Sharpshooter Takes Down Crimson in Final Moments

BOSTON—As the Harvard women’s basketball team struggled to maintain its razor-thin second-half lead, there could be no doubt in the minds of the Crimson defenders to whom Northeastern would turn for a game-changing open look.

The Huskies’ deep threat Melissa Kowalski had launched six three-point attempts in the first 16:47 of the second half, but thanks to an aggressive zone defense and a few favorable rolls, none had fallen. Yet.

Harvard had allowed just three treys until that point, despite an ineffective man-to-man defensive scheme in the first half that allowed Northeastern several open looks and two of those three-point field goals.

With three defenders positioned across the foul line in order to shut down the wings, clean glimpses at the rim were few and far between for the Huskies and most especially for Kowalski, who was held scoreless for a 10:34 stretch in the second frame.

Scoreless, that is, until the Crimson defense lost her in the shuffle with 3:13 remaining.

Francesca Vanin cleanly rebounded senior guard Bev Moore’s missed jumper and pushed the ball up the left side of the floor. As Harvard defenders hurried into place, the Huskies swung the ball from left to right.

Two passes later, the ball was in Kowalski’s hands without a Crimson jersey within five feet.

In a single fluid stroke, an entire night of missed jumpers was swept away, and with it Harvard’s final lead of the game.

“We knew that [she] was a very good shooter and when we were in zone, we didn’t find her all the time,” junior center Reka Cserny said. “They set a screen at the back of the zone, so she was wide open and hit a couple.”

Though the Crimson tied the score minutes later, Kowalski was ready to answer on the ensuing possession.

As the clock ticked down below one minute remaining, Northeastern settled into a half-court offense—the sort that Harvard had seen and dealt with for the past 39 minutes.

But particularly effective side-to-side ball movement sent the defensive zone into disarray. And when the Huskies snapped a pass back to the left sideline, Kowalski was waiting atop the arc.

Smoother than the first, her shot slipped through the cylinder, hitting nothing but net.

“We knew that coming into the game—that she has always had a great game against us,” co-captain Hana Peljto said. “We just didn’t get to her the way we should have and we didn’t follow our game plan the way we should have.”

And when the Crimson had pulled within one with 17 seconds remaining, to no one’s surprise Kowalski was there to shut the door.

After Harvard requested a timeout it had already spent, Kowalski stepped to the line and calmly knocked down both free throws. The Crimson defenders still had an eye on her, but as with each of the past three minutes, they were simply powerless to stop her.

—Staff writer Timothy J. McGinn can be reached at mcginn@fas.harvard.edu.