Athlete of the Week: Healy Drops 27 in Women's Basketball's Win Over Columbia

Seventeen games into the season, there has yet to be a game where co-captain AnnMarie Healy has failed to score in double digits for the Harvard women’s basketball team.

Eclipsing her former career high of 24 against Yale last season, Healy dropped 27 points along with six rebounds against Columbia (11-8, 0-4 Ivy) on Saturday. Scoring 19 in the first half alone, Healy shot 13-of-14 despite facing added pressure from the Columbia defense and a double team in the second half.

She scored all of her 27 through the first three quarters, and in a game that would be decided by three points, Healy’s early scoring would prove to be pivotal.

“She’s been pretty constant for us as one of our statistical leaders,” Harvard coach Kathy Delaney-Smith said. “She’s a great athlete, so offensively she’s a tough matchup for a lot of people. She’s like the Energizer bunny, she just doesn’t wear down.”

With the departure of Temi Fagbenle last year, the Crimson (8-9, 3-1) lost one of its most prolific scorers in team history. Healy has undoubtedly done everything she can to fill the gap left behind.

As the Ivy League’s third leading scorer, averaging 15.6 points-per-game, Healy has become the Harvard’s go-to player at the forward spot. Despite Harvard’s overall mediocre field goal percentage, Healy also rounds out the Ivy League with the third-best field goal percentage at 50.9 percent.

Coming off an overtime win against Cornell (11-7, 3-1) on Friday where she scored 15 and added six rebounds, Healy’s effort on Saturday was huge. Despite being Harvard’s leading force scoring inside, Healy’s effort on the other end of the floor has also been key. With Tummala playing as more of a stretch four since the start of the season, Healy has stepped up in the paint on both offense and defense.

“She’s a finesse inside player,” Delaney-Smith said. “She’s an athletic inside player, so she has to go against power a lot. She has to work a little bit harder because she can’t pound, she can’t move people. She has to get around them which takes that extra effort, and she’s constantly working at that.”

In charge of guarding freshman standout and rookie of the week Josie Little on Saturday against Columbia, Healy held Little to eight points and five rebounds.

“She’s an important piece of the defensive puzzle,” Delaney-Smith said. “We sometimes switch on screens, and so she’s [needed] to have some legs to cover guards driving. She’s just done a really good job for us.”

Beyond her dominance on the floor, Healy has stepped up as a leader on a young squad that features seven freshmen, two of which have been staples in the starting lineup. With the freshman working their way into the offense, Healy along with the Crimson’s other two seniors—Shilpa Tummala and Kit Metoyer—have become the key pieces to Harvard’s success.

"It’s happened several times in practice, when [the seniors are] leading statistically and by example,” junior guard Destiny Nunley said. “It’s so awesome playing with people who put their heart out on the court. They want you to be as successful as they are.”

Despite a difficult nonconference schedule that saw Harvard lose four games by less than five points, Healy has been one of the Crimson’s main sources of consistency.

With the Crimson’s next weekend slate featuring Ivy League heavyweights Penn and Princeton, Healy’s effort will be crucial at home against two of the Crimson’s biggest rivals. Playing against both of them on the road last year, Healy put up 18 against both in consecutive games.

“Her work ethic is phenomenal in the game,” Delaney-Smith said. “That’s one of the things that’s so strong about AnnMarie—she just doesn’t get tired, she keeps going and going. Even though she’s been throughout the season a statistical leader, she’s still working at getting better.”

—Staff writer Troy Boccelli can be reached at troy.boccelli@thecrimson.com.