In a NCAA Tournament Round of 64 matchup pitting No. 10 Harvard, one of the nation’s stingiest defenses, against No. 7 Michigan State, one of the country’s most prolific offenses, it was the higher seed coming away with a 64-50 victory Saturday. But the Spartans did it by effectively shutting down the Crimson for 40 minutes.
While Robyn Fralick’s squad, which won its first tournament game since 2019, moves on to a second-round game at Reynolds Coliseum Monday against host No. 2 North Carolina State, Carrie Moore’s team will use the experiences of this week, as well as the memories of its first Ivy League Tournament title, to make another run next season after ending an 18-year NCAA Tournament drought Saturday.
Despite not having played since losing in the Big Ten Tournament to Iowa on March 6, Michigan State (22-9) was making its second consecutive appearance in the Big Dance and used the lessons from last year’s loss to North Carolina to take advantage of a program hadn’t been to the national tournament in 18 years.
Both offenses struggled to gain traction in a game that was physical from the start, but a 4-for-7 effort to start the game allowed Sparty to jump out to an 11-0 lead.
Following a timeout from Moore at the seven minute-mark to calm her team down and going down 13-2 halfway through the opening quarter, Harvard (24-5) started settling down, with senior guard Harmoni Turner and sophomore guard Abigail Wright combing for the game’s next nine points.
A pair of free throws from graduate guard Julia Ayrault ended the first quarter with State ahead 15-11.
In the opening frame, the Spartans could only make 33% of their shots and connect on one three-pointer, but it was better than the Crimson, which missed 14 of its first 16 shots, including a 0-for-6 effort from beyond the arc. Harvard was able to stay in the contest, however, thanks to a perfect 7-for-7 result from the charity stripe.
Harvard got a break less than a minute into the second quarter when senior guard/forward Jocelyn Tate, who scored eight points in the first quarter and was Turner’s primary defender, headed to bench.
But the Ivy League’s Player of the Year and her teammates didn’t capitalize on Tate’s absence, and the Crimson finished the half down five, 24-19.
Like the first quarter, Michigan State was held without a field goal for the last five-plus minutes and connected on only 33% of its shots, but its defense limited the Crimson to only 27% (4-for-15) from the floor and kept the Ivy League postseason champs without a triple or free throw attempt.
Things looked good for Harvard at the start of the second half, with the team being more aggressive on the offensive end.
Senior forward Elena Rodriguez grabbed a layup with the team’s first shot of the quarter and then she executed a perfect pick-and-roll with Turner to cut the deficit to one.
After a miss from junior forward Grace VanSlooten was rebounded, the Crimson had a chance to take the lead, but its offensive woes returned in a big way.
First Rodriguez missed a layup, then Turner missed a triple and a layup. Harvard grabbed its third consecutive offensive rebound, but junior guard Saniyah Glenn-Bello missed her own attempt from downtown. The Crimson got one more offensive board, but Glenn-Bello sent the ball out of bounds as she drove the lane.
Harvard kept it a one-point game, 26-25, when Michigan State threw a big counterpunch.
VanSlooten used her size to get position over Wright right next to the hoop and complete an old fashioned three. The Oregon transfer then was fouled as she went to the hoop on the next trip up the floor and connected on both free throws.
After another Crimson turnover, first year center Ines Sotelo was left alone at the three-point line and sank a set shot. Thirty seconds later, Tate was left by herself at the left baseline and connected on another tree to make it 37-25 at the 5:07 mark of the third quarter.
Moore called a timeout after the 11-0 run to regroup, and her team responded with a layup by Wright and a triple by sophomore guard Karlee White, the first after 14 attempts.
I felt like during that 11-0 run we were unhinged a little bit and started to unravel in a way that I didn’t love,” Moore said about those pivotal 90 seconds. “We just needed to get more stops. I felt like we were overhelping in moments we didn’t need to. Couldn’t keep people in front.”
The Harvard defense held tight, again limiting the Spartans’ shooting output in the second half of a quarter, but State was able to get to the line six more times to build a 10-point advantage.
Turner dribbled her way into an open shot on the left elbow and notched her first three-pointer of the day to make it a 42-35 with 1:21 to go in the third.
The Mansfield, Texas native had a chance to cut into the lead, after Sparty missed multiple shots on the next possession, but her mid-range jumper was called off for an offensive foul.
Taking advantage of that break, VanSlooten ran a successful pick-and-roll with graduate guard Nyla Hampton and was fouled by Glenn-Bello. After another old-fashioned triple by the second team All-Big Ten forward, Michigan State ended the quarter up 45-35.
VanSlooten continued her strong play in the final quarter, getting to the line and connecting on one of two free throws, then picking up yet another old-fashioned three to make it 49-35.
The difference still 14 points with six minutes to go, the Spartans went on a 7-0 run, punctuated by layups from Ayrault and Sotello to make it 60-39 and crush any hopes the Harvard faithful had for a comeback.
Over the final twenty minutes, Michigan State ended up shooting 53% (8-for-15) from two, 50% (3-for-6) from three and 79% (15-for-19) from the line. On the other side, Harvard could only manage 42% (8-for-19) from inside the arc, 27% (4-for-15) from outside the line and 60% (3-for-5) at the charity stripe.
Van Slooten, an Ohio AAU teammate of Harvard’s Gabby Anderson, ended the day with a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds. While the Crimson frustrated her in the first half to the tune of four points on 1-for-5 shooting, two free throws and three rebounds, she battled back with 13 points, nine free throws and seven boards in the second.
“At halftime and after the third quarter, coach (Fralick) was really challenging me to get some boards,” VanSlooten said about her defensive effort in over the final 20 minutes. “That’s kind of what I went in and did.”
Tate added 10 points in the win and Ayrault added eight points and eight rebounds.
While Turner led the way for the Crimson with 24 points, the relentless hounding by the Spartans forced her into a 7-for-22 (32%) day with 20% (2-for-10) from three.
Fralick noted the successful way her team limited the Ivy League’s top scorer, who was averaging 31.3 points over her last four contests.
“Our game plan was to take away her threes, be really good in our gaps, and really early in help,” the winning coach noted. “And we had three matchups on her. We are fortunate we went in the game knowing Jaddan (Simmons), Jocelyn and Nyla could guard her. We watched a lot of games where there is just a (single) matchup on her.”
“Our shots weren’t falling, but that’s basketball. They’re not going to fall every game,” Turner noted. “We still didn’t give up and that’s all you can ask for.”
While the four-time First-Team All-Ivy guard’s collegiate career is over, Moore, who spent this year working directly as her star’s position coach, looks forward to Turner taking her talents to the next level.
“After a couple weeks I’m sure she’ll be back in the gym hopefully preparing for a professional career, and I think she’s proven that,” the coach said. “I think she has shown her name should be called on (WNBA Draft) night. I’ll be right there alongside her waiting to hear her name.”
Despite the disappointing ending, Moore cast the focus back on joy.
“I really felt like watching them the last week has been such a blast,” Moore said. “I mean, the smiles on their faces the joy they’ve been having together as a group is — you can’t replicate that. They worked so hard to get here and it’s been really cool as a coach to experience it with this group … We laughed about that a lot this week, but this has been quite a ride. Just such an incredible group to do it with.”