The Boston University women’s basketball team suffered an 85-68 loss to Harvard University at Lavietes Pavilion on Sunday after a dominant second half performance from the Crimson. The loss comes after the Terriers reeled off back-to-back wins over Northeastern University and Brown University.
After holding a four-point lead at halftime, BU (3-4) collapsed in the second half. The Terriers held the Crimson (5-3) to a modest 34.5 percent shooting percentage in the first, but Harvard exploded in the second stanza and drained eight 3-pointers. The Terriers led by as many as 13 in the second half, but Harvard began finding open shots to the tune of 57 second-half points.
‘I think it was an offensive collapse for us,’ BU coach Kelly Greenberg said. ‘I thought after we went on our little run to start, they called timeout, came out and just got real physical. They made every pass very difficult.’
The Terriers initially came out strong in the second frame, going on a 7-0 run. Freshman guard Chantell Alford highlighted the scoring effort when she took a hard foul driving to the hoop, converting the layup. The freshman had another strong performance defensively with three steals to go along with a team-high 19 points.
Freshman Caitlynn Moran, the reigning America East Rookie of the Week, battled through adversity in one of her toughest games yet for the Terriers. The freshman guard scored eight points but turned the ball over six times. A turning point in the game happened early in the second when Moran ran into a hard screen. According to Greenberg, Moran wasn’t the same after that, mentally or physically.
‘I really think Mo hitting that screen and getting clobbered really took her out of the game,’ Greenberg said. ‘I really think it was a domino effect. The next couple of possessions, [Harvard] got physical with her and I just think they got into her head a little bit. So she wasn’t playing her normal game which directly affects everyone’s game.
‘To Mo’s credit, she didn’t want to come out, but we probably should have taken her out,’ Greenberg said. ‘She was really hurting.’
BU applied full-court pressure for almost the entire game, and in the second half they seemed tired and drained. Harvard took advantage of the weary Terriers and lit them up by shooting 67 percent from the floor.’
‘I think that we did get tired,’ Greenberg said. ‘I’m not sure why, because I think we’re in very good shape. But I think that frustration set in. And sometimes when frustration sets in your body language tends to droop, then you look more tired.’
Harvard threw BU a curveball when they implemented a help defense that forced 20 turnovers. Greenberg admitted she didn’t expect to see that.
‘In the tapes that we watched [of Harvard] they didn’t play ball-screen defense like that,’ Greenberg said. ‘So we’re ready for people to double [team] because we do play a lot of teams that do. So it wasn’t something we haven’t seen.’
The Terriers had the tall task of defending Harvard’s 6-foot-3 junior Emma Markley, who scored 16 points. The big forward came into the matchup leading the Crimson with 16.0 points per game. Seniors Maggie McKemie, Aly Hinton and juniors Kerry Cashman and Caroline Stewart all matched up against Markley defensively.
‘Our forwards matchup with whoever they have to matchup with in transition,’ Greenberg said. ‘We knew what [Markley’s] strengths are. I thought we did an OK job with her. I really just think we gave up too many wide-open 3s.’
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