Hofstra Explodes To Down W. Hoops

It was a game of hot and cold, and the Harvard women’s basketball team went cold at the wrong time on Friday night against Hofstra.

After a first half that saw both teams shoot under 27 percent from the field, the Crimson women’s basketball team couldn’t overcome a 13-point deficit in the second half, falling on the road, 68-57.

Harvard (5-4) held a 12-point advantage early in the first half despite only converting eight field goals in the entire period. An aggressive Crimson defense continually alternated between a 3-2 zone and man-to-man defense, frustrating the Pride (4-3) and allowing just five points in the first 12 minutes of the game.

“When they would make a shot, we’d play a zone,” junior forward Kate Mannering said. “When they missed, we’d play man.We were really focusing on our defense, and that’s what we came to do.”

Junior forward Shana Franklin kept the staggering Harvard offense going, tossing in three three-point field goals in the opening half and finishing the game with 14 points. Franklin’s efforts were short-lived, however, as the Crimson scored just two points in the final eight minutes of the half. The 12-point cushion evaporated to one by the break after a 13-2 Hofstra run to close the frame. Harvard headed to the locker room up just 19-18, the low score a testament to the teams’ combined 15-of-57 shooting from the floor in the opening half.

“We had a really great defensive half, but our shots weren’t falling,” Mannering said. “We were getting the shots, and they weren’t falling for us, so it was frustrating.”

Both teams would find the bottom of the net in the second half, but two hot-handed Hofstra shooters torched the Harvard defense on a definitive 9-0 run in the latter frame. Pride forward Lizanne Murphy tallied 22 points, 15 rebounds and six assists on the afternoon, with 16 of those points coming after the break.

“She just came out of nowhere,” junior guard Jess Holsey said. “She had a lot of drives and a lot of putbacks—she just had a very strong second half.”

Hofstra guard Jenna McSpadden made three three-pointers in the second frame, helping the Pride to 55 percent shooting from the field on the half.

Hofstra would take the lead for good with 14:12 to go in the second, and McSpadden’s three-pointer with 11:59 remaining put the Pride up 39-30. Junior guard Laura Robinson and Mannering kept the Crimson in the game, slicing a 13-point lead to six with just over two minutes remaining. Robinson and Mannering finished the game with nine and 10 points, respectively.

But the surge came too late for Harvard, which watched as the home team exploded for a 50-point second half. Up 59-53 with 2:12 remaining, Hofstra and the 6’1 Murphy turned down the Crimson’s final push within seconds. Murphy netted a free throw and a layup on back-to-back possessions, and the lead swelled to nine with less than two minutes left on the clock.

“She got the game going for them, and she was their emotional leader,” Mannering said. “When she got hot, everybody started playing better.”

The Pride found momentum at the free throw line as well, converting 13-of-18 from the charity stripe in the second half after going just 3-of-8 in the first period. Hofstra went 8-of-12 from the line down the stretch, effectively ending any hint of a Harvard comeback.

The Crimson had little success at the free throw line, reaching the charity stripe just six times on the evening and converting only three—all in the second half.

“When they get a lot of points on the line and we don’t, it’s definitely going to hurt us,” Holsey said.

Captain center Reka Cserny tallied 14 points and six rebounds before fouling out late in the game when the Crimson resorted to a steal-foul technique to stop the clock. Despite the effort, Harvard would not get closer than five points for the last 12 minutes of the game.

—Staff writer Aidan E. Tait can be reached at atait@fas.harvard.edu.