Women's Basketball Snaps Four-Year Losing Streak at Jadwin

Four years ago, the Harvard women’s basketball team walked out of Jadwin Gymnasium with a nine-point victory. That squad split the conference title with Cornell and Dartmouth.

Until Friday night, the Crimson had yet to repeat that feat against Princeton, a team that has won four consecutive Ivy League championships—every one since Harvard’s shared title in 2009. And, near the end of the game, it seemed that the Tigers might be able to preserve their home winning streak against the Crimson en route to a possible fifth straight championship.

What was an 18-point Harvard advantage dwindled to just a one-point edge with six minutes remaining as Princeton forward Kristen Helmstetter threaded the needle to guard Taylor Williams, who finished the layup to complete a 12-0 Tigers run.

“I never thought that we had a big enough cushion that the game was ever in the bag, especially at Princeton,” co-captain Christine Clark said. “You know that they’re going to come back at you as hard as they can.”

But staunch defense and timely foul shooting kept Princeton from regaining the advantage, and the Crimson (13-5, 3-1 Ivy) outlasted the Tigers (11-6, 2-1) to win, 78-68, for the first time at Jadwin since 2009. The victory makes a strong case for this year’s squad—ranked second in the preseason behind Princeton—as a title favorite entering the heart of Ivy play.

“[Winning at Princeton] is a great feeling, kind of indescribable I would say,” Clark said. “I’m just proud of the team and everybody. It’s just a moment to remember, especially being a senior. The whole senior class just came in and was so strong and so instrumental.”

For most of the second half, the Crimson was unable to put any distance between itself and the Tigers, which knocked down open threes and penetrated Harvard’s interior to score easy buckets.

“They have weapons inside and out,” Harvard coach Kathy Delaney-Smith said. “They got into the paint more than we were comfortable with. And I think there may have been some complacency, I’m not sure.”

Down by just three with two minutes to go, the Tigers had multiple opportunities to knot the game for the first time since early in the first half. But when Helmstetter and guards Michelle Miller and Blake Dietrick missed open treys on three consecutive possessions, Harvard capitalized on the chance to lengthen its lead.

Clark, who went to the line seven times in the final 96 seconds, sunk two sets of free throws to extend the lead to five, and Dietrick’s attempt from deep went wide on the ensuing possession, sealing the Crimson’s fate. The co-captain, who hadn’t surpassed 20 points since an injury in early December, led the team with a season-high 25 points on Friday night.

“[Clark] busted out,” Delaney-Smith said. “She doesn’t feel like she’s been back at 100 percent, and this was her best game since her injury, definitely.”

After shooting 50 percent from the field in the first period, Harvard could not find its shot in the second half, hitting just 25 percent of its attempts. The Crimson compensated for its cold shooting by tallying 25 points at the line on 30 attempts, while the Tigers hit just 69.2 percent of their 13 tries.

Senior Jasmine Evans was 0-for-5 in the second half and 1-for-8 on the night but chipped in 10 points, mostly from the charity stripe.

“We didn’t shoot really well,” Delaney-Smith said. “[Evans], who is having a great year, was off [in her] shooting, but what I love about this team is that it didn’t bother them that [junior forward] Erin [McDonnell] wasn’t hitting her streak shots and Jazz didn’t hit shots—even Clarkie’s shots were done in a whole variety of ways, which I think is terrific.”

The Crimson paced the Tigers early on, taking the lead six minutes into the game and then never relinquishing it down the stretch. While Princeton struggled early from downtown, Harvard caught fire, sinking five of its 11 treys before halftime.

With seven minutes left in the period, sophomore guard Shilpa Tummala kicked the ball out to classmate AnnMarie Healy, who recorded her only points of the game with a three.

On the following possession, junior forward Temi Fagbenle, who notched her eighth double-double of the season with 13 points and as many boards, found herself in the same position and took the shot, hitting just her second trey of the year. The basket capped a 17-2 run that gave the Crimson its biggest lead of the night at 18.

“We just came out and had the best defense we’ve had thus far,” Clark said. “The first 10 minutes, it was just unbelievable defense and offense. We were just putting it all together.”

—Staff writer Samantha Lin can be reached at samantha.lin@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @LinSamnity.