She drained it, with the foul, to pull the Crimson within nine.

After fouling the Mocs, Harvard put the ball in Tummala’s hands for the last two possessions. She drained two long threes, but it wouldn’t be enough as the clock ran out before the Crimson could finish the late comeback. All told, Harvard ended the game on a 16-3 run.

“I think that in those three and four minutes, we wanted it,” Healy said. “When I got back into the locker room, that’s what I told the team: ‘What is it going to take for us to take those three minutes and turn it into forty?’”

Healy lead the Crimson with 19 points while Tummala added 11 points and seven rebounds. However, Harvard sharpshooter Kit Metoyer failed to score on a season-low three shot attempts.

After trading shots through much of the first half, the Crimson recorded a single field goal in the last five minutes of the second period. Despite the offensive difficulties, Harvard’s biggest obstacle was getting stops on defense, as Chattanooga ended the second quarter on an 11-2 run.

The Crimson struggled to stop the Mocs in the lane, allowing 34 points in the paint. Chattanooga forward Jasmine Joyner led the charge with 16 points and 9 rebounds.

“It was very disappointing because scout was to stop the drive, and occasionally we didn’t do a good job of stopping the drive,” Delaney-Smith said. “For spurts of time when they got their big lead, they got a lot of offensive rebounds. We just had some breakdowns.”

Harvard’s struggles began early in the matchup. With Tummala on the bench, the Crimson gave up an early four-point lead to close the period down 16-10. Harvard turned the ball over six times in the first frame alone.

After giving up the lead early, the Crimson struggled to catch up late. While Harvard capitalized off turnovers, it struggled in transition. Chattanooga put up 10 fast-break points while the Crimson failed to score on the break.

In contrast to Harvard’s offensive woes, The Mocs shot 50 percent in the second half of the matchup to pull out of reach.

“They got a big lead, and we staged a comeback, but it wasn’t enough,” Delaney-Smith said. “We have talent and we have athleticism, but we’re young…. [W]e don’t use those tools as often and wisely as I would like to.”

Even so, the Crimson showed flashes of athletic talent throughout the matchup. After struggling to grab boards throughout the season, the team outrebounded Chattanooga, 37-35.

“I have a lot of faith in our team,” Healy said. “We’re a really good team, and I can’t wait to see what we look like when we put four quarters together.”

—Staff writer Troy Boccelli can be reached at tboccelli@college.harvard.edu.