Harvard women’s basketball rode the hot hands of junior forward Abigail Wright, who notched a career-best 23 points and 13 rebounds in her first-ever double-double, to a 72-65 overtime victory over Boston College at the Conte Center on Wednesday night.
While the Crimson got back into the win column and evened its record at 3-3 on the season, the triumph was tempered by the loss of Karlee White, who had been the team’s leading scorer, midway through the third quarter. The junior guard, who is arguably the on and off court leader for Carrie Moore’s team, went down with a non-contact left knee injury and did not return for the rest of the evening.
Harvard Athletics did not respond to a request for comment on White’s status.
Boston College used a 7-0 run over the last 90 seconds to turn a one-point deficit into a 18-12 lead after the opening quarter. The Eagles were up five late in the second frame when Harvard turned the tables and used its own 8-0 run, featuring consecutive triples from a pair of sophomore guards, Nina Emnace and Alayna Rocco, to take a three-point lead.
A pull up jumper from Eagles sophomore guard Athena Tomlinson ended the first half scoring with the Crimson up 27-26.
White hit two triples in the first three minutes of the third quarter, then ended up being helped to the bench two minutes later with her team ahead 38-33.
Without the Burbank, Calif. native in the lineup, Boston College chipped away at the deficit and took a 51-50 lead halfway through the fourth quarter.
The Crimson reclaimed the lead four times over the next several minutes, but the Eagles evened things up each time and forced overtime.
In the extra session, Harvard scored the first seven points and held Boston College’s leading scorers, sophomore guard Lily Carmody (22 points) and first-year guard Amirah Anderson (18 points), without a bucket to put the game away.
Some thoughts from the Crimson’s fourth consecutive victory over its Chestnut Hill neighbors.
The Wright stuff
Wright was a main focus of Boston College throughout the first 25 minutes, but the Eagles added even more pressure once White left the game. Despite the frequent double- and triple-teaming, the junior forward kept finding ways to get to the hoop, willing her team on both sides of the ball.
When the game was over, the Newton, Mass. native finished with 23 points on 10-for-19 shooting, 13 rebounds (five offensive), four assists and two blocks.
After six games, Wright now leads the Crimson with 15.5 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. If White is out for an extended period of time, opponents will continue to put more emphasis on Wright, requiring someone else to step up.
Seniors assemble
Even before White’s injury, Harvard lost two key rotation players over the previous eight days. Late in the team’s loss at Massachusetts last week, star rookie guard Olivia Jones turned her left ankle, an injury she had during the preseason. Meanwhile, sophomore guard Lydia Chatira, who started all 29 games a year ago, has been dealing with a groin injury and missed the last three games.
With those players away from the court, the Crimson will need to rely on its triumvirate of senior starters, guard Gabby Anderson, guard Saniyah Glenn-Bello and forward Katie Krupa.
Anderson continues to be a rock on the defensive side, grabbing eight rebounds (four offensive) on Wednesday night and averaging 7.5 boards a game. While the team is at less than full strength, she’ll need to add to take advantage of her 88% free throw shooting to add to her 5.5 points per game.
Glenn-Bello finished with a stat-stuffing line of 13 points, seven rebounds, six assists, three steals and three blocks. While the Staten Island native has been a factor in the offense over the last few years, she was often a third or fourth option behind players Harmoni Turner, Elena Rodriguez and Lola Mullaney. With the graduation of those players, the Crimson need Glenn-Bello to become a consistent primary or secondary option.
Along with the injuries noted above, Harvard has also been without first-year Maya Nahar since the start of the year. Without the 6-foot-4 forward/center coming off the bench, it is vital that Krupa, who fouled out of the last two games, stay on the court as long as possible. Wednesday night was a good step forward, with the Morton, Ill. native giving the team 36 minutes, 10 points, five assists and four rebounds.
Strong threes and frees
For the evening, the Crimson connected on 10 of 12 attempts from the charity stripe, including nine of ten in the extra session. What made the effort more impressive was the fact that the team went over 35 minutes without attempting a free throw.
Even with the ups and downs on the roster, the results from the line have been a consistent positive with the team at No. 71 in attempts (101) and No. 28 in free-throw percentage (79%).
The three-point shooting has been slower to arrive for the Crimson, but Wednesday marked the third time in the last four games with double-digit triples. While the final tally showed Harvard with a solid 10-for-32 (31%) effort from beyond the arc, the results over the final 35 minutes were a much better 9-for-23 (39%).
As Moore’s squad awaits news about White, it has a few days to prepare for Monday night’s opening round game against Alabama (No. 28, Her Hoops Stat) at the Baha Mar Hoops Punk Flamingo Championship tournament in the Bahamas and Wednesday’s matchup against either Minnesota (No. 12) or South Florida (No. 85).