Even though Harvard had spent much of Tuesday night’s nonconference women’s basketball game chasing the University of Maine, it was one small dose of momentum that enabled the Crimson to slowly establish control.
Madeline Raster’s 3-pointer from the right corner just before the end of the third quarter gave Harvard a one-point lead heading into the fourth and the Crimson would not look back en route to a 69-62 win over the Black Bears in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Coach Richard Barron’s Black Bears lost their second consecutive game to fall to 1-2. Harvard, coming off a 16-point season-opening loss at Minnesota, is 1-1.
The Black Bears were outscored 35-24 in the second half and 15-9 in the fourth quarter. UMaine was 1 for 15 from the field in the fourth quarter and was held without a field goal over the game’s final six minutes.
UMaine was down only 60-58 with just over 5 minutes to go after a pair of Sigi Koizar free throws, but Destiny Nunley, who led Harvard with 22 points, scored six of those points in a game-ending 9-4 run.
Raster would finish with 14 points for Harvard while Koizar led the Black Bears with 21.
As the game wore on, the Crimson were generating baskets through dribble penetration into the paint and had UMaine’s defense looking flat-footed at times.
“Our defense was bad, our communication was worse,” Barron told Learfield’s Don Shields after the game. “We looked like a bad basketball team today. We need to be much better than we were today, for sure. Everything about this game is disappointing to me.”
The Bears finished a dismal 21-for-60 (35 percent) from the floor and 7-for-24 (29 percent) from 3-point range. Harvard also blocked six shots.
“Everything was an issue for us today,” Barron said. “This was a very poorly played game. Bad energy, bad effort, we had no toughness.”
Neither team was truly able to establish control in a well-played, back-and-forth first half that sent the Black Bears into the locker room with a 37-34 advantage.
UMaine led by as many as seven, but the Crimson would respond with a 7-0 run to tie the game.
The Black Bears had an answer for every Crimson run, as a Koizar 3-pointer from the right wing spurred UMaine to regain its seven-point lead.
Once again, Harvard battled back and was able to trim the lead to three after the first 20 minutes.
Harvard started to find some momentum early in the third quarter, with Sydney Skinner’s driving layup giving the Crimson their first lead just after the midway point of the period.
While the Black Bears were able to regain the lead, Raster’s perimeter shot quickly re-established momentum for the Crimson.
Laia Sole had 13 points and Tanesha Sutton and Bianca Millan 10 apiece for the Black Bears, who return to action against Saint Peter’s University in Columbia, South Carolina, on Sunday.
