The Harvard women's basketball team pulled an even split over the weekend at the Warner's Classic in Fairfield, Conn.
The Crimson (5-2 overall, 0-0 Ivy) dropped the opening-round game of the tournament, 80-68, to Boston University, but then saved itself from disaster with a come-from-behind 71-62 win over Bucknell.
The Crimson came out flat against the Bisons and trailed by as many as 17 points in the first half. Harvard battled back a bit to pull within 11 at 43-32 as the teams headed to the locker rooms for intermission.
"We hadn't been playing well the whole tournament," freshman forward Allison Feaster said. "We just weren't clicking as a team."
A tenacious defense was the difference for the Crimson in the second half as it held the Bucknell offense to just 19 points in the second frame.
Harvard put the game away with two stretches of magnificent play, first pulling even with the Bisons and then running away with the match.
Trailing 47-35 with just over 15 minutes left, the Crimson embarked on a 13-3 run to tie the game at 50. Senior captain Tammy Butler, who had 20 points and 13 rebounds in the game, scored eight points in the stretch, including the last six in a row to even the score.
"It wasn't anything specific," Feaster said. "We just realized we could play better."
Bucknell, however, retook the lead and was ahead, 56-53, when lightning struck again for the Crimson.
This time the team scored 10 unanswered points to pull ahead for good. A layup by Feaster, with 5:27 left, put the Crimson ahead, 57-56, and Harvard would not relinquish the lead.
The Crimson wasn't finished yet, as, after a Bison three-pointer, it added eight more points to build its advantage to 71-59 and seal the victory.
Sophomore guard Jessica Gelman keyed this run for the Crimson, scoring six points in the stretch and dishing out an assist. Gelman finished the game with 10 points and five assists.
Feaster, the highly regarded freshman, also had a sterling performance against the Bisons, scoring 17 points and pulling down an incredible 16 rebounds.
First-Round Loss
Harvard was able to bounce back against Bucknell after the opening-round loss to B.U.
Against the Terriers, the Crimson suffered from a poor shooting performance and generally sloppy play. The Crimson turned the ball over an atrocious 33 times.
"It was a tough loss," Feaster said. "We felt we could have beaten them. We just didn't play very well."
The Crimson trailed just 35-32 at the half and then had a 52-51 lead with 10 minutes left in the game. This time, however, the Crimson was on the opposite end of a string of baskets.
The Terriers scored 16 consecutive points to build an insurmountable 67-52 lead with 5:31 left in the ball-game.
Harvard was able to pull to within eight at 72-64 with one minute remaining, but that was as close as it got.
Gelman led the Crimson with 17 points. Butler and Feaster followed close behind with 14 each.
Individual Honors
Butler and Feaster were both named to the Warner's Classic All-Tournament Team for their two-game performances. Butler led the Crimson with 34 points and 22 rebounds in the tourney. Feaster had 31 points and 21 boards.
Butler and Feaster were also cited by the Ivy League for their play throughout the week, which opened with a big 100-99 victory over Providence.
Butler was named the Ivy League Player of the Week, and Feaster was given the Ivy League Rookie of the Week for the second time in as many weeks.
The Crimson travels to Rhode Island tonight before heading to Florida this weekend for the South Florida Tournament.
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