Women's Basketball Rebounds With Consecutive Victories

Coming off back-to-back home losses against Princeton and Penn last weekend, the Harvard women’s basketball team (19-7, 9-3 Ivy) could not afford to lose on its final Ivy League road trip of the season. The team climbed out of deficits on Friday and Saturday in battling back against Cornell (14-12, 6-6) and Columbia (6-20, 3-9) to complete the weekend sweep.

“We had two bad starts, unfortunately for us,” Harvard coach Kathy Delaney-Smith said. “But again I think it’s your classic underdog mentality, which makes the league so competitive. I loved our teamwork. I loved that we made game adjustments, and possession by possession, we were able to climb back in it.”

HARVARD 64, COLUMBIA 51

On Saturday night, the story was junior forward Temi Fagbenle. She finished the game with a career-best 31 points and 18 rebounds as she carried the Crimson offense to a decisive 64-51 win over the Lions.

“As a rebounder, [Fagbenle] did it from the low-post and [she] did it from the mid-range,” Delaney-Smith said. “This must have been one of her best performances tonight. I loved how she played."

After jumping out to an early lead, Harvard surrendered 13 points to fall behind for the second night in a row. Sophomore guard Kit Metoyer halted Columbia’s run with a three-pointer, and then Fagbenle took over the Crimson offense. The London, England native scored 23 of the team’s 26 first-half points, keeping Harvard within three points by the close of the first half.

“My teammates did a great job getting the ball in and trusting that I would be able to score or pass it out,” Fagbenle said. “It was working throughout the whole game, so we didn’t change it.”

Harvard went on a 9-0 run early in the second half to retake the lead, 37-34, for the first time since the opening two minutes of the game. Upon grabbing the advantage, the Crimson stayed in command, outscoring the Lions 38-22 in the second half en route to a 64-51 win.

The difference in the game came down to points in the paint, with Harvard stacking up 26 in comparison to Columbia’s 12.

The win marked number 514 for Delaney-Smith’s career, tying her with Pete Carril for most wins as an Ivy League coach.

HARVARD 70, CORNELL 66

Down by 15 in the first half, the Crimson faced an uphill battle against Cornell as it tried to avoid its third consecutive loss. The early deficit did not intimidate Harvard, as the team rallied back in the first half and held on in the second to record its biggest comeback win in five seasons.

With 10:43 to go before halftime, the Big Red was able to capitalize on a string of Crimson turnovers to jump out to a 23-8 lead.

The early deficit did not intimidate Harvard as the team responded just minutes later with 14 unanswered points. During this stretch, co-captain Christine Clark scored eight points, including a shot from beyond the arc that gave the Crimson back the lead for the first time since the opening minute.

“[We play with] the mentality that the game isn’t over until it’s over,” Fagbenle said. “Whether we are up or down, we still try to come out with the same aggressiveness and hustle on the floor. It doesn’t really matter what the score is.”

The Crimson outscored Cornell by 20 points in the last ten minutes before the break to take a five-point lead, 35-30, into the second half.

Clark paced the Harvard offense with 18 points and seven rebounds on the night. Fagbenle recorded 12 points and seven rebounds, while senior center Elise Gordon contributed 11 points off the bench.

The Crimson kept the momentum early in the second half. With three unanswered baskets coming out of halftime, Harvard had its first double-digit lead of the night. The team continued its offensive surge and gained a 20-point lead, 60-40, as a Fagbenle’s lay-up capped another 8-0 scoring run.

But Cornell responded with a 16-0 scoring run of its own, holding the Crimson scoreless for over six minutes of play. Turnovers once again proved costly down the stretch for Harvard as the team coughed up the ball five times during the Big Red’s streak. This surge brought Cornell within four with just under a minute left to play, but the last-minute push was not enough to close the gap. Eight points from the charity stripe in the final minute of the game helped the Crimson hold on for the win, 70-66.

The Big Red’s senior forward Allyson DiMagno finished with a 10 points and 14 rebounds, while freshman forward Nia Marshall and senior guard Stephanie Long led the Big Red in scoring with 13 points apiece.